Kristine Aghalaryan
Grisha Balasanyan 

Is the Land Going to a Saudi Sheikh with "Insider Connections'?

Artavaz is a rural community of 1,100 in Armenia's Kotayk Region. Yervand Naltakyan, the community's former mayor, makes a living from farming and raising livestock. Mr. Naltakyan. Along with his father and brother, work a 2.5 hectare piece of land located four kilometers from the village. The land provides the extended family with the necessities of life.

About one month ago, the land belonging to 136 Artavaz residents was deemed by the government as being in 'the prevailing public interest'. The villagers will soon be deprived of their land according to the dictates of eminent domain.

"To take that land from us means depriving us of the means to raise livestock, of our property. It won't make much sense to stick around and live here afterwards," says Mr. Naltakyan.

Economics Minister argues it's for balanced regional development

On February 25, of this year, the government decided that 85.1 hectares of Artavaz land would be classified as 'prevailing public interest'.

Making the argument for such a classification was RoA Economics Minister Nerses Yeritsyan. He claimed that such a decision was required to facilitate the construction of a plant to bottle and export the "sweet tasting and mineral waters of Kotayk Region" that had been proposed as an investment venture and that such a project would assist in the balanced regional development policy propounded by the government.

In the news section of the government's website, it was noted that Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan had received assurances that investments equaling $50 would be made, that 100-150 new jobs would be created and that construction would be completed within a year.

In the decision adopted by the government and signed by PM Sargsyan, the 85.1 hectares of land to be appropriated by the state turned into 95.8 hectares. The land was transferred to "A&M Rare"

Government rushes through decision in favor of mystery sheikh

According to information Hetq received from the RoA Justice Ministry's State Registry of Legal Persons, "A&M Rare, Ltd" was duly registered on February 25, 2010; the very same day that the government declared the Artavaz land in the 'prevailing public interest'.

Larissa Karapetyan, who heads the government's Protocol Division, the draft decision, prior to being adopted, first goes to the appropriate department for discussion and review by the department head. It then goes to the prime minister, comes back to the appropriate ministerial department and then gets handed over inspection at the ministry of justice before getting included in the government session agenda.

The question remains how the company was able to obtain the 'eminent domain' lands on the very same day of its registration as a legal entity. How did the company traverse the bureaucratic maze when it didn't even exist?

In the state registry, A & M Investment is filed as the founding entity for A&M Rare, Ltd. A&M Investment is registered in Luxembourg and the company's sole shareholder is listed as "Luxembourg International Consulting" (Interconsult). ´À-Ý

Interconsult is managed equally by a duo of Luxembourg attorneys, Monsieur Diego Benvissuto and Mr. Francois Manti. In Luxembourg, this institution is famous for founding non-transparent companies.

The executive director of A&M Rare, Ltd. is Aram Abrahamyan; the son of Republican Party MP Gagik Abrahamyan, who, in turn, is the brother of Ara Abrahamyan, president of the Union of Armenians in Russia and a wealthy entrepreneur to boot.

MP Gagik Abrahamyan – "I've torn up my shoes inspecting those lands"

Our search to find the offices of A&M Rare lead us to a diamond factory located at 1 Sovkhozayin Street. The factory belongs to Gagik Abrahamyan. We weren't able to talk with his son Aram.

Security personnel at the factory told us that he had gone to Russia. It was Aram's father, Gagik Abrahamyan, who filled us in on some of the details. He said that the foreign company had selected Aram to be the executive director.

When we asked about the owners of the company, Gagik Abrahamyan was at first reluctant to answer, saying he had no idea. "I don't know. I'd tell you if I did. The owner is a foreign company. People shouldn't ask such questions," he advised. "It's like if I asked you how much that suit you're wearing costs. My son is the executive director. He knows who the owners are. They are from Saudi Arabia. Exactly who? I couldn't say."

We tried to nail him down and pressed him if he indeed knew their names."OK, I know but am not at liberty to reveal them. They're some big shots who are going to build a factory and town. They entered into an agreement with the government to build a water bottling plant for export. Not one bottle will be sold here in Armenia. It will all be exported overseas. We say that our water is being exported but up till now no one has even exported one lousy bottle," Gagik Abrahamyan said.

Mr. Abrahamyan said the water would be exported to Europe and the Arab countries and ruled out the involvement of Armenian officials or businessmen in the bottling plant.

"They're all foreigners," he assured us. During our conversation, we found out that Gagik Abrahamyan was familiar with the foreigners. Furthermore, his son was appointed executive director because he had rounded up those foreign investors.

"It all fell into place because I was the one who brought those people in. They're my friends. One's the sheikh of Saudi Arabia. Of course I know them. I was the one who first brought them to Armenia and escorted them around." Nevertheless, Mr. Abrahamyan refused to give us the sheikh's name. "Go to the government and ask. If it's convenient, they'll tell you."

According to MP Abrahamyan, the factory will be operated by one man; the mysterious sheikh. He assured us that the villagers in Artavaz don't cultivate those lands and that he's been traveling to the village for the past year, inspecting the site. "None of the land is being farmed. I've been there and gone from site to site and ripped up my shoes. Most don't even know they have land up there."

Despite his apparent familiarity with events, MP Abrahamyan couldn't tell us with any certainty how many owners the company has. All he could say was that he just knew of the sheikh from Saudi Arabia.

"We brought those people here, showed them around and convinced them to invest. As to the individual owners, I couldn't say. There might be a handful; who knows? It's going to be a class project. The village of Artavaz will be turned into a prosperous town," MP Abrahamyan promised.

Villagers don't want to sell – "We'll end up with nothing"

The main topic of discussion and debate in the village of Artavaz for the past month has been about the lands and compensation.

Turns out that local residents aren't that well informed about the government's decision to seize the lands. All we heard from them was that they were against their lands being designated 'eminent domain'. They'd be stripped of their means of making a living as a result.

Former Mayor Yervand Naltakyan expressed doubts about the government's stated desire to bottle and export the area's waters as the reason for the land being designated 'public interest'.

In the vicinity, the Marmarik Reservoir is now being built. Villagers are quick to claim that their lands are being gobbled up so that a recreational zone, complete with hotels and amusements parks, can be constructed alongside the reservoir.

Former mayor says there's something 'fishy' going on

Mr. Naltakyan also finds this version to be credible since there had been a water bottling plant in the area but that it now remains closed down and idle. He says that if the newcomers are only interested in building a factory they could get the old one up and running and not touch the villagers' lands.

"The lands to be taken from us have nothing to do with the water issue. Our lands are far from the springs of the delectable fresh and mineral waters they talk about. They have another objective in mind," says the former mayor, convinced that local residents are getting the short end of the stick.

Mr. Naltakyan stated that 95.9 hectares is just the amount being seized from villagers. The total amount of land being allotted to A&M Ltd is 1,200 hectares, of which 400 is community owned property and 700 belongs to the state fund and is now being used as grazing land by the villagers.

Yervand Naltakyan also told us that some parcels of land belonging to some big shots haven't been designated 'public interest' and that it's only been the lands belonging to average villager that's been targeted.

There are about 44 families in Artavaz who were plots of land on the site to grow vegetables. These families have no house plots and were given 1,000 square meters to cultivate.

Grandpa Rafik: "If I can get enough for a grave stone, I'll sell"

Artavaz resident Vrezh Khachatryan owns 1.6 hectares in the 'public interest' land and doesn't want to lose it. He'll have no place to raise livestock if he does. He also doesn't like the idea of his children being stripped of the land under their feet.

"Fine, let's say I sold the land and bought a car with the money. I drove it around, bought some nice looking clothes and all. But what will my kids do tomorrow? At the very least, they should give us market rates for the land. This way, we could buy some land elsewhere," Vrezh said.

He doesn't know how the villagers will be compensated and at what rates. "We've only heard that the land has been given to some sheikh from the United Arab Emirates. If they give us a normal price for the land, I say be my guest. If they offer us pennies, then it no good to anyone," Vrezh added.

Rafik Grigoryan has 1,000 square meters of tillable land that the government has designated 'public interest. Grandpa Rafik says, "If I can sell the land at a price to pay for a nice gravestone, I'll do it."

The old man says that a few years ago a similar situation occurred when Baght Sirgis-Leonard, a wealthy diaspora Armenia, purchased a huge chunk of village land. However, he never made any investment or improvements but still prohibits villagers from grazing their animals on the land.

"Back then, no one from the government ever visited here to see what conditions were like and why people were selling off their lands. Villagers needed money, to pay for their kids' schooling and clothes, and many other things. We sold those lands and were left with no place to graze our livestock. No they have come back but this time they are taking our lands by force," says Grandpa Rafik.

Grandma Zhenya: "We need land to work, not the cash they'll offer"

Zhenya Shahnazaryan has 1,000 meters of tillable and 400 meters of meadow under threat of seizure. She has no other land in the village.

"Today, the people are in need, there is no work. They will offer a small amount and the villagers will be forced to sell the land. But we need the land and not some amount of cash. We have children and tomorrow they'll grow up. The land will come in handy. Who has come to ask my opinion? The government doesn't care. All they want is for us to sell what we have," said Hasmik Shahnazaryan, grandma Zhenya's daughter-in-law.

Gurgen Ghazaryan owns a 1,000 meter potato patch. He doesn't want to give up his land for the same reason; he has no other source of income.

"Why else would one want to live in a rural village," says Gurgen, who confesses that even if the compensation package is hefty, it will only last 2-3 years. "What will I do then?" he quips.

Artavaz Mayor Rem Hovhannisyan said the project would be very good for developing the village.

Even though the amount of compensation for the villagers' lands isn't yet known, the mayor says that appraisals will be market based plus 15%. The mayor said that the current price for one hectare fluctuates between $3,000 and $5,000. "I'm pretty sure that once the expert appraisers arrive, these prices will go up," said Mayor Hovhannisyan.

90% of villagers affected by 'eminent domain' decision

The mayor said that 90% of village residents had property designated as in the 'public interest', including himself. However, his name wasn't included in the list of 136 villagers attached to the government decision.

The village mayor says that it will be decided at auction time what additional lands from the state fund will be appropriated for the planned for factory. He says that the previous water bottling plant, now idle, will not be restored for operation because this is the decision of the owner.

Rem Hovhannisyan explained why the lands around the springs, mentioned by the former mayor, have not been designated as 'public interest. "There are many springs; not just the two. They are taking it all plus the springs. They are taking the villagers' land to build a protective zone to keep off grazing animals."

The mayor says that the villagers can always petition the courts if they aren't satisfied with the prices offered in compensation for their lands.

"That person wants to make a serious investment to produce mineral and fresh water," argued the mayor. "The sheikh could make the investment but it's a 'guy from Armenia' making the investment."

As to who this 'Armenian guy' is, the mayor avoided answering, and merely referred to the government's decision. "In the government's decision, the company is noted. I don't know who the owner of the company is. They've yet to some and see me."

P.S. According to our information, there are other Armenian government officials involved in the transaction. We will provide additional coverage regarding the shareholders of the foreign company and the interested parties in the 'prevailing public interest' transaction in upcoming articles.