The Armenian government today decided to hand over 148 hectares of national forest land within the Artavaz village boundaries to the company A&M Rare in a non-cost leasing arrangement.

This acreage is in addition to some 96 hectares of Artavaz land that the government allocated to the company in 2010.

Villagers of Artavaz in the Kotayk Marz were promised $4,200 for each hectare of the 96 hectares delineated by the Armenian government as public domain lands. Many residents held out for more but were pressured to sell at rock bottom prices.

The company began to construct a bottling plant for the area’s mineral and spring waters with an eye towards export.

The company says the new acreage will serve as a natural buffer from the underground water reserves and that the company will not allow any logging in the area.

An Arab Sheikh and a Swiss company

"A&M Rare" was founded by "A&M Investment", a company registered in Luxembourg. 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.

Hetq sent a letter to the government, requesting the investment proposal made by the company to build a water bottling plant. We received a reply from Minister Nerses Yeritsyan.

It turns out that the investment plan was presented to the government by "Swiss Rare S.A.", a Swiss firm whose president is Saudi Arabian Sheikh Muhammed Musallami.

He is also a stockholder of the company. Till now, we have been able to identify only one other Armenian official who owns shares in the company; MP Gagik Abrahamyan.

The "Swiss Rare" investment company is registered in Geneva and engages in industrial, agricultural and hotel construction.