ArmInfo. The building of the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Ministry of Information Technologies put up for an auction for $28 million has not found its buyer, Arman Sahakyan, Head of the State Property Management Department of Armenia, said on December 21, when summing up the results of the year 2016.
The decision on alienation of the Transport Ministry building in 28, Nalbandyan Street, was made during the government meeting on the 6th of October. According to the Government's plans, the building is to be alienated at a classic auction and it is estimated at 13.2 billion drams.
According to Arman Sahakyan the auction was to be held at the Auction Center of the Department on the 14th of November, but the trading didn't take place due to the lack of buyers. Sahakyan explained that the Transport Ministry building was put up for a public auction in order to avoiding further speculations about possible favoritism. When responding to the remark that the price of the building in the center of Armenia (Republic Square) was equals to the price of a shop, Sahakyan said, "I don't think there is a store in Armenia that costs $28 million". He said that 1 square meter is estimated at $3.5 thousand. He added that the Government made a similar deal by selling the old building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "I don't think that the market value of the mentioned property is higher than the assigned price," he noted.
Sahakyan said that though the auction on the sale of the Transport Ministry building did not take place, the Government keeps negotiating with various investors. However, he did not specify the names of the investors. As regards possible acquisition of the Ministry building by Argentine businessman of Armenian origin Eduardo Eurnekian, who is the buyer of the Foreign Ministry's old building, Sahakyan said that Eurnekian showed no interest in the Transport Ministry building.
To note, the old building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Republic Square was sold by the Armenian Government for $51.3 mln. "Tango" CJSC owned by Eduardo Eurnekian. According to the Government's draft decision, the buyer is to invest sufficient funds in the building to transform it into a five-star hotel of a well-known international brand, but preserve the appearance of the building.
Eduardo Eurnekian owns "Armenia International Airports" CJSC, Converse Bank, and he also implements large projects in the agrarian sector.