Circus Building to Be Nationalized

The head of the State Property Management Committee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Arnak Avetisyan, has filed a lawsuit against "Yerevan Circus" LLC, demanding the seizure of the circus building, auxiliary structures, and land in favor of the Republic of Armenia through expropriation. This was reported by "Hetq".

The lawsuit was registered at the First Instance General Jurisdiction Court of Yerevan on July 7, 2025. The issue of accepting the case for proceedings has yet to be resolved. The case has been assigned to Judge Sargis Yeritsyan.

It should be noted that "Yerevan Circus" LLC was established in March 2006. As of November 2019, 76.5% of the company belongs to "Tashir Capital" LLC. The director of this company is Narek Karapetyan, the son of former National Assembly deputy Karen Karapetyan.

The State Property Management Committee demands the termination of the state property alienation contract signed on February 14, 2006, between the State Property Management Committee and the buyer, and the investment contract notarized on June 22 of the same year. They also want to annul all records regarding the state registration of rights for real estate located at 1 Agatangeghos Street in Yerevan, which includes 6070 sq. m. of real estate, 180.9 sq. m. of auxiliary building, and their occupied 0.57598 ha plot of land, as a consequence of the termination of these contracts.

The demand also includes expropriating the aforementioned properties in favor of the Republic of Armenia, recognizing the ownership right of the Republic of Armenia through the State Property Management Committee.

Recall that renovation work on the circus building began in September 2011, intending to complete it by the end of 2014. However, during the construction works, it was decided to demolish the old building and construct a new one. On September 8, 2012, the old circus building was demolished, and a new building, larger in size, was constructed on the site. The director of "Yerevan Circus" submitted a letter to the Government in 2012, requesting an extension of the project deadline until 2015, which the Government agreed to. However, the circus has not yet been put into operation. Externally, the new building stands, but construction work has not been fully completed.