Vardan Ayvazyan
Vardan Ayvazyan | |
|---|---|
| former Minister of Environmental Protection | |
| Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 November 1961 Tabatzghour, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Armenian |
Vardan Ayvazyan (Armenian: Վարդան Այվազյան; born 7 November 1961) is an Armenian government official, formerly Minister of Environmental Protection between 2001 and 2007.[1]
Career
Ayvazyan was born on 7 November 1961 in the Tabatzghour village, a majority Armenian town in the Borjomi Municipality of the Georgian SSR.[2][3] In 1983 he graduated from the Yerevan Zooveterinary Institute, and afterwards, he worked as an operator at a dairy plant in Yaroslavl before completing his mandated service in the Soviet Army.[3]
He held his first political position from 1995 to 1996, after the collapse of the USSR, becoming Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Charentsavan City Council for a year.[3] Simultaneously, he became a member of the Parliament of Armenia as a Republican Party MP, a position he held until 2001.[3] He was then the Mayor of Charentsavan until 1999.[3]
From 2001 to 2007 Ayvazyan served as Minister of Environmental Protection. Later, he again became a member of the Parliament of Armenia as a Republican Party MP.[2] In 2016, he was serving as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic issues.[2]
Corruption case
In 2024, the Armenian Anti-Corruption Court accepted a lawsuit from the Prosecutor General regarding Ayvazyan, who was accused of obtaining assets through illegal sources.[4] The Prosecutor General's Office announced they would be pursuing the confiscation of 20 billion darmas (51.6 billion USD) through loan rights, shares and securities, multiple real estate properties, and vehicles.[4]
Previously, in 2008, he was named as a defendant by the International Court of Arbitration regarding mining license allocations to associates.[1] The 2008 case was filed by Global Gold Mining, and focused on the Hanqavan mine, and afterwards GGM also brought the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to enforce arbitration awards.[5] The Southern District Case was appealed by Ayvazyan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which issued a non-precedential summary order in 2015.[6]
References
- ^ a b "Armenian Prosecutor General Wants to Seize $51 Million from Former Environment Minister". Hetq. 31 May 2024. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ^ a b c "Armenian MP Vardan Ayvazyan: Thousands of Dollars' Worth of Investments in Tbilisi Go Undeclared". Hetq. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia | Official Web Site | parliament.am". www.parliament.am. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ a b "The Prosecutor's Office requires to confiscate about 20 Billion Drams, Immovable and Movable Properties from Ex-Minister of Environmental Protection Vardan Ayvazyan". Iravaban. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ "Vardan Ayvazyan: Global Gold Mining Selected Blackmailing - Ecolur". Ecolur. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ "Global Gold Mining, LLC v. Ayvazian". vLex. Retrieved 4 November 2025.