The sons of former Armenian finance minister Gagik Khachatryan sold their palatial Los Angeles house for a cool $18.8 million yesterday.
It’s clear that it will not be possible to pay them all off with the sale of the above mentioned assets.
Armenia’s national football squad has advanced 18 places in the recent FIFA rankings after its 2-0 win over Kazakhstan in the World Cup qualifiers.
Khosrov Harutyunyan, president of Armenia’s Christian-Democratic Union, has been serving in the Armenian government and National Assembly since the country gained independence in the early 1990s.
Hetq recently wrote that Vahe Hakobyan, governor of Armenia’s Syunik province, owns real estate in Spain.
Daily flights in and out of Kapan soon increased to 10-12. On days featuring football matches in Yerevan, some 16 flights took off. Ten s of thousands flew to Yerevan and back without incident. The Kapan airport closed after 1990, due to several objective and subjective reasons, and fell into disrepair.
Our research shows that more than US$ 26 million has already been spent on church and chapel construction in Armenia and Artsakh. We must note, however, that this amount does not include amounts spent on very large churches and chapels, especially in Yerevan. This amount would easily double, or even triple, if included.
The Egyptian resort towns of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh have been attracting many tourists from Armenia in recent years. Peak travel times are summers, early autumn, and New Year’s.
The school in the Yezidi-populated village of Tlik, in Armenia’s Aragatsotn Province, is a real antiquity.
According to today’s FIFA world rankings, Armenia’s national squad has advanced one notch to 86th place with a score of 412.
It was so cold that even the village dogs couldn’t be bothered to leave their warm crevices and bark at me, an unknown visitor.
When we asked our friend, a member of the Armenian community in the Czech Republic, if he knew a man called Shant Aleksanyan, he answered: “He’s like a specter.”
Hetq has written about the attraction that the Czech real estate market holds for many Armenian government officials.
If the FFA president had no problem launching a witch-hunt to find traitors within the team, then it follows that the coach could utter such remarks bordering on the paranormal. At this point, one can only take pity on Sukiasyan and advise him, his staffers and players to hang an “evil-eye” around their necks to protect them from us reporters.
Hetq reports on the real estate business interests of Yervand Zakharyan and his children in that country.
While only two airlines are currently allowed to operate scheduled passenger flights originating in Armenia, 26 can fly to Armenia from points outside.
The family of Armen Gevorgyan, Armenia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and currently secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council, has planted deep roots in the Czech Republic, where they are in the rental real estate business.
After a twenty-year dry spell, Armenia has won a gold medal at the Olympics.
In 2010, Gourgen and Artyom, the two sons of Armenian Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, purchased a sprawling private house in the affluent Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood. They paid $11 million for it.
Reading the plaque commemorating prominent blacksmiths in the Artsakh village of Metz Taghlar, I ask why the name of the village is written in the form “Taghlar” and not “Tagher”?
Taron-Avia got the go-ahead on May 10 during a council meeting held by Armenia’s Ministry of the Economy reviewing the tenders it had received by companies vying for the chance to conduct regular air service. The certificate was issued on May 16.
Relatives of Robert Nazaryan, president of Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) own a number of businesses in the Czech Republic.
Aviacompany Armenia has been granted permission to fly to 17 international destinations from Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport.
Albert Yeritsyan, a famous businessman in Armenia mostly known for the ‘Father and Son Yeritsyans Supermarket’ in Yerevan, opened a business in the Czech Republic ten years ago. That business is now run by the family of Robert Yeritsyan, son of Albert.
While this is not the first time that aviation companies registered in Armenia have been caught up in tangled international stories of intrigue, the government of Armenia seems to turn a blind eye to it all. Such an approach can lead to unforeseen consequences given the strong possibility that one day Armenia may face U.N. sanctions due to the exploits of Armenian aviators.
The 2016 Candidates include six of the World’s top-ten rated grandmasters, representing six countries.
According to “Swiss Leaks” findings, there were 10 clients associated with Armenia (4 had an Armenian passport/nationality) who opened 21 client accounts between 1989 and 2006 that were linked to 23 bank accounts.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker has said that passengers on the new direct service to and from Yerevan will benefit from easier access to the rest of the world via Qatar Airways’ global network.
In the meantime the new company, with Georgian financial backing, must first receive an Armenian AOC.
If current trends continue, the Armenian aviation market will be at the mercy of foreign companies, mostly Russian. They can, at any time based on their interests, suspend commercial and non- commercial flights. More importantly, they can also dictate flight fares.
We should note that Baghdasarov has strong ties with Georgian Airways dating back to when Armavia was operating.
Armenia’s men’s team came from behind to take second place at the European Team Chess Championship in Reykjavik.
Armenia’s national football team has dropped 39 spots in the latest round of FIFA rankings from 91st place to 127th.
Many air cargo companies, registered in Armenia, have conducted business in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa since Armenia gained its independence.
Laboratory testing designed to reveal how a large number of surgery patients at the Kajaran Medical Center in Syunik contracted hepatitis C late last year has been completed, this according to Armenia’s Ministry of Health.
Awadisian’s reputation as a criminal swindler got a major boost in February 2014 when he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on an outstanding warrant in Alabama for bank fraud.
It appears that Armenia’s State Committee for Economic Competitiveness Protection (SCECP) will not pursue the case to fine City Petrol Group (CPS) 100 million drams (US$212,000) on charges that the company had abused its position as a market leader.
Armavia, regarded as Armenia’s flying colors, could have continue to operate. However artificial its dominancy over the ruins of Armenian Airlines may appear, the liberalization of the aviation sector – with all its negative consequences - was equally natural. In the history of Armenian aviation, the ten years between 2003 and 2013 will perhaps go down as the Armavia decade, rich with the extreme ups and downs particular to the aviation...
Of note are the periodic contradictory statements of Baghdasarov and Armavia.
“I’m the only pigeon fancier left in the village,” Sargis boasted.
We walk down the dusty road in the village of Yeraskh towards the new house of Sergey Stepanyan.
In the Group 1 qualifiers for Euro-16, Armenia faces Portugal, now ranked 6th in the world. Armenia’s other opponents include Albania (22nd), Denmark (25th) and Serbia (66th).
Despite Baghdasarov’s estimate, in actuality Armavia flew over 800,000 passengers in 2010 (see the infograph above for number of passengers from 2003 to 2010). The discrepancy is incomprehensible —either Baghdasarov was needlessly disappointed or the company’s figure was inflated.
The Latin American team is followed, in descending order, by Germany, Belgium, Colombia, Holland, Brazil, Portugal, Romania, England and Wales.
On May 3, 2006 at 2:13 am local time near Adler Airport, Armavia’s Airbus A320-211 (EK- 32009), flight 967 en route to Sochi from Yerevan, crashed into the Black Sea.
Later on, many experts and company employees would draw comparisons between Siberia and the Baghdasarov eras, in favor of the former, pointing out poor management during the tenure of the Armenian oligarch that came to the fore in different ways and something that wasn’t even refuted at the top echelons of Armavia (while naturally pointing to the “faults” of others in the company’s failures).
There are three schools operating in Shoushi today (a senior, primary and high school), two kindergartens, a music school, and one teachers’ college. With financial assistance from a benefactor, there are plans to build another kindergarten for 100 children.
All this goes to show that in 2003 Armenian passenger aviation was controlled by these prominent oligarchs and, of course, Russian Siberia Airlines.
On April 30, a company called Taron-Avia operated a flight from Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport to Amman, the capital of Jordan.