ArmInfo. The building of the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of Armenia will be put up for sale. The Armenian government approved the decision on August 3 in the number of issues that are not discussed at the meeting of the Government.
The building of the Ministry of Transport, located at Nalbandyan 28, will be alienated at the classical auction. The area of the building is 7,8 thousand square meters, preliminary cost -13 223 400 652 AMD (about $ 27 million). The potential buyer will be obliged to pay the cadastral value of the land plot - 151.239.348 AMD.
Earlier, at the end of 2016 the head of the State Property Management Arman Sahakyan stated at a press conference that the building of the Ministry of Transport, put up for auction for $ 28 million, did not find its buyer. The Armenian government planned that the building would be alienated at a classical auction and valued at 13.2 billion AMD. According to Arman Sahakyan, the auction was to be held at the Auction Center of the Office on November 14, but due to the lack of buyers, the auctions did not take place. As explained by the head of the Office, the building of the Ministry of Transport was put up for public auction in order to exclude further gossip about possible patronage. Answering the remark that the price of the whole building in the center of the Armenian capital (the Republic Square) was equivalent to the cost of one store, Sahakyan asked: "I do not think there is a store in Armenia worth $ 28 million" Explaining that the cost of a square meter was estimated at $ 3.5 thousand, the official noted that the Government had concluded a similar deal by selling the old building of the Foreign Ministry of the republic. "I do not think that the market value of this property is higher than the price set," he said.
Commenting on the possibility of acquiring the building of the Ministry of Transport Argentinean businessman of Armenian origin Edurado Ernekyan, who is also a buyer of the old building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the person of Tango Company, Sahakyan noted that the latter did not show interest in buying the building of the Ministry of Transport. "In any case, I believe that if we manage to implement the deal in connection with the building of the Ministry of Transport of Armenia, this will definitely become one of the most important and successful deals for our country," concluded the head of the State Property Management Department of Armenia.
The current building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, located in the center of Yerevan on the Republic Square, was sold by the decision of the government of the country for $ 51.3 million to CJSC Tango, owned by the Argentinean businessman of Armenian origin Eduardo Ernekian. Earlier it was expected that a five-star hotel of the Kempinski group would be established at the Foreign Ministry's site. The government's draft decision specifies, in particular, that the buyer undertakes to invest in the required amount and turn the Foreign Ministry building after reconstruction into a five-star hotel of the world- famous international brand, while preserving the external appearance of the building. Eduardo Ernekian owns the company "International Airports of Armenia", CJSC "Conversbank", the businessman also implements major projects in the field of agriculture.