The prosecution demands to annul the auction of the land transferred to Diana Gasparyan's mother-in-law's company.
07-07-2026 15:39 Armenia Human Rights
hetq.am The Prosecutor General's Office has filed a lawsuit against the Vagarshapat Municipality and Araks community council member Shahen Shahinyan, demanding the annulment of the auctions conducted with their participation and the application of the consequences of annulment. This concerns the plots of land on which a company, involving the mother of the husband of former Vagarshapat community leader Diana Gasparyan, is constructing private houses for sale.
“Hetq” had previously reported on the alienation of this land plot in December 2023. Based on the publication, former Vagarshapat community leader Diana Gasparyan, her husband, and his father have been charged with money laundering. The case is being examined in the Anti-Corruption Court.
On June 24, 2022, the Vagarshapat community council decided in an extraordinary session to sell a 0.9-hectare plot of land located at 971/8 V. Teryan Street, which is community property, through auction. The land plot has public development significance and is intended for construction. The decision was supported by 19 council members, including then-community leader Diana Gasparyan and council member Aramais Mirzoyan. They got married in 2023.
The starting price for each square meter of the land plot was set at 200% of its cadastral value, totaling 51 million 975 thousand drams (5,775 drams per square meter). The auction was conducted by the Vagarshapat Municipality's auction committee.
Only one person participated in the auction: Shahen Shahinyan, a member of the Araks community council in the Armavir region. He offered the starting price of 51 million 975 thousand drams for the plot and was recognized as the winner.
After acquiring the land plot and registering the ownership right with the Cadastre Committee, Shahen Shahinyan applied to the Vagarshapat Municipality, requesting to also alienate a 0.1908-hectare plot of land adjacent to this land plot, which is community property and has public development significance, through direct sale.
On December 13, 2022, Diana Gasparyan decided to alienate the approximately 0.2-hectare plot to Shahen Shahinyan through direct sale at its cadastral value of 5 million 509 thousand 350 drams (2,887.5 drams per square meter). It was justified that this land plot could not be alienated as a separate property unit.
Thus, one square meter of the second land plot in the same area was sold for about half the price of the adjacent land plot sold at auction a few months earlier.
On August 18, 2023, the ownership right of the land plot was registered in the name of “Nare Plus” LLC. The company belongs to Diana Gasparyan's mother-in-law, Aramais Mirzoyan's mother. The basis for registration was the real estate investment contract signed on August 14 of the same year.
The land plot is divided into about sixty addresses, on which houses are being built.
It should be noted that Shahen Shahinyan was elected as a member of the Araks consolidated community council in the Armavir region on December 5, 2021, on the proportional list of the “Civil Contract” party.
At the time of acquiring the land, Shahinyan was working for Ashot Mirzoyan, who is the father of Vagarshapat council member Aramais Mirzoyan and the father-in-law of community leader Diana Gasparyan.
Ashot Mirzoyan is registered as an individual entrepreneur and operates a gas station in Vagarshapat, where a person was shot dead on March 22, 2025. The approval for the construction of the gas station was given by community leader Diana Gasparyan in March 2020.
Shahen Shahinyan has been the director of “Inter Gaz” LLC since its establishment in 2017. The sole owner of the company is Ashot Mirzoyan. The connections between Ashot Mirzoyan and Shahen Shahinyan were formed years ago. They have not only a working relationship but also a long-term business partnership.
Shahen Shahinyan did not declare the existence of the total amount of approximately 57 million 484 thousand drams paid for the land plots acquired from the Ejmiadzin Municipality in his declarations. This raised questions about the means by which the transaction was carried out.
In an interview with “Hetq,” Shahen Shahinyan stated that the money paid for the land plot acquired at auction from the municipality was borrowed from Ashot Mirzoyan.
The prosecutor's lawsuit was accepted for proceedings by the court on June 30, 2026.
* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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