23:00, 7 March 2013

Building of Armenian MFA to be bought by Argentine businessman

The governmental building now housing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia is being sold to Eduardo Ernekyan, an Argentine businessman of Armenian origin. According to his programme, the building will house a five-star hotel.

On March 5, an auction was to take place on selling the second unit of the building. However, it failed for lack of competition among buyers.

The Government of Armenia has decided to sell the MFA building to the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) "Tango", owned by Eduardo Ernekyan, for 51,271,000 US dollars back on October 4, 2012. The Argentine was the only bidder.

Earlier, Mkrtich Minasyan, the Chair of the Union of Architects of Armenia, has addressed his open letter to President Serzh Sargsyan asking him to suspend the auction.

According to Sashur Kalashyan, a member of the Union of Architects, the MFA building is a part of the general complex, and "its use as a hotel is contrary to the principle of monuments' functionality; and its historical and cultural value will be lost." "The MFA building should not be turned into a hotel," says the architect.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent