Hetq.am. Alen Simonyan and Government MPs Vacationed on a Greek Island with a Well-Known Businessman
They have been talking from morning till night about fighting corruption. Do you think corruption is some huge animal with horns and a tail? This is corruption.
Nikol Pashinyan, Member of Parliament, 21.05.2014
National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, his wife, and ruling faction MPs Eduard Aghajanyan and Hrachya Hakobyan (the Prime Minister’s brother-in-law) spent time in early September on one of the Greek islands with businessman Vigen Badalyan, the founder of the “Vivaro” bookmaker company.
The Aegean Sea’s island of Mykonos attracts the world’s celebrities and wealthy like a magnet. Located 150 km from Athens, the island began attracting tourists in the 1920s, when archaeologists and “hunters” of antiquities had made it a base for visiting the archaeological sites of neighboring Delos. Years later, US President John Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, and her second husband, Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, were seen here. Then came the movie stars—Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren. Known for its beaches and distinctive cuisine, Mykonos is sometimes also called the “island of winds” because fairly strong winds blow here, but this does not prevent the local clubs and restaurants from buzzing with visitors, especially at night.
And Mykonos has not lacked famous visitors in recent decades either: Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Sharon Stone, Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss…
You cannot put Armenia’s lawmakers Alen Simonyan, Eduard Aghajanyan, and Hrachya Hakobyan in the same category as those stars; almost no one knows them abroad, and paparazzi and “ordinary” tourists do not photograph them on the beach or in the streets. But this time it was the opposite—the Armenian MPs’ entertainment appeared online.
Days later, when opposition MP Aregnaz Manukyan asked how much Simonyan had spent on the Greek island, noting that, according to reports, the head of one of the bookmaker offices had covered the expenses of the vacation (she meant Vigen Badalyan), the parliamentary speaker responded: “I do not comment on my private life, lies, and the yellow press.”
Simonyan, who initiated a threefold increase in the amount of monetary compensation for defamation and insult, has diligently placed critical publications about himself in the domain of the yellow press and lies in recent months. By and large, it is his right not to answer questions concerning his private life, but in any democratic society, public servants are under a magnifying glass, which is normal: they receive salaries from the state budget, which is formed from taxes paid by the public; therefore, public interest in an official’s expenses is also justified and logical.
From September 6 to 9, the National Assembly delegation headed by Alen Simonyan participated in two international gatherings in Vienna. CP [Civil Contract] MPs Eduard Aghajanyan and Hrachya Hakobyan were not part of it, but they were in Mykonos with Simonyan. The parliamentary speaker told “Hetq” that he had not been on vacation before traveling to Vienna, but on September 6 he posted a photograph from Greece on his “Instagram” page with his wife, Mariam Margaryan, writing: “3 days of rest together, three years later.”
Simonyan and his friends were in Mykonos in the days preceding the 6th. When we asked him which days he had been on the island, the official replied: “I do not make comments concerning my private life.” In this way, he answered 5 of our 12 questions.
The video that caused a stir, in which the parliamentary speaker and the Prime Minister’s brother-in-law H. Hakobyan are dancing, was filmed on September 4. The video is edited, but the date is visible in one part of it. “Hetq” found out that the video shows the “Principote” restaurant at Panormos Bay in northern Mykonos, which also has a beach with its own amenities (Simonyan’s wife posted a photograph from this beach on her Instagram page). On the online booking website tripadvisor.com, there are significant numbers of complaints about the poor quality and high prices of the services at this restaurant and beach. Alen Simonyan did not answer the question of what he himself thought about it, or whether “Principote” was affordable for the parliamentary speaker.
Not only Simonyan and Hakobyan can be seen dancing in the restaurant video, but also the parliamentary speaker’s wife and the younger of the Badalyan brothers, the founders of the “Vivaro” bookmaker company—Vigen. In the video, he is wearing a black-and-white hat, which can also be seen in the businessman’s Facebook photographs.
On September 5, photographs also circulated online showing Simonyan (apparently with his wife), Aghajanyan, Hakobyan, and Vigen Badalyan standing at the entrance to the “Void” nightclub in Mykonos, the island’s largest city.
The club offers various amenities: a bar and dance floor, separate tables, and a VIP room with a separate DJ and bar. The entrance price to the club is $20–25 per person; tickets are sold for many of the concerts ($30–35), but depending on how well-known the DJ or performer is, the price increases.
The club has a dress code. A cocktail here costs $10–15, while a full bottle of alcohol costs $300–500. There is also “bottle service,” which is considered the best option for using the club’s services and reserving a table in advance. While customers at the club spend from several hundred to several thousand dollars during an ordinary visit, in the case of “bottle service,” the expenses are many times higher.
As for where the parliamentary speaker spent his time, he and his wife inadvertently helped determine this by posting photographs on “Instagram” from various locations on the island. The photograph posted by Simonyan was taken near Ornos Bay in southern Mykonos. The official’s wife, Mariam Margaryan, also posted photographs from there. Their geolocation makes it possible to say that the parliamentary speaker spent time at the “Santa Marina” 5-star resort of the global “Marriott” chain, which, on the shore of Ornos Bay, offers hotel rooms and villas, a spa center, bars and restaurants, a shared swimming pool, and a beach. The photographs posted by Alen Simonyan’s wife were taken on the outdoor terrace of one of the hotel rooms and at “Buddah-Bar.” The latter is also a global chain represented in various cities, including Mykonos. It offers Asian cuisine and seafood. For example, 28 grams of black caviar costs €280, while lunch for one person costs €107–150.