Civilnet.amwrites: The revolution of 2018 brought Tigran Avinyan, one of the members of the "Civil Contract" party, to the top of political power. It was the year when the revolution ended the long reign of the Republican government, bringing the "Civil Pact" to power.
Tigran Avinyan, who at that time was a member of the opposition faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders, became the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia. The rise of his political career was accompanied by the prosperity of family-related businesses, including indirect benefits from government programs. CivilNet and OCCRP (Organized Corruption and Crime Coverage Project) through a joint investigation found out that these programs were under the coordination of Avinyan and the discussions related to them were coordinated by Deputy Prime Minister Avinyan himself.
Tigran Avinyan held the position of Deputy Prime Minister in 2018-2021 and coordinated agriculture, among other areas. The "Irrigate" company belonging to the Avinyan family worked as a contractor for nine beneficiaries of the state support program for the establishment of intensive orchards with modern technologies, helping the beneficiaries of that program to establish orchards.
Beneficiaries received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government to establish orchards. The beneficiary did not directly implement the garden establishment, but engaged "Irrigate" as a contractor.
The Ministry of Economy refuses to say how much money "Irrigate" received from the beneficiaries. Avinyan, his father Armen Avinyan, "Irrigate" shareholder Davit Avinyan, Tigran Avinyan's brother, did not respond to CivilNet's written requests for comments.
Tigran Avinyan is from the political team that came to power in the spring of 2018, after weeks of anti-government disobedience, overthrowing the power of former President Serzh Sargsyan. The leader of the "Civil Pact", current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan began and continued his tenure with promises to root out corruption and strengthen democracy.
As deputy prime minister, Tigran Avinyan coordinated the fields of economic development, information technology, infrastructure, and agriculture. In addition, he was the chairman of the board of directors of the Armenian State Interest Fund, ANIF, which was dissolved this year.
The company specializes in installing irrigation systems. It also has leased land, produces Chiruchamich dry set-boxes, which are sold in Yerevan supermarkets. Tigran Avinyan was a shareholder and director of the company, but in June 2018, after assuming the position of deputy prime minister, he transferred the share to his brother, a plastic surgeon, Davit, and his father, Armen Avinyan, became the director of the company.
In October 2018, a scandal related to "Irrigate" broke out when OCCRP member "Hetq" wrote that "Irrigate" received a government grant of $35,000. Tigran Avinyan applied for a grant back in February of that year, but the company won when Avinyan was already deputy prime minister. Referring to this story, Avinyan denied a possible conflict of interests, assured that almost all stages of receiving the grant had been completed before assuming his position. However, CivilNet and OCCRP found that Irrigate also benefited indirectly from another government agricultural program.
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