Meet… The Mayor
Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution was a pivotal moment in the nation’s history.
The old guard of Armenia politics – closely associated with the Russian oligarchy – was swept away by an opposition led by the charismatic Nikol Pashinyan.
Tigran Avinyan’s meteoric rise was a symbol of Armenia’s new beginnings. From a lowly city council member to Deputy Prime Minister at just 29 years of age, Tigran proved that youth really could rise to the top of Armenian politics.
He would resign this role in 2021 – but through his appointment as Mayor of Armenia’s capital city Yerevan in 2023, a post he holds to this day, Tigran continues to exert significant influence through his Civil Contract Party and the municipal government.
But look a little closer, and starboy’s story begins to unravel.
A large government contract awarded to his brother’s company here…a government agency investment in his wife’s best friend there…it’s straight out of the playbook of Armenia’s Russian-backed oligarchy Tigran’s Civil Contract Party wanted to replace.
WHY IT MATTERS
In a region dominated by the geopolitical interests of great powers – Russia, Iran, Turkey – Armenia’s democratic Velvet Revolution was a truly remarkable achievement.
And given the fate of budding democracies that tried to wriggle free from Russia’s influence (read: Ukraine, Georgia), Armenia has managed to keep Russia’s meddling relatively at bay.
But since Azerbaijan’s occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, Prime Minister Pashinyan’s authority is at an all-time low.
Given what’s a stake, corruption allegations towards government figures could fatally undermine Armenian democracy.
Tigran must come clean for the sake of his country.
THE PAPER TRAIL
2011 – Tigran founds Irrigate LLC, a company that specialises in installing irrigation systems. It also launches a line of dried fruit gift boxes which are found in Yerevan supermarkets.
2018 – April. The Velvet Revolution. Tigran earns his stripes as an opposition activist by getting arrested during protests. He’s soon released, and less than a month later is appointed Deputy Prime Minister by revolution leader Nikol Pashinyan.
2018 – June. Tigran transfers 100% of his shares in Irrigate to his brother, a plastic surgeon. His father is made director. Later that year, Irrigate wins a $35,000 government grant for dried fruit production.
2019 – A government grant worth $4.4 million is set up to support the development of orchards. Irrigate is subcontracted to establish just over 29 hectares of orchard – but Armenia’s Ministry of the Economy declines to disclose how much money the company received.
2019 – Tigran is appointed chairman of the board of the Armenian National Interest Fund (ANIF), a state-created agency set up to attract foreign investment in Armenia and promote local businesses abroad.
2021 – Tigran resigns as Deputy Prime Minister following Armenia’s snap elections in June over disagreements within his Civil Contract Party.
2023 – Tigran is appointed Mayor of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city. The country’s Corruption Prevention Commission launches an incompatibility case into Tigran holding the role at the same time as chairman of the board of the ANIF.
2023 – The Armenian National Interests Fund – the investment agency headed by Tigran – invests over $3.8 million in a company run by a close friend of Tigran’s wife, Karine Andreasyan, just 8 days after it was registered in notorious US tax haven Delaware.
2025 – The Armenian National Interests Fund is liquidated in August for failing to attract foreign investment. Prime Minister Pashinyan describes the Fund’s activities – to the cost of $27.3 million in taxpayer money – as a ‘disgrace’. Armenian law enforcement authorities bring corruption charges against ANIF’s former chief executive and Karina Andreasyan – that same close friend of Tigran’s wife.