The Armenian Ministry of Urban Development and Multicontinental Distribution LLC have signed a contract on an investment project under the "Old Yerevan" project. The press service of the Ministry has told ArmInfo that the contract has been signed by Narek Sargsyan, Armenian Minister of Urban Development, and Gevorg Machanyan, authorized representative of Swiss businessman of Armenian origin Vartan Sirmakes. Hayk Davtyan, Chief Advisor to Armenian Prime Minister, and a representative of Glendale Hills real estate development company, were also present at the signing ceremony.
The Government took the decision on elaboration of the project on development of the Old Yerevan district on 6 November 2014. The project implies restoration of the architectural image of Yerevan of late XIX-early XX centuries in the centre of Yerevan. The project envisages renovation of dozens of buildings and architectural constructions erected in that period. The buildings have historical and cultural value. The construction will be launched in 2015. The construction schedule will be coordinated by the contract parties as an integral part of the contract. The amount of the contract is not reported.
To note, Vartan Sirmakes is a co-owner of the world-known Franck Muller watch brand. He is the majority shareholder of ArmSwissBank, as well as Artsakhbank and AWI watch factory in Armenia. Sirmakes has considerable investments in the banking and production sectors in other counties of the CIS. In particular, in Belarus he founded BelSwissBank and acquired the Minsk Watch Plant with "Luch" and "Zaria" trademarks.