Former MP's Brother Constructs Shell Gas Station Under the Guise of a Car Wash

In February 2023, Vahan Kerobyan announced on Public TV that Shell would open three gas stations by March. On April 21, the Minister of Economy shared photos of Shell’s under-construction gas stations on his Facebook page, stating that the stations would soon start operating. However, none of the gas stations have been launched yet, according to Hetq.

One of the Shell gas stations is currently being built at 29/11 Tbilisyan Highway in Yerevan. Hetq discovered that the Yerevan Municipality granted construction permission for a car wash rather than a gas station. This was also indicated on the sign at the construction site, and according to the information listed on the sign, developer Tigran Harutyunyan received permission for constructing a car wash on September 13, 2021.

We obtained a copy of this construction permit from the Yerevan Municipality, dated September 13, 2022, issued by then-Mayor Hrachya Sarkisyan. The date of 2021 mentioned on the construction site sign was an error.

Upon visiting the site, we observed that a gas station's canopy and adjoining structure were already built. The materials of the canopy made it clear that the gas station was owned by Shell, with nothing resembling a car wash in sight. In other words, a gas station was being constructed under the guise of a car wash permit.

As mentioned earlier, the developer of the area is Tigran Harutyunyan, who is the brother of former MP Vahan Harutyunyan and the nephew of former head of the Special Investigative Service, Mihran Poghosyan. Tigran Harutyunyan founded and heads one of Armenia's largest construction companies, Mikshin LLC, which also owns the Mayler Mountain Resort complex being constructed in the Aragatsotn region's Yeghipatrush village.

The British-Dutch company Shell is represented in Armenia by Royal Oil LLC. This company was founded on May 29, 2019, by Edgar Mkrtchyan, who directs the Sil Concern, owned by MP Khachatur Sukiasyan's family. In August 2019, 80% of Royal Oil’s shares were transferred to Sil Concern, while 20% went to W D Holding LLC. By February 2020, W D Holding LLC had become the sole owner of the company’s shares, and in July of the same year, Tigran Harutyunyan acquired 80% of Royal Oil's shares, which he still owns today, with the remaining 20% held by W D Holding LLC, owned by David Avagyan.

When contacting Shell’s representative for clarifications regarding the gas station on Tbilisyan Highway, we called the number listed on Mikshin's website and requested that our questions be passed on to Tigran Harutyunyan. Shortly after, Gevorg Harutyunyan, who introduced himself as the program director for Shell’s Armenian representation, reached out. He indicated that they had applied to the municipality for changes to the project, and after these were approved, they would submit another application to change the intended use of the building.

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