When Hetq recently asked Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan to clarify why he was able to purchase a Yerevan apartment last summer for 69 million drams (US$168,000 at the time) that currently sells for $412,000, Papikyan advised us to contact the developer, Jermuk Group CJSC, owned by former Republican Party of Armenia MP Ashot Arsenyan.

Responding to our written inquiry,  Jermuk Group Director Vladimir Poghosyan said potential buyers are able to reserve apartments before construction begins.

Asked when Papikyan had reserved the apartment, Poghosyan would only say that Armenian legislation doesn’t define any reservation protocol and that the reservation was done “internally”.  

When Papikyan allegedly reserved the apartment remains unclear.

All we know is that when Papikyan purchased the apartment in July 2022, the building's exteriorhad already been constructed.

Arsenyan was a deputy of the National Assembly in 2003-2012, after joining the Republican Party led by former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. 

In 2019, one year after the “Velvet Revolution” spearheaded by Nikol Pashinyan, Jermuk Group donated snow removal equipment to the Yerevan Municipality. The company was then granted permission to build a high-rise apartment complex on Arshakunyats Avenue.

That same year, a criminal investigation was launched to ascertain why Arsenyan’s son Vahagn was exempted from mandatory military service. The case was later dropped.