Associate Professor of the Chair of Political Institutions and Processes at Yerevan State University, Candidate of Historical Sciences Menua Soghomonyan has sued Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Office of the Prime Minister, demanding that the court partially declare as illegitimate the August 7 decision of the Prime Minister to approve the composition of the Board of Trustees of Yerevan State University with respect to the appointment of two members of the Board, particularly Chief of Administrative Service Vahan Papikyan and founder of Metrika Ltd. Gevorg Muradyan, whose appointments, according to the plaintiff, are illegitimate.

Soghomonyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Papikyan and Muradyan were appointed in violation of the provisions of the Charter of Yerevan State University and the Rules of Procedure of the Board of Trustees of Yerevan State University. During the August 25 session of the Board of Trustees, Menua Soghomonyan had offered to include the termination of powers of Papikyan and Muradyan in the agenda for the session, but was rejected, after which he decided to apply to the Administrative Court.

Touching upon the legitimacy of the appointment of Papikyan, Soghomonyan stated that the latter was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees by the founder, while being a state official. However, according to Soghomonyan, the head of the Administrative Service of the Prime Minister’s Office isn’t considered a person holding a state position, but can be considered a person holding the position of state service (there are stricter restrictions and regulations for persons holding state positions).

As far as Muradyan is concerned, he was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia as a recognized representative of the economic sector or an employer cooperating with Yerevan State University. Metrika Ltd. is a totally unknown and insignificant company and has never collaborated with Yerevan State University.