The Competition Protection Commission of Armenia has launched a proceeding, with features of apparently prohibited state aid, regarding the funding of famous rapper Snoop Dogg's Yerevan concert, which was planned for September of last year but did not take place, the commission reports.

The commission discussed the issue of initiating proceedings by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia regarding the offense in economic competition at its meeting on September 3. During the meeting, the report of August 29 of the concentration and state aid assessment department of the commission was submitted, which referred to apparently providing prohibited state aid to Doping Space LLC, established in 2023, to organize Snoop Dogg's Yerevan concert.

And the commission recorded that there was selectiveness in providing assistance to Doping Space to organize Snoop Dogg's Yerevan concert, as the implementation of this project was entrusted to one business entity and without a tender. There are no clear mechanisms regarding the distribution scheme of revenue received from the sale of concert tickets, and the revenue generated from the sale of these tickets was to be completely managed solely by the aforesaid business entity.

Famous American rapper Snoop Dogg's concert in Armenia’s Yerevan was scheduled for September 23, 2023, but it was postponed. For that concert, and by the decision of the Armenian government, a contract of 2,318,596,800 drams (approx. US$6 million) were recorded in the treasury from the 2023 state budget. That amount was paid in full on August 25, 2023, but it has not been returned.