Suren Papikyan’s Inner Circle: Advisers, Assistants, and Personnel Issues

After Suren Papikyan moved to the Ministry of Defense, his former colleagues and representatives of his former team began appearing in the ministry. Questions arose not only about possible corruption risks, but also about the professional justification of certain appointments.

Against the backdrop of the authorities’ repeated statements about the post-war crisis and army reform, such personnel decisions periodically became the subject of public criticism, primarily in terms of their correspondence with the level of qualifications and responsibility required within the defense system.

As a result, a model that had become familiar in post-revolutionary Armenia gradually began to take shape around the Ministry of Defense: key positions were increasingly occupied not by specialists within the system, but by people from the authorities’ personal and political circles.

One of the most discussed advisers was former Governor of Aragatsotn Province Razmik Petrosyan. He held the position of governor from October 2021 to January 2022 and had previously served as deputy governor. In the 1990s, Petrosyan participated in the Artsakh war as part of the “Aparan” volunteer detachment and served in the Armenian Armed Forces as deputy commander of a company of a special regiment.

Nevertheless, his appointment was accompanied by a scandal concerning his education. Armenian media outlets had previously reported that Petrosyan had been removed from the position of governor because of problems related to his diploma and failure to meet qualification requirements. Questions also arose regarding information about his alleged higher military education, which, according to media reports, may have been limited to specialized courses.

The appointment of former Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosyan as an adviser also attracted considerable attention. Almost immediately after he appeared in the government system, media outlets began publishing reports about possible problems related to his diploma. In particular, attention was drawn to the fact that the university listed in his biography had obtained a license only after the alleged completion of his studies.

Additional questions arose over the lack of public information about some members of the advisers’ staff. Information in open sources about two of the minister’s six advisers, Davit Aghabalyan and Davit Ghazaryan, is almost nonexistent. Aghabalyan was appointed in 2022, while Ghazaryan had already been working within the system before Papikyan came to the Ministry of Defense.

Personnel decisions concerning the minister’s assistants were no less discussed. As early as December 13, 2021—barely a month after Papikyan was appointed Minister of Defense—Mane Markosyan, born in 1999, became his assistant. She had previously worked as Papikyan’s referent.

Mane Markosyan is a lawyer by education.

Judging from her academic publications and professional specialization, the main areas of her activity have been subsoil use and natural resources law—fields that are not directly related to the defense system.

Former Employees, Business Ties, and Criminal Cases

One day after Mane Markosyan was appointed as the minister’s assistant, on December 14, 2021, Suren Papikyan appointed Vahe Makunts, the brother of Armenia’s ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts, as his assistant. Makunts had previously worked with Papikyan during the latter’s tenure as Deputy Prime Minister.

Notably, the minister’s two assistants were connected not only by Papikyan himself, but also by their interest in the subsoil-use sector. While Markosyan specialized in its legal aspects, Makunts soon became connected with the practical side of the extractive business.

Barely a year after being appointed the minister’s assistant, Makunts left the position and, starting in 2023, became involved in several companies engaged in the extraction and sale of sand in Armavir Province.

One of those companies, “X Mining” LLC, had obtained a permit for sand extraction only two months before starting operations. Moreover, as was reported, the company had been periodically engaged in illegal extraction since January, as evidenced by administrative proceedings. After Vahe Makunts joined the company, the latest proceeding was terminated.

“X Mining” LLC was founded on May 4, 2022, by Harutyun Voskanyan, the son of former head of the Goris community Nelson Voskanyan. Voskanyan later left the company.

Currently, 56.6% of the company belongs to Vahe Makunts, while another 43.4% belongs to Tigran Sedrakyan. The latter is the father of Karen Sedrakyan, a member of the Competition Protection Commission, whose wife is the daughter of former acting Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Gagik Jhangiryan.

Makunts and Sedrakyan also own “Sanding Mining” LLC in equal shares. The company was founded in 2022 by Gayane Dumanyan, the sister of former Health Minister Derenik Dumanyan. By April 2023, she had left the business, and Makunts and Sedrakyan took her place.

Another company in which Vahe Makunts became a co-owner is “Wolf Mining” LLC. Initially, the owners included Russian citizen Leonid Yeghiazaryan, former Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Sargsyan, and Tigran Sedrakyan. In January 2023, Makunts also joined them.

In addition, “First Construction Company” LLC was also engaged in sand extraction. After a number of changes in ownership, the company eventually also came under the control of Vahe Makunts and his partners.

Separate questions also arose concerning other representatives of Papikyan’s circle.

Thus, a criminal case was initiated against former ministerial adviser Arshak Ordukhanian under articles concerning the creation of a criminal association, the theft of computer data on an especially large scale, and the organization of illegal migration through the use of forged documents. According to Datalex, the case was sent to court in May 2024, and Ordukhanian himself is in custody.

Another former adviser to Papikyan, Major General Artak Tonoyan, left his position following the arrest of his son, Artashes Tonoyan, who is suspected in the murder case of 24-year-old Mamikon D. Investigators allege that the murder took place near the house of crime figure Rustam Stepanyan, known by the nickname “Chagh Rustam.”

In parallel, the Military Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit against Artak Tonoyan with the Anti-Corruption Court, seeking compensation for damage caused to the state.

The scandals also touched former Etchmiadzin Mayor Diana Gasparyan, whom the media also linked to Papikyan’s close circle. Earlier, a recording appeared online in which Gasparyan criticized Nikol Pashinyan and stated that the Prime Minister “should leave for the sake of the country.” Later, her name appeared at the center of a corruption investigation related to alleged schemes involving community land, a conflict of interests, and contracts concluded by the municipality with affiliated persons.

The acquaintances, connections, or subsequent activities of former employees do not prove Papikyan’s involvement in possible violations. Nevertheless, the recurring intersections between his circle, the extractive business, criminal cases, and the same surnames form a persistent set of questions concerning the personnel policy pursued within the system.

And the more this circle expanded, the more the Ministry of Defense began to resemble not a closed professional institution, but a continuation of the old model of personal connections, loyalty, and mutual obligations.