The “Yeraskh-1” military unit will be returned to the state
On November 29, 2024, the Anti-Corruption Court granted the Prosecutor General’s request and declared void the sale agreement of the “Yeraskh-1” military unit, worth about 60 million, signed on January 13, 2009.
The Prosecutor General’s Department for the Protection of State Interests had filed a lawsuit with the Anti-Corruption Court on April 28 of the previous year. They demanded the invalidation of the sale agreement between the Ministry of Defense and Edgar Arshakyan concerning the approximately 2,200 square meter barracks and other buildings, as well as the 1.2-hectare special purpose land in the village of Armash, Ararat region, and the subsequent registration of rights in the name of Edgar Arshakyan.
On February 2, 2023, Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan reported that in 2005, the head of the Armash community of Ararat region had granted the Ministry of Defense the rights to use two plots of land with special purpose status: one with an area of 1.2 hectares and the other with 0.9 hectares, located on the Yerevan Highway. The first plot, housing the “Yeraskh-1” military unit, contained a headquarters (252.8 square meters), barracks (366.4 square meters), a dining hall (186.9 square meters), a 630.6 square meter building, roof, club, boiler house, restrooms, and guard posts. The second plot, with “Yeraskh-2” military unit status, included a headquarters (212.7 square meters) and a 782.2 square meter building, roof, dining hall, storage, and restrooms.
It was revealed that former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had transferred the military unit for commercial purposes to another person, illegally seizing the property. He had ordered the land to be sold at a price much lower than its cadastral value. Seyran Ohanyan authorized the head of the capital construction and barracks division, Armen Hakobyan, to act on behalf of the Ministry of Defense. In 2009, a sale agreement was signed between Armen Hakobyan, the unit commander Grigory Khachaturov, and Edgar Arshakyan, without revealing the actual buyer. The military unit, valued at approximately $11 million, was effectively sold to Grigory Khachaturov, but was registered in Edgar Arshakyan’s name.
Afterward, Grigory Khachaturov mortgaged the land twice at “Acba Bank,” securing a significant amount of money, thus legalizing its criminal origin.
Seyran Ohanyan also sold the “Yeraskh-2” military unit at an even lower price. The land was valued at $7.5 million but was sold for only $2.5 million.
Seyran Ohanyan refused to testify regarding the sale of the land and, exercising his right, did not provide any position on the issue of criminal prosecution, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.