Armenia`s deputy minister of economy resigns

ArmInfo. Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Narek Teryan has written a letter of resignation  from his post. The information was confirmed by the press service of the department.

Teryan was appointed Deputy Minister of Economy on April 21, 2021 by  the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Before that, he held  senior positions in commercial banks of the Russian Federation and  worked in the government of the Moscow region.

Meanwhile, CivilNet, pointing to an ,  reported earlier that the wife of the Deputy Minister of Economy of  Armenia got a job in 2023 in a company that was tasked with building  a ski resort on the highest mountain in the country. It was noted  that, according to a document published by the Armenian newspaper Le  Courrier d'Erevan (in French), in August 2021, Deputy Minister of  Economy Narek Teryan headed a working group tasked with evaluating  two development projects on Mount Aragats, located 40 kilometers  northwest of Yerevan. 

In October of the same year, Teryan traveled to Russia and met there  with businessman Ruben Grigoryan, the owner of the Armenian Rid LLC,  which eventually won the tender. On March 2, 2023, the authorities  announced that they had approved Rid's plan to develop Aragats, the  highest mountain in Armenia. The company was allowed to buy land for  the construction of a ski resort and related infrastructure.  According to the Ministry of Economy, Yulia Teryan got a job at Rid  LLC in May 2023. 

Ruben Grigoryan himself told the media that Teryan was among the few  representatives of the Armenian government who provided "serious  support" to the project, noting that he "literally corrected all the  government's mistakes." The Ministry of Economy confirmed to Civilnet  that Teryan is still coordinating the investment project for the  development of Aragats. 

In early August, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan told  reporters that he was informed that the wife of Deputy Economy  Minister Narek Teryan works for the company that won the tender for  the construction of the ski resort, following a publication in the  media. When asked whether the minister sees a conflict of interest,  he said that "for now he will refrain from making an assessment,  since he is not an expert."