An investigation initiated by the Department of State Interest Protection of the General Prosecutor’s Office revealed that the 1218 square meter building of the “Mush” cinema in the city of Martuni, Gegharkunik Marz, belonging to the Republic of Armenia, the electrical substation with the area of 43.7 square meters, together with the 0.272 ha plot of land, were illegally expropriated to an individual for only 4 million 572 thousand drams under the contract signed on August 14, 2006. According to the study, it was recorded that the cadastral value of the property at the time of expropriation was 33 million 246 thousand 992 AMD. that is, the above-mentioned properties were sold at a price many times lower than the cadastral value. Currently, the cadastral value of the property approximated to the market value is 134 million 250 thousand drams.
RA General Prosecutor’s Office informs about this.
According to the data received at the Prosecutor’s Office, the expropriation process did not take into account the fact that on December 2, 2005, the mayor of Martuni, at the request of the city’s population, on behalf of the members of the community’s council of elders, appealed to the RA Prime Minister, who was acting at that time, asking to hand over the city’s only cinema building to the community in order to properly organize cultural life and youth entertainment.
According to the results of the study, criminal proceedings were initiated in the Anti-corruption Committee on the basis of the report about the crime submitted by the Department of Protection of State Interests.
In addition, on March 25, 2025, the State Interests Protection Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office submitted a lawsuit to the Anti-Corruption Court, demanding to invalidate the sales contract signed on August 14, 2006 between the RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs and a natural person.
The claim was based on the fact that the public cinema “Mush” located at 66 Myasnikyan Street, Martuni, Gegharkunik Marz, was sold at a price significantly lower than the market and cadastral values, violating both the property valuation and the legal requirements for the expropriation of state property.
According to the judgment of the anti-corruption court on June 1, 2026, the claim of the General Prosecutor’s Office was satisfied. The contract of expropriation of “Mush” cinema in Martuni, signed between the RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs and the citizen on August 14, 2006, was declared invalid.
After the court decision enters into legal force, the building of the “Mush” cinema with an area of 1218 square meters, the electric substation with an area of 43.7 square meters and the plot of land of 0.272 ha will be returned to the Republic of Armenia.
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