The Armenian circus is paralyzed and this process may last long if there aren’t any programs to save the circus. Two years have passed since its privatization and we wander whether everything was done correctly and why it was done. Privatization cannot be honest or dishonest; it can be effective or ineffective. Only the people, who are not able to see the reality can say that the privatization of the circus was effective since the reality is very dark there.
The circus was in a bad situation before the privatization too, but now its situation is worse. The property of the circus, which was managed by the ministry of culture, was estimated at 408 million 821 thousand drams and was sold through a competition. The privatization of the circus was done without any serious noise. The personnel of the circus applied for buying the circus, namely the director of the circus and the existing owner, Sos Petrosyan. Sos Petrosyan won his competitor businessman Saribek Sukiasyan. Sos Petrosyan suggested more money and promised to make more investments. He paid 150 million drams to privatize the circus (which is equal to $350 thousand) even though the real market price was about ten times higher. Upon buying Mr. Petrosyan took the obligation to invest 650 million drams in the circus. Two years have passed and it turns out that no money has been invested in the circus so far. By the way, according to the conditions of the competition organized by the government the buyer had to invest minimum 300 million drams to spend on “capital reconstruction, installation of heating and air conditioning systems and purchasing the necessary facilities for the circus”. There are no time limits for investment in the conditions of the competition and the only condition set forth clearly was that the circus could not change its profile for minimum 25 years, i.e. it has “to be occupied in circus activities and take the necessary steps to meet the corresponding requirements of people”. The circus has not changed its profile, but it hardly can satisfy the requirements of anyone.
The timeline for investment, which is considered to be commercial secret, allows the owner of the circus to say that he has plenty of time to make the mentioned investment. “There is a provision in the contract, which doesn’t allow discovering any information about the buyer’s responsibilities before and after buying without the buyer’s consent,” we were told by the head of the department in charge of contractual relations with the privatized companies, Ludwig Grigoryan. He also said that if the buyer did not do his responsibilities, the government would impose sanctions, included confiscating the property. However, everything is legal now, the circus is in a bad situation and its future is very suspicious.
After the privatization Sos Petrosyan has spoken about the problems of the circus and the necessity to train actors and improve the infrastructures of the circus; however he hasn’t made any public open speeches and has not presented the program of revival of the circus. He has also said that he had saved the circus and had invited actors from Russia. “We have time to invest money and we are doing it slowly,” he said and added that his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren had wonderful achievements, which they had got in arenas overseas. “No one has written about the fact that my son has appeared in the book of Guinnes, but instead of that they always say that the circus is in a bad situation. We are trying to organize two shows a week instead of one and are inviting actors from Russia,” he said. The son of Mr. Petrosyan really has wonderful success, but answering to a question whether he would be a guarantee for investment in the circus Sos Petrosyan said, “We will see. There have been three happy moments for the Armenian circus. My son has been involved in the book of Guinnes, my grandchild was declared the youngest magician and all we, the three Sos Petrosyans, organized a performance together in the arenas of France,” he said.