At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, the Armenian government decided to allocate around 8 billion 388 million drams (17,380,800 UK pounds or around $22 million) to purchase a five-story building in the center of London. It is intended for the Armenian embassy in the United Kingdom (UK).

St James's Square, where this building is located, is considered one of the most prestigious and expensive districts of the UK capital London, and it has a historical and cultural registration.

The explanation for the respective draft decision states that the current Armenian embassy in the UK has been located in the building provided by the Armenian House of London since 1992, which informed the embassy about the need to vacate the premises in 2024. In this building, the Armenian embassy occupies two small rooms, which, according to the explanation of the draft decision, "constantly considerably limited the working opportunities of the embassy."

Since April 2023, negotiations have been conducted by the Armenian embassy in the UK for the acquisition of real estate located at St James's Square, London. The said real estate is located in the central part of London, in the vicinity of a number of embassies, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, as well as the UK Foreign Office, Parliament, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Defence, Security Council, and some other government bodies with which the embassy is in active contact during its activities. 

The building will be acquired by ownership. It has historical and cultural registration, is located in one of the most presentable places in London, consists of five floors—six, with a basement, and has a reception hall.

"It should also be taken into account that London is one of the most appealing real estate markets in the world, and the acquisition of real estate [there] can be considered as a profitable long-term investment. The total sale price of the building will be 17,380,800.0 pounds. According to the RA [(Republic of Armenia)] Government Decision No. 1324-N of August 3, 2023, the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs was allocated [Armenian] drams equivalent to 710,000.0 pounds as an advance payment for the building to be purchased, which was transferred to the addressee," also stated the aforementioned explanation.

“At the time of publishing the 2022 annual report, the company announced that AGL was reviewing the use of the property. Options included selling or leasing to third parties. After careful consideration, selling the property was deemed more cost-effective as maintaining it for additional rental income would require considerable capital expenditure to provide energy efficiency and other improvements. As a result of the sale, the group expects to save approximately 1.5 million [US] dollars annually in administrative and financial costs," the explanation notes as well.