One of Armenia’s two major cement plants gets new owner after years idle

By Gevorg Tosunyan and Elen Muradyan

Hrazdan Cement, one of Armenia’s two major cement plants, has been acquired after years of inactivity and a lengthy bankruptcy process.

The buyer is Project Inter-Invest, a company owned by businessman Narek Nalbandyan. The company said Nalbandyan plans a large-scale investment program at the plant, without giving details on the size or timing of the investment.

The plant was put up for auction by Amio Bank, formerly Armbusinessbank, on Aug. 7. The auction was held on Sept. 2, and the facility was sold in the first round.

A day after the acquisition was made public, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made unusually sharp comments about Nalbandyan, distancing himself and his family from the businessman amid repeated Armenian media reports alleging ties between them. 

“I have no favorite oligarch,” Pashinyan told reporters after a government meeting on Sept. 3.

Pashinyan said he had instructed law enforcement agencies to open proceedings to determine whether Nalbandyan had tried to create the impression that he had connections to the prime minister’s family.

“If the grounds are sufficient to show that he is trying to create such an impression, I assure you that Narek Nalbandyan will face a harsher fate than the other oligarchs,” Pashinyan said.

He also said he found it surprising that Nalbandyan had not denied media reports linking him to the prime minister’s family.

Who is Narek Nalbandyan?

Nalbandyan’s business activity became particularly notable after Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution. He owns stakes in nearly a dozen companies, including the 88 supermarket chain, and has acquired several factories and hotels. 

In 2022, CivilNet reported that a luxury mansion on Yerevan’s Azatutyun Avenue belonging to former Prime Minister and former parliamentary speaker Hovik Abrahamyan had also been sold to Nalbandyan under controversial circumstances.

Armenia’s two cement plants

Armenia has two major cement plants: Hrazdan Cement and AraratCement.

AraratCement is owned by business tycoon and opposition politician Gagik Tsarukyan. In July, an Armenian anti-corruption court ordered the company to be placed under state management while an illicit asset forfeiture case against Tsarukyan is considered.

Prosecutors are seeking the confiscation of AraratCement shares along with dozens of properties, company stakes and other assets they allege were acquired illicitly.

Also read: Court places Tsarukyan's cement company under state management

Hrazdan Cement’s troubled history

Hrazdan Cement was founded in 2001 by Mika Limited, a company owned by businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov.

The company changed hands in 2013, when Cement Service, a company that had existed for only two months, took over management of the plant. Financing was provided by VTB Armenia Bank.

Later that year, it became known that the company had accumulated substantial debts. The government subsequently made several attempts to revive the plant, including through debt relief, but those efforts failed.

Bankruptcy proceedings began in 2017. On Nov. 30 that year, a court granted the bankruptcy petition and declared Hrazdan Cement bankrupt.

The company was later transferred to Amio Bank, which announced in August 2026 that it would sell the plant at auction.