Robert Kocharyan bought Ararat, Armnews, H2, News.am. ‘Armenian Times’

Robert Kocharyan has issued a request to become a media lord. Information has spread around social media that the second president has ‘bought’ the television stations ‘Ararat’ and ‘ArmNews,’ and the news websites BlogNews.am, News.am, and Panorama.am.

Kocharyan showed interest in owning the media outlets when he was taken into custody for his involvement in the events of March 1st. It’s said that Kocharyan, who is trying to present himself as a ‘political prisoner,’ has decided to spend his money on making the current authorities look bad.

The Television and Radio National Committee (TRNC) announced to ‘Armenian Times’ that on August 10th, 2018, the television station is now in the hands of a businessman ally of Kocharyan’s, Armen Tavadyan. “This is information given by open sources. There is no secret here. After seeing the name Armen Tavadyan, his organizations, and his businesses, which all have connections to the name Robert Kocharyan, I am able to form an opinion. There are doubts among us that he has ties to Robert Kocharyan,” said Tigran Hakobyan, who is a member of the TRNC.

He informed that this is the first time that a television station has changed ownership, but the committee has not announced anything about that. TRNC member Tigran Hakobyan said that, according to law, the owner of a television station does not need to inform the committee about a change in ownership. However, there was an illegal demand from former authorities that that information be given. According to the report, the television station must inform the committee about a change in current leadership. However, the committee did not receive any information regarding the ‘Ararat’ television station. “If I’m not mistaken, they need to inform us within five days. We still haven’t received any paperwork, but we definitely will. That is open information,” he said.