Political career Gagik Beglaryan flourished between the 1990s and 2016. In 1993-1995 and for a short period in 2012 he was a member of the Armenian Parliament, in 2002-2009. – the head of the Central District of Yerevan, in 2009-2010 – the mayor of the capital, and in 2012-2016. served as Minister of Transport and Communications. However, now the affairs of Beglaryan in Armenia are, to put it mildly, unimportant. The Prosecutor General’s Office initiated two major cases against him.
The prosecutor’s office published a list of 24 real estate units in Yerevan. According to law enforcers, G. Beglaryan, in order to legitimize the property acquired by criminal means, falsify the sources of its origin and eliminate the traces of these criminal acts, used his official position and, with the help of several persons, entered into various formal transactions in order to legalize part of the appropriated property.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the official appropriated a number of buildings of kindergartens, as a result of which their activities were terminated, the rights of several dozen children who attended these preschool institutions were violated.
In November 2022, Gagik Beglaryan was prosecuted on 27 counts. He was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code.
Another case against a former official (civil action) is currently pending before the Anti-Corruption Court. With this lawsuit, the Prosecutor General’s Office intends to confiscate the numerous property belonging to Gagik Beglaryan, his wife, son and daughter, which, according to the prosecutor’s office, is of illegal origin.
We are talking about 33 apartments, premises, buildings, car parks located in Yerevan, 11 of which are located on Northern Avenue, 7 – on Khorenatsi Street, three – on Arshakunyats Avenue. In addition, the former official owns two mansions on Azatutyan Avenue, two premises on Tamanyan Street, and two premises on Teryan Street.
The rest of the property is located in other administrative districts of Yerevan, in the city of Tsaghkadzor of the Kotayk region and the Sis community of the Ararat region. The prosecutor’s office also wants to confiscate the car “Mercedes-Benz S600L”.
If it is impossible to confiscate the above property, the prosecutor’s office intends to recover its average market value – a total of 11 billion drams, the right to participate in 10 legal entities and about 2 billion drams, which is the unreturned part of eight loans. In addition, the prosecutor’s office considers it necessary to confiscate 4.5 billion drams, which represent the income from the use of property of illegal origin, the balance of funds generated from the sale of this property, as well as the amounts unjustified by legal income that were transferred to bona fide third parties.
To confiscate the aforementioned property, the Prosecutor General’s Office in May 2022 went to court. The case was first considered in the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction, but then it was transferred to the newly created Anti-Corruption Court.
Beglaryan did not declare an apartment in Dubai, and the prosecutor’s office did not include it in the list of property subject to confiscation
As you can see, the list of property subject to confiscation presented by the prosecutor’s office is located only in Armenia. Meanwhile, we found out that Gagik Beglaryan has real estate in Dubai.
Hetq.am has information that he acquired this property between 2008 and 2018. It is difficult to name a specific time. The former official’s property is located in the residential complex “Balqis Residence”, which is built on the top of the famous artificial island of Palm Jumeirah.
Beglaryan’s apartment is located on the seventh floor, its area is 243 sq.m., it has three bedrooms and a balcony of 42 sq.m.
Currently, prices for three-bedroom apartments in Balqis Residence start at 4.5 million Arab dirhams, or $1.2 million.
In the years when G. Beglaryan held high positions, he submitted declarations of property and income, in which, however, the apartment in Dubai was never mentioned. Hetq.am was informed about this in the acceptance declaration of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC). In Armenia, the concealment of data subject to declaration has been criminalized since July 2017, and Beglaryan filled out his last declaration in February 2017.
We sent a letter to the former official asking why he never declared his property in Dubai. We were also interested in when he bought an apartment and what is the reason for the investment (purchase of real estate) in Dubai. Despite the fact that Beglaryan received our letter, he did not answer it. Nevertheless, Hetq.am met with a former high-ranking official and tried to get answers to these questions, but G. Beglaryan did not give any comments.
The former mayor and former minister is not the only one in the Beglaryan family who has purchased property in Dubai.
Gagik Beglaryan’s younger brother Hakob Beglaryan also bought an apartment in Dubai. He purchased the property between 2007 and 2017. A. Beglaryan held a public position in 2005-2012, when he was the head of the State Procurement Agency SNCO, then the Procurement Assistance Center SNCO. In 2014-2017 he served as Deputy Minister of Urban Development, then Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Development, and in 2017-2019. was a member of the National Assembly.
Hakob Beglaryan acquired the property in The Residences North, the northern building of the Fairmont Palm Residence residential complex on the Palm Jumeirah. A. Beglaryan’s apartment is located on the 8th floor, its area is 160 sq.m. The apartment has two bedrooms and a balcony of 18 sq.m. The former official also has a parking lot. According to the Dubai cadastre, on the Palm Jumeirah, the annual rent of a two-bedroom apartment can be 134,000-164,000 Arab dirhams (36-45 thousand dollars). This amount does not include utility bills. However, at the moment the apartment is not rented out. We emphasize that to this day it is Hakob Beglaryan who owns it.
Currently, a two-bedroom apartment in the aforementioned Fairmont Palm Residence can be purchased starting at AED 3.3 million ($900,000).
We sent the same questions to the former official as we sent to his brother. But if Gagik Beglaryan received our letter, but did not answer it, then the postman failed to deliver the letter to Hakob Beglaryan. We called the mobile phone of the former deputy. Specifying that a journalist was calling, a man with a voice similar to Beglaryan’s answered: “He is not there, he is not in the city.” And turned off the phone.
Hrant Davtyan is one of those Armenians who purchased real estate in Dubai relatively early. Note that in 2012-2017 and 2018-2019. Davtyan was a member of parliament. We wrote about his Arab real estate in the fall of 2018, however, we touched on only one apartment of G. Davtyan, who was acting as a deputy at that time, since we did not have information about the second apartment belonging to him.
Thus, Davtyan acquired real estate in Al Sahab in 1997-2007. However, when he became a deputy, he did not declare his Dubai apartment, which he was obliged to do. In any case, as we have already noted above, until July 2017 the concealment of data subject to declaration was not considered a crime, which suited Armenian officials who did not show good faith in fulfilling their obligations. The fact that Davtyan did not declare his apartment in Al Sahab until 2018 was also reported to us by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. And in 2018, a request from a Hetq.am journalist unwittingly contributed to this.
At the end of the term of deputy in 2012-2017. Hrant Davtyan was also nominated as a candidate for the parliamentary elections of 2017. In February of the same year, as a candidate for deputy, he submitted a declaration on property and income to the CEC, in which he indicated only 5 units of real estate in Armenia. Davtyan entered the parliament, but not in 2017, but in the summer of 2018, when one of his fellow party members refused the mandate. After that, a Hetq.am journalist asked him a few questions about the property he purchased in Dubai. G. Davtyan admitted that he has an apartment there with an area of 86 square meters, which is registered in the name of one of his family members, so he has not yet declared it. At the same time, Davtyan noted that he acquired it about 15 years ago, when he founded a tourism business in Dubai. “At that time, housing was cheaper than staying in a hotel, which is why I bought it,” Hrant Davtyan said.
After this conversation, in September 2018, he submitted to the CEC a declaration at the time of taking office, in which, years later, he indicated his Dubai apartment for the first time. Recently, we were informed by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption that the declared apartment is joint property.
Comparing the words of Hrant Davtyan with the facts, we made sure that he remembered all the details very well, including the fact that the property was not declared, that one of the family members was also the owner, and even the area of the apartment. So, between 1997 and 2007 Hrant Davtyan and his wife Anna Davtyan bought an 85 sq.m apartment on the 7th floor of the Al Sahab 1 tower, which had one bedroom and a 5 sq.m balcony. The spouses also have parking. In fact, according to Davtyan, they bought the apartment around 2003 (about 15 years before the conversation with the Hetq.am journalist, which also does not contradict the information we have).
According to the Dubai cadastre, the spouses rent out the property. There is currently a tenant living there. According to the cadastre, the annual rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dubai Marina can be 71,000-87,000 Arab dirhams (20-24 thousand dollars). On the other hand, today a one-bedroom apartment in the Al Sahab residential complex can be bought starting from 1.4 million Arab dirhams (380 thousand dollars).
In connection with taking office in 2018 and leaving in 2019, G. Davtyan submitted declarations in which this apartment is indicated. That is, in this regard, he did not commit violations. But that’s not all. Hrant Davtyan bought another apartment in Dubai, about which he did not tell Hetq.am journalist or the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.
Major businessman Samvel Aleksanyan was a member of the National Assembly in 2003-2019. He and his wife Shogherina Mkrtchyan purchased an apartment in the Trident Grand Residence residential complex between 2012 and 2014. The spouses are the immediate neighbors of Grant Davtyan.
The area of the apartment of Aleksanyan and Mkrtchyan is 202 sq.m. It has three bedrooms, a balcony (34 sq.m). The couple also has two parking lots. The apartment is rented out. According to the Dubai cadastre, the annual rent of a three-bedroom apartment in the residential area of Dubai Marina can be 147,000-179,000 Arab dirhams (40-49 thousand dollars). As for the sale, today the cost of an apartment of about 200 square meters with three bedrooms in the Trident Grand Residence residential complex starts from 4.2 million Arab dirhams (1.1 million dollars).
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption told us that neither S. Aleksanyan nor his wife had ever declared property in Dubai. This, in fact, will cause legal problems for them, since since at least 2014 the spouses have already been the owners of this apartment, which, however, was not declared until January 2019, when Aleksanyan resigned his parliamentary mandate.
As in the case of other officials, Hetq.am also sent a request to Samvel Aleksanyan. The letter was mailed to his registration. However, the postman failed to deliver the letter to the former deputy. However, we met with Aleksanyan, who said that in the past he forgot to declare his property in Dubai.
The prosecutor’s office does not report whether the property of Aleksanyan, Beglaryan and Davtyan is being examined Hetq.am asked the Prosecutor General’s Office whether the property of Samvel Aleksanyan, Hakob Beglaryan, Hrant Davtyan is being examined as part of the proceedings for the confiscation of property of illegal origin. We asked, if possible, to provide a list of property subject to confiscation, or at least to inform whether real estate in Dubai is on that list.
The prosecutor’s office reported that, according to the law “On the confiscation of property of illegal origin”, information about the presence or absence of a study of property belonging to a person is confidential and cannot be provided. In reality, based on the law, the Prosecutor General’s Office theoretically could provide us with the requested information, but acted differently.
In any case, our publication may serve as a basis for investigation (and if it has already begun, then for expanding its scope) by law enforcement officers of the property and income of officials and persons affiliated with them outside of Armenia, including the undeclared real estate mentioned above.
In a conversation with a Hetq.am journalist, Davtyan did not hide the fact that he owns real estate in Dubai, although he said that it was not registered in his name. In fact, as we have learned, the apartment belongs to Hrant Davtyan.
-Do you have property in Dubai?
-Eat.
-What kind of property and when was it declared?
– As for declaring, I don’t know when it was declared. Probably, it is not registered in my name, which is why I did not declare it.
– That is, you do not know for sure whether it is registered in your name or not?
-I know it’s not in my name, that’s probably why it wasn’t declared.
-Does it belong to any of your family members?
-Yes.
-Is this an apartment?
-Yes, it seems 80 squares. Do you know when that was? 15 years ago.
-When you bought it, were you already a deputy?
– No, it was 15 years ago. We had business there.
– Do you still have a business there?
– Yes, what kind of business is there, something like a travel agency.
-For what purpose did you buy an apartment in Dubai?
-15 years ago we were engaged in export and import and practically lived there. The area seems to have been 86 square meters. The apartment is small. Back then it was cheaper to buy an apartment than to live in a hotel.
-If it’s not a secret, in whose name is the apartment?
– Dear, I can answer this question tomorrow, after I clarify. I have nothing to fear.
So, according to the deputy, he acquired the property in early 2000. In this sense, it is worth remembering that Davtyan and his friend from Etchmiadzin, the famous Hakob Hakobyan, nicknamed Choyt, who was then an independent deputy, ended up in Dubai in January 2005 in bad story. They were detained by the local police. Davtyan was suspected of stealing two fur coats from the Zilli brand store. There was even a publication in the Armenian press that the prosecutor’s office had charged him (by the will of the Sultan, the author of the article published in the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper was Naira Zohrabyan, today’s fellow party member of G. Davtyan). Later, Hakob Hakoyan stated that the cashier of the store was to blame, who, when counting the things bought by O. Davtyan, struck one zero less on the check, due to which instead of 8800 dollars it turned out to be 880, and Davtyan, who paid by credit card, did not notice the mistake and after paying the amount left the store. The police officers who received the signal went after Davtyan and detained him.
Hakobyan decided to find out what happened to his friend and came with his son to the police station, where they were immediately detained, saying that Interol was looking for Hakobyan. Later it turned out that another person was wanted – Akop Akopov, who had already been detained, but not excluded from the Interpol lists. A. Hakobyan and his son were released earlier, Davtyan – later.
The data we received suggests that Hrant Davtyan and Hakob Hakobyan are not only friends, but also neighbors. And not only in Etchmiadzin, but also in Dubai.
It was under Khachatryan that in June 2008 Afrikyan became the deputy head of customs, and a few months later, when the State Customs Committee and the State Tax Service merged into the State Revenue Committee, headed by G. Khachatryan, Afrikyan was appointed its first deputy. In 2011, RA President Serzh Sargsyan awarded A. Afrikyan the rank of Major General of the Customs Service. In 2014, the SRC merged with the Ministry of Finance. Gagik Khachatryan became the head of the department and took Afrikyan to him. In 2014-2016 A. Afrikyan served as Deputy Minister of Finance.
In March 2016, the SRC again separated from the Ministry of Finance. Hovhannes Hovsepyan was appointed Chairman of the Committee, and Artur Afrikyan became his First Deputy. In October of the same year, after Karen Karapetyan, appointed as Prime Minister in September, entrusted the leadership of the SRC to his partner, Vardan Harutyunyan, both said goodbye to their posts.
The houses of General Artur Afrikyan in Dubai are located in residential complexes that catch the eye with their luxury. The first of them is the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa tower, which houses a hotel, restaurants, residential and office premises, observation platforms, etc. In the 163-storey tower, from the 19th to the 108th floor are provided for living quarters. According to our data, in 2014 A. Afrikyan purchased an apartment on the 43rd floor.
Our list of deals in 2014 includes two more Afrikyan apartments. But in this case, a former high-ranking official is listed as the seller. The apartments are located on the well-known palm-shaped artificial island Palm Jumeirah (its developer is another well-known company – Nakheel), in the Marina Residences complex, which is located on the “trunk” of a palm tree. The complex consists of six identical skyscrapers and six low structures built between them – “townhouse” (see the plan of the complex here). According to our information, one of Afrikyan’s apartments is located on the 4th floor (here is a three-dimensional image below), the second is in one of the “townhouse”.
One of the apartments on the 33rd floor of the 5-star Address Dubai Mall hotel, which is located next to the Burj Khalifa tower in the center of Dubai, is also decorated in the name of A. Afrikyan. With a height of 192 meters, this 37-storey building is ranked 75th among the 100 tallest buildings in Dubai.
The developer of the Address hotels is the aforementioned company Emaar. Hotels offer not only rooms, but also apartments. including for sale.
This apartment is registered in our data among transactions concluded in 2014-2015. Among them are three apartments purchased in the 5-star Address Downtown hotel in the center of Dubai, which are located on the 16th, 25th and 47th floors. In turn, the 63-storey hotel with a height of 302 meters is the 22nd tallest building in Dubai.
In 2014, A. Afrikyan, becoming Deputy Minister of Finance, declared one apartment and a garage. The same property was indicated in the declaration in 2016, when Afrikyan was first appointed first deputy chairman of the State Revenue Committee, and then resigned from this position.
We tried to contact Artur Afrikyan, but his phone number was unavailable. According to our information, the former official left for the United States during the days of the “Velvet Revolution”.
In the spring of 2014, with the direct participation of the German company Kronimet Mining, which owns 60 percent of the plant, Maxim Hakobyan was dismissed from his position. He was replaced by Australian Neil Stevenson. It was rumored in Kajaran and Kapan that major abuses and theft were the reason for Hakobyan’s dismissal. The new leadership did not actually deny this. Nevertheless, after the resignation from the post of general director, Maxim Akopyan was appointed chairman of a new body – the board of directors, which, unlike the post of general director, has more limited opportunities and powers. Together with a native of Kajaran Maxim Hakobyan, his countryman, chief accountant Aristakes Nersisyan and commercial director, a native of Lernadzor Artsruni Avetisyan, were fired.
According to our information, Hakobyan, Nersesyan and Avetisyan purchased apartments in the 5-star Address Dubai Marina hotel in Dubai. This hotel, as its name suggests, is located in Dubai Marina, next to the Dubai Marina Mall.
The apartments of Hakobyan and his friends are located on the 21st floor. At the same time, if Nersisyan and Avetisyan own one apartment each, then 17 apartments are registered in the name of Maxim Hakobyan. It seems that the Armenians occupied the whole floor of the Address Dubai Marina hotel.
According to Hetq.am, B. Sedrakyan and I. Yeghiazaryan bought 2 apartments in Dubai. One of them is located in the Al Hatimi residential building on the Palm Jumeirah, which is the fifth building in the Shoreline complex, which consists of 20 identical buildings. According to our data, the apartment is the property of B. Sedrakyan and is included in the list of transactions in 2014, and Sedrakyan is presented as a buyer.
The list of transactions in 2014 includes the apartment of the consul and his wife, which is located in the International City (International City) in Dubai, as well as an apartment in the residential complex “Al Dana 1” on “Palm Jumeirah”, built by the same company “Nakheel” . However, in this case, the spouses are listed as sellers.
The colonel’s wife owns real estate
Our list also includes Anahit Kostandyan, who is registered in a house in the center of Yerevan. Kostandyan is the wife of the first head of the aviation department of the Armed Forces (1992-1996), reserve colonel Alexander Abrahamyan. Colonel Abrahamyan is one of the founders of military aviation in independent Armenia. A number of cargo carriers created later, including the already liquidated Veteran Airlines LLC, 70 percent of which belonged to Abrahamyan, are also associated with his name.
A source told Hetq.am that former Yerevan Mayor and former Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik Begglaryan also owns two apartments in Dubai. The former deputy of the National Assembly Mher Sedrakyan also owns real estate. Former Prime Minister and ex-NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan owns a villa on the Palm Jumeirah, but this property has not been declared. Apartments in Dubai have other former officials. […]