Marine Madatyan
Grisha Balasanyan 

When it comes to supplying the Armenian government with medals, to be awarded by its various ministries and state agencies to individuals and organization s deemed worthy of praise and merit, Yerevan Jewellery Plant-1 «Gnomon» OJSC has cornered the market.

Founded in 1950, Gnomon Armenia boasts that it is the largest jewellery manufacturer in the region. In 2014, it received 23 million AMD (US$48,200) in payment for supplying the Armenian government with a variety of medals and decorative awards. In most cases, the company won the contracts on a non-competitive basis.

Here’s a list of some of the state agencies that purchased medals from Gnomon:

Ministry of Education and Science: 5,760,000 AMD contract to supply 60 8,000 AMD “Progress” medals and 110 48,000 AMD commemorative medals. The former are made of gilded brass and the former, gilded silver.

Armenian Police: 11,040,720 AMD contract. The company has supplied the police with 1,406 medals of various types under its exclusive contract. The contract stipulates that the medals must be made from a “light metal”, without specifying what type.

Ministry of Nature Protection: 400,000 AMD contract.

Ministry of Economy: 600,000 AMD contract

Ministry of Emergency Situations: 1,305,000 AMD contract. Compnay has supplied 90 gold-plated brass medals

Armenia’s Investigative Committee: 4,459,000 AMD contract. Company has supplied 686 ID cards fashioned from a copper alloy at 6,500 AMD per card.

To produce state medals, chest decorations and other awards in Armenian, a company needs a license issued by the Ministry of Finance. Gnomon received such a license in 2007.

According to Nasdaq OMX Armenia, Gnomon OJSC is 75.89% owned by Gnomon Ltd. 10.13% is owned by Emil Grigoryan, Chairman of the Jewellers Association of Armenia. (Grigoryan is also general director of Gnomon). 2.28% is owned by family members of Emil Grigoryan. The remaining 11.7 % is owned by 1,454 shareholders.

Gnomon Ltd., registered in Russia, is 50% owned by Emil Grigoryan. The other 50% is owned by his daughters.

Photo: Emil Grigoryan (Photolur)