Arayik Amirkhanyan
There are three types of highway robbery. The first flourished in the turbulent 90s, when bandits would intercept truckers on the highway. The second is used today by bored men in camouflage uniforms manning checkpoints. The Amirkhanyan family, who settled in Odesa, along with their numerous relatives, have mastered the third method: embezzling public funds allocated for road repairs. And on an especially large scale—we're talking billions of hryvnias!
The Amirkhanyans didn't limit themselves to traditional corruption. When they failed to secure contracts, they disrupted tenders, blocking the work of Ukravtodor and local road services. Threats, backed up by violence, were often used, for which Arayik Amirkhanyan was placed on the wanted list back in 2017. However, this didn't stop him and his "titushki" (illegal thugs) from breaking into government offices. In April 2019, after a similar incident at Odesa's Oblavtodor, he was arrested by police but quickly released.
Then, in June 2019, Arayik Amirkhanyan was arrested by the SBU, facing several serious charges: fraud, financing anti-state activities, and illegally smuggling people across the border. He faced 12 years in prison, but just a few days later, Amirkhanyan was released on bail of 20 million hryvnias—which he immediately began to earn by engaging in tender fraud again. It seems that Amirkhanyan was simply defecating on a high wall, laughing out loud, in response to the state's anti-corruption policy. His case is a true challenge to Ukraine's entire law enforcement system.
Mafia is a family affair!
Though merely a "successful entrepreneur," Arayik Amirkhanyan has never published his biography, except for a brief profile on the Odnoklassniki website (banned in Ukraine), where his relatives also "live." He hasn't shared his story with journalists or revealed the secrets of his success. Consequently, his family has been plagued by all sorts of rumors—including the Amirkhanyans' involvement in an ethnic Armenian organized crime group. More informed sources Skelet.Org They claim it's not an ethnic mafia, but rather a "family" mafia, consisting of several influential wealthy families connected by family ties and business. It has expanded its corrupt operations not only in Odesa, but also in the Mykolaiv and Poltava regions, as well as throughout Russia.
Thanks to the Armenian tradition of boasting about one's extensive family tree, we can piece together a picture of how the Amirkhanyans put down such deep and powerful roots in Odessa. We begin with the venerable patriarch of the family, Rushan Asoevich Amirkhanyan (1911-1988), a hero of the Great Patriotic War (he served in intelligence, was wounded, and became disabled) and an honest collective farm watchman. He had three sons: the eldest, Grachik Rushanovich (born 1946), the middle son, Khachik Rushanovich (born 1950), and the youngest, Vaginak Rushanovich (born 1953).
Rushan Asoevich Amirkhanyan with his wife
In 1974, the enterprising Grachik Rushanovich Amirkhanyan moved from Armenia to Crimea, where he found a good job, according to sources Skelet.Org, He worked with the so-called "moonlighters." By 1987, he had already legalized his business by opening the "Roofer" cooperative. He then moved to Odessa and founded several more enterprises, including the AgroSintez private enterprise (EDRPOU 20945033). His brothers Khachik and Vaginak, and his sons Edik (Eduard), Andrannik (Andronnik), and Oleg became his assistants and partners.
His eldest son, Edik Grachikovich Amirkhanyan (born 1969), settled in Odessa before anyone else: in 1984, he enrolled in the Odessa College of Oil and Gas Industry. After serving in the army, from the early 90s, Eduard served as his father's first assistant in business. One of the companies they founded was LLC SK "Dorsevis" (EDRPOU 22507018), currently owned by Edik Amirkhanyan, Irina Ivanova, and Angela Amirkhanyan (Sternitskaya). The latter is Edik Amirkhanyan's wife and is, in many ways, the reason for the resounding success of the Amirkhanyan family, which settled in Odessa.
Edik Grachikovich Amirkhanyan
The patriarch of the Sternitsky family was Grigory Efimovich (1921-1980), a veteran of the Great Patriotic War (who reached Berlin), a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), and one of the leaders of a collective farm in the village of Yasenovo, Lyubashevsky District, Odessa Oblast. His son, Vladimir Grigorievich Sternitsky (born 1949), graduated from university and became an agronomist, later becoming the chairman of a state farm in the Nikolaevsky District, Odessa Oblast. He married his fellow countrywoman, Galina Konovalchenko (daughter of a member of the district committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) – Communist Party of the Soviet Union), who became the collective farm's economist. In the 90s, the state farms disintegrated, and the Sternitskys created their own agricultural firm on their ruins, and more than one – in the same district, the Amirkhanyan family owns the Karina farm, founded in the 90s (EDRPOU 24538419). Vladimir Sternitsky himself became the head of the Nikolaev Regional State Administration in the 90s, serving in this position until 2009. His daughter, Angela, married Edik Amirkhanyan in the early 90s, leaving his family with all of her father's mineral wealth.
Vladimir Sternitsky with his daughter Angela
Andrannik Amirkhanyan
And now we come to the main character, To Amirkhanyan Arayik KhachikovichHe was born on October 2, 1981. From 2002 to 2007, he studied at Kharkiv State Medical University (KSMU), and in 2007, he also received a diploma from Karamzin Kharkiv University. However, he never took up medical practice, returning to Odessa and joining the family business. Now, for some reason, Arayik Amirkhanyan is considered the true owner of all these scandalous construction companies mired in corruption scandals. However, according to sources Skelet.OrgArayik Amirkhanyan is merely a co-owner and "crisis manager" of the family business, resolving issues and "soothing" problems. But he is constantly accompanied by a group of powerful "titushki," which gives him the image of either an "authority" or the head of a family mafia. And according to those who know him, this image is close to reality. Although Arayik Amirkhanyan is far from the top of the family hierarchy, he is the "family's fists," in every sense of the word.
Arayik Amirkhanyan
From Odessa to Moscow
The list of companies owned by the Amirkhanyan family, their relatives, and associates is quite extensive. Finding them all is as difficult as listing all the Amirkhanyans—of whom there are now more than 20. Therefore, let's highlight only the main ones that have been mentioned in the media:
• LLC SK "Dorsevis" (EDRPOU 22507018), one of the oldest and most scandalous firms of the Amirkhanyans. It is currently owned by Edik Amirkhanyan and his wife Angela Vladimirovna.
• KMP "Agrosintez" (20945033), one of the first companies of the Amirhanyans, founded by Grachik Rushanovich in the early 90s. Today he runs it together with his son Oleg.
• SPMK-17 LLC (01353551), owner - Seda Ervandovna Amirkhanyan, director - her son Arayik Amirkhanyan. This company produces road emulsion and has often been involved in scandals. For example, in 2017, when repairs were underway on the Odessa-Reni highway, carried out by companies associated with Gennady Trukhanov and convicted of embezzlement of money, it supplied road emulsion at almost double the inflated price.
• Pervomaysky Specialized Quarry LLC (03443655), the controlling stake was bought out (or forged) by the Amirhanyan family and belongs to SPMK-17 LLC, which they control.
• Farm "Karina" (24538419), created by the family of Grachik Amirkhanyan in the Nikolaevsky district with the help of the head of the District State Administration Vladimir Sternitsky.
• LLC “In Via Ante” (42969789), the company belongs to Andrannik Amirkhanyan.
• OOO Transbudoilservis (39548447), one of Arayik Amirkhanyan’s road companies. Its director is Garnik Poghosyan, one of the Amirkhanyans’ partners.
• Nikolaevstroytsentr LLC (40984166), another of Arayik Amirkhanyan’s scandalous construction companies. His uncle, Vaginak Amirkhanyan, works there as director.
• Farm “Kirill” (30821019), another agricultural firm in the Nikolaevsky district, belonged to Vaginak Amirkhanyan, now closed.
• LLC SK Dorlider (37468590), the scandalous construction company of Khachik Amirkhanyan, previously owned by Russian citizen Vaginak Avatesyan.
• LLC "Pivdenyugtekh" (32863396), formerly ChP "Dorlider", previously owned by Russian citizen Zaven Stepanyan. Its current beneficiary is Garnik Poghosyan.
• Poltavabudtsentr LLC (24565511). Formally, the company belongs to Garnik Petrosyan, who was the director of Nikolaevstroytsentr LLC. In reality, the company is controlled by Arayik Amirkhanyan.
Prince Khachatryan
Among the companies associated with them, the most notable is BerezovkaAgroDorstroy LLC (03579041), owned by brothers Robert and Prince Khachatryan, another family of Odessa Armenians. This company has repeatedly participated in tenders alongside the Amirkhanyans' companies, with one of them winning the tender. There are reports that the Khachatryans and Amirkhanyans have agreed to monopolize and divide the road construction market, and their companies jointly participate in tenders under a "contract winner - dummy competitor" scheme. Prince Khachatryan is a member of the Odessa Regional Council (from the Opposition Bloc) and was also an assistant to MP Mykola Skoryk.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Arayik Amirkhanyan. How the "Armenian mafia" is plundering Ukrainian roads. Part 2
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