The Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia invalidated the sale and purchase agreement of the state plot signed by the former Minister of Defense Serzh Sargsyan in 2006, obliging the buyer to pay multi-million financial compensation to the state.

The judicial act was made on the basis of the claim of the State Interests Protection Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office. The 0.17-hectare plot of land located on Tsovakal Isakov Avenue in Malatia-Sebastia administrative district of the capital appeared at the center of the case.

The court recognized the deal between the then head of the defense department and the private company as illegal. Since the actual return of the territory to the state is currently impossible, the court ordered the closed joint-stock company to compensate the market value of the asset. The amount subject to confiscation will be 78.86 million drams (equivalent to about 205.3 thousand US dollars).

“Considering the impossibility of returning the mentioned plot of land, as a consequence of the invalidity of the contract, its value will be expropriated from the company in favor of the Republic of Armenia,” explained the supervisory department, adding that the judgment has already entered into legal force and an enforcement notice has been issued.

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