The Tsaghkadzor Sports Complex in the Hands of the Zakaryan Family: Hetq’s Investigation
Hetq’s investigation reconstructs the path by which Tsaghkadzor’s main sports complex passed from the state into the hands of Ishkhan Zakaryan’s family.
Founded in 1967, the training base of the USSR Olympic teams had been on the balance sheet of the 100% state-owned “Tsaghkadzor Main Sports Complex” CJSC since 1996. In 2006, the property was leased for 50 years to “New Horizon Group Inc.”, owned by Armenian-American businessman Albert Boyajian. At the time, the latter was on friendly terms with Ishkhan Zakaryan, chairman of the State Committee for Sport.
In 2010, by a government decision, part of the leased property — hotel buildings, a medical center, sports halls, an arena, a 32,237-square-meter building and 76,121 square meters of land — was directly sold to the company for 541.6 million drams. In 2019, the Prosecutor’s Office questioned the transaction, stating that the market value of the property was 1.8 billion drams, 1.3 billion more than the sale price. The company had never paid rent, although between 2010 and 2018 it would have amounted to 704 million drams. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the contract contained one-sided, unfavorable provisions contrary to state interests.
In 2022, the Government offered “New Horizon Group Inc.” the opportunity to purchase the shares of the CJSC under its pre-emptive right to purchase. The company refused, citing geopolitical factors, and proposed that the property be sold to “Tsaghkadzor Sports Complex” LLC, which it had established in Armenia. By Decision No. 1457-A of September 22, the shares were sold to that company for 732 million drams, and more than 37 hectares of land were also leased to it at an annual rent of 32 million drams (Decision No. 1592-A of 2023).
In 2018, Vardan Zakaryan, the son of Ishkhan Zakaryan and president of the Tennis Federation of Armenia, became the owner of “Tsaghkadzor Sports Complex” LLC, which had been founded by Boyajian. Thus, the Zakaryan family became the owner of approximately 22 hectares of land and 38.6 thousand square meters of buildings, as well as the lessee of 37 hectares of land.
Ishkhan Zakaryan has been in the state apparatus since the 1990s: from 1997 to 2003, he was deputy minister of sports; in 2006, chairman of the State Committee for Sport; in 2010, chairman of the Chamber of Control; since 2011, chairman of the World Committee of the Pan-Armenian Games, whose deputy chairman is Boyajian. Elected as a member of parliament four times, Zakaryan received a mandate in 2021 on the “I Have Honor” alliance’s electoral list, left the faction months later to become an independent member of parliament, and voted in favor of the decision to elect Vahagn Khachaturyan as president, thereby giving the ruling force a decisive vote.
In June 2024, the Prosecutor’s Office placed a 755 million dram attachment on the Zakaryan family’s property. In June 2026, a settlement agreement was concluded: most of the property, including the mansion on Bagrevand Street, was recognized as legitimate, but the Zakaryans undertook to pay 304 million drams to the state in installments. The Prosecutor’s Office did not consider the acquisition of the sports complex’s property problematic, with the exception of a 5,400-square-meter plot of land belonging to Vardan Zakaryan since 2013. The 2019 criminal proceedings are still at the preliminary investigation stage; in the 2020 case, the charge was dropped in 2023 on the grounds of repentance, after Zakaryan returned 71 hectares of land and 32 million drams to the state.
David Chibukhchyan, director of “Tsaghkadzor Sports Complex,” claims that the company fulfilled its investment obligations, while the location, accessibility, and emergency condition of the property were not taken into account during the valuation. According to him, the Zakaryan–Boyajian relationship “has only had a positive impact on the development of Armenian sport.”
The fact remains: at the end of the long road of privatization of the state sports complex, ownership of its grounds and buildings ended up in the hands of Ishkhan Zakaryan’s family.