The organisation led by Gagik Tsarukyan has lost a property portfolio in the country’s leading tourist destination following a judicial decision after his political party’s failure to secure parliamentary seats in the national elections.
According to the Armenian Report, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the Administrative Court had upheld a lawsuit to overturn the ownership rights of the Armenian Olympic Committee over a 225.1-hectare plot in the Tsaghkadzor ropeway area. Prosecutors value the area at over 36.4 billion drams, making it one of the most valuable cases of state property currently before the courts.
The organisation, headed by long-standing leader, the businessman and politician Tsarukyan since 2004, obtained the property’s registration in December 2005. This was originally based on a decision issued by the governor of Kotayk Province, as well as on provisions contained within amendments to the national Land Code.
However, the Administrative Court concluded that these legal provisions could not serve as a basis for granting ownership rights, as the transfer occurred after the relevant legislation had entered into force. Consequently, the judge declared the registration invalid, ruling that the state-owned property should not have been registered in the name of the Olympic Committee. Once the ruling comes into effect, ownership of the 225.1-hectare area will transfer back to the Republic of Armenia.
Tsaghkadzor is a major tourist city and ski resort. Due to its high altitude, it also attracts many foreign athletes who prepare for the new season in the mountains. ARMNOC also runs a large sports complex with a hotel in Tsaghkadzor.
The decision comes at a politically sensitive time for Tsarukyan, whose Prosperous Armenia Party was dealt a significant blow in the recent parliamentary elections. According to the final results published by the Central Election Commission, the party received 58,287 votes (3.9893% of the total), falling just short of the 4% threshold required for parliamentary representation.
Following the recalculation of the results, Tsarukyan’s party would eventually receive 4%. However, the CEC then cancelled the votes of three polling stations, which affected the results, and Prosperous Armenia lost again.
Tensions between pro-government forces and Tsarukyan began to escalate a few months before the elections. This was when the businessman announced his plans to stand in the elections as part of the opposition. Tsarukyan was one of three main pro-Russian opposition figures to the ruling party, ‘Civil Contract’, led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which was eventually elected with majority of the voices and will form the new government.
On 10 April, just a day before the scheduled ARMNOC elections, which would have seen Tsarukyan elected for a sixth term as the sole candidate, the Weightlifting Federation of Armenia, led by Pashinyan’s adviser Arayik Harutyunyan, turned to the court to suspend the proceedings. The ARMNOC election process has now been stopped until the court’s decision.
Harutyunyan later accused Tsarukyan of impeding the development of sports in the country. According to some sources, the Armenian government sees former ARMNOC president Ishkhan Zakaryan as a potential replacement for Tsarukyan. Zakaryan led the ARMNOC from 2000 to 2004 and stepped down after the country failed to win a medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He was replaced by Tsarukyan’s, and during his 22-year tenure, Armenia has won 19 Olympic medals: one gold, 10 silver and eight bronze.
Zakaryan has led the Pan Armenian Games Committee since 2011 and was a long-standing member of Tsarukyan’s party. However, he now maintains close relationships with the current government.
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