Hetq Investigation: The “Extended Family” of a Civil Contract MP’s Relatives at a State Non-Commercial Organization Under the Ministry of Education
In August 2022, Hetq published an investigative article detailing the personal and family connections of David Danielyan, a deputy from the Civil Contract faction, within the Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-Reservations, a state non-commercial organization operating under the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.
The article reveals how people from the deputy’s close circle occupied various positions at this important cultural institution, and also examines a contract in the organization’s procurement process with a company owned by the deputy’s wife.
Appointments as the Result of a “Friends-and-Relatives” Network
According to the article, since October 15, 2021, Armen Hovhannisyan has been serving as acting director of the organization. Before that, he held the position of deputy director. He was appointed head of the organization with the backing of David Danielyan, a former aide and godson of former Education, Science, Culture and Sports Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, who is now a Civil Contract deputy.
According to the publication, Hovhannisyan and Danielyan are friends, and even after becoming a deputy, Danielyan continued to interfere in the organization’s affairs, particularly personnel changes.
Hetq notes that after Armen Hovhannisyan assumed his duties as director, Hayk Danielyan, the brother of deputy David Danielyan, was appointed deputy director. He had previously served as an adviser to the director and had earlier worked at the Kotayk Regional Service.
Aram Antonyan, the brother of David Danielyan’s wife, also joined the organization’s Exhibitions and Events Department. He is a student at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.
Personnel changes also took place at the organization’s Syunik Regional Service. Within several months, three different heads of the regional service were replaced, all of them from Kapan and again close to David Danielyan. The current head, Shant Davtyan, had previously worked as a laborer at the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine.
Hovhannisyan’s “Extended Family” at the Organization
The article also provides details about the involvement of Armen Hovhannisyan’s relatives in the organization.
After becoming director, Hovhannisyan appointed his maternal aunt’s son, David Danielyan (not to be confused with the deputy), as his adviser for external relations. He provides legal consulting services.
It is noted that the adviser David Danielyan’s mother, Astghik Hakobyan, had previously served as head of the Syunik Regional Service and was dismissed following an incident involving former organization director Ara Tarverdyan.
According to the publication, many of Armen Hovhannisyan’s relatives were already working at the organization before he was appointed director. These included his two maternal aunts, Gohar and Shushanik, his sister Anna Hovhannisyan, and her husband Roman Karapetyan, head of the Ararat Regional Service, as well as the aforementioned David Danielyan, who had worked at the organization years earlier as a lawyer and procurement specialist.
According to the article, these members of the “extended family” were hired by another former director of the organization, Vladimir Poghosyan.
In addition, after Hovhannisyan became acting director, Gohar Haroyan was hired by the organization’s Human Resources Department. She is the sister of Hovhannisyan’s friend and the daughter of his driver’s maternal aunt.
The “Kratos” LLC Deal Linked to the Deputy’s Wife
The article also draws attention to the organization’s procurement process, in which David Danielyan was again involved.
On March 25, 2022, the organization signed a procurement contract with Kratos LLC for the development of programs. The company had been established just 21 days earlier, on March 4. The value of the contract was AMD 900,000.
The sole owner and director of Kratos LLC is Ani Antonyan, the wife of deputy David Danielyan.
Notably, although the contract with Kratos LLC was signed on March 25, 2022, the invoice for the services was received on April 1 from Kratos-1 LLC, which had been established only four days earlier, on March 28, 2022. The sole owner and director of Kratos-1 LLC is again Ani Antonyan.
Responses Without Denying the Information
The authors of the article sent written inquiries to both deputy David Danielyan and Armen Hovhannisyan, the acting director of the organization.
In response to a question about his relationship with Armen Hovhannisyan, David Danielyan stated that they are friends. However, when asked whether Hovhannisyan had been appointed director through his intervention, the deputy did not answer, thereby not denying the information.
He also did not answer the question concerning the appointment of his brother, Hayk Danielyan, only stating that his brother had worked at the organization before Hovhannisyan’s appointment.
Regarding his wife’s brother, Aram Antonyan, Danielyan responded that he did not have the details and advised the journalists to contact the organization.
Armen Hovhannisyan did not answer any of the questions, referring to the right to privacy and confidentiality of personal and family life.
As Hetq notes, if the information provided by the publication had been incorrect, Hovhannisyan could simply have denied it, which, in essence, he did not do.
The Hetq publication indicates that the state non-commercial organization under the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, responsible for protecting Armenia’s historical monuments and museum-reservations, is structured according to a “relatives-acquaintances-friends” principle. The article argues that despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s rhetoric about excluding such a principle from the state system, reality shows the opposite: a deputy from Pashinyan’s party and his friend, the head of the organization, have filled the staffing structure of this important cultural institution with their relatives and close associates, while also securing lucrative procurement contracts with companies owned by the deputy’s wife.