Sureni Papikyan Received Gifts Worth 19 Million Drams, 22 Thousand Dollars, and 13 Thousand Euros: Hetq

Defense Minister Suren Papikyan received gifts worth 19 million 750 thousand drams, 22 thousand dollars, and 13 thousand 400 euros last year. Papikyan mentioned the donation in his income and property declaration for 2022, according to Hetq.am.

The monetary gifts were received in the same year that he got married and had a child. It is presumed that family events prompted the gifts.

In Papikyan's declaration, there is a note regarding a purchase of an apartment in downtown Yerevan at a price significantly lower than the market rate, completed in 2022. To buy an apartment in the “Buryel” residential complex, Suren Papikyan took a loan of 65 million drams from “Hayekonombank.” However, he paid the construction company a total of 75 million 570 thousand drams, which is 10 million drams more.

Hetq previously found that the apartment in the new building is 165 square meters, while the transaction price was 69 million drams. Neither the developer nor the buyer refuted this information. Yet, new questions arise from Suren Papikyan’s declaration. Why did the minister pay 75.5 million drams instead of the 69 million drams specified in the contract to the developer?

Suren Papikyan purchased an apartment for 168,000 dollars, which is currently worth 412,000 dollars. This declaration does not provide an answer to the main question: why did the former member of the Republican Party, Ashot Arsenyan’s company, sell the apartment to Suren Papikyan at a price significantly lower than the market?

What is the benefit for the company, and what connection is there between the suspension of a criminal case regarding Ashot Arsenyan's son’s exemption from military service, appointing that son as the head of the Jermuk community, and providing a cheaply sold apartment to Suren Papikyan?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sees no corruption in Suren Papikyan’s apartment purchase.

Returning to the minister's declaration, as of December 2022, Suren Papikyan had 17,500 dollars, 10,254 euros, and 11 million drams in bank accounts. The minister's cash amounted to 21,000 dollars, 10,000 euros, and 4.5 million drams. Last year, as income, the Minister of Defense received a salary of 21 million drams and 3.6 million drams from rental properties.

Papikyan has two mortgage loans, with the larger one being 65 million drams from “Hayekonombank,” and the other for 12 million from “Converse Bank.” The first loan was for the right to purchase an apartment in the “Buryel” residential complex, while the other was for an apartment in the “Yeraz” residential complex.

According to his declaration, last year Suren Papikyan lived for more than 90 days in a private house located in the Kentron administrative district of Yerevan. It is presumed that the minister lives with his family in the Kond summer house, which is the residence for high-ranking officials.

Suren Papikyan has owned three plots of land in Lori Berd in Lori region since 2003 and bought an apartment in the Arabkir administrative district of Yerevan in 2019. Since 2022, he has acquired the right to purchase an apartment in a building under construction in the Kentron administrative district of Yerevan.

The minister's wife, Armine Muradyan, received an income of 7.6 million drams from the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia last year, as well as 1.8 million drams from rental properties.

It is noteworthy that during the extraordinary parliamentary elections in 2018, the Central Electoral Commission found the content of S. Papikyan's declaration modest (he had just assumed the position of Minister of Territorial Administration and Development). At that time, Suren Papikyan had a 1.2-hectare plot of land in Lori province, a Nissan Teana car from 2005, 1,000 dollars, and 2.5 million drams.