One of the leading developers in Armenia, "Mikshin"is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. We talked with the company's founder Tigran Harutyunyan about his path of becoming successful businessman, the history of "Mikshin", the establishment of a large group of companies and the upcoming projects.

It is already 15 years you have been the head of a well-established company and an accomplished businessman. Would you tell us about your development path?  

I have grown up in a business environment. As my parents are radio-physicists, I was fascinated by natural sciences and everything that could develop logic when I was a child. I have been playing chess since the first grade at school. I am fond of it and it has greatly influenced my life. It helped me to foster a skill of vital importance - patience.

My warmest and good memories are about my childhood. You can hardly find a street in Yerevan which is unfamiliar to me. We were poking into every possible street and yard with friends either on foot or on bikes. At that time, it was not so difficult, because there were not many cars, and the streets belonged mostly to us - the children. We used to skate, play football and other games on streets.

I was in the 7th grade when I decided to become a doctor. It was in the 2000s, when computer technologies and innovations have just entered our lives, and the idea of combining them with medicine and going deeper in the field of bioengineering occurred to me. I had already decided that I should graduate from the Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU), and then study at the Faculty of Informatics and Applied Mathematics of the Polytechnic University. However, since longer time was needed for entering the Medical University, we decided that I would better study the relevant subjects for entering Medical University first. There I met my wife, Angela. We studied together and graduated from the Medical University. Actually Angela was my close friend. She was the most reasonable among our four friends. Whenever I missed my classes at the university, only Angela knew the reason of my absence. Later on our friendship with Angela grew into a stronger relationship.

You have never practiced medicine. What is the reason? How did you switch from medicine to business?

When I was in my second year of university, I started attending night shifts in the hospitals. That’s when I faced the internal problems in hospitals and the healthcare system in general and finally realized that I would never become a doctor. But, of course, I studied and successfully graduated from university.

Before starting a business by my own, I had passed a long way, full of challenges and lessons. I started with the delivery of goods: with some of my friends we were engaged in delivery of fruit on yellow "Moskvich". Of course, we cannot say that it was a good and profitable job, but it was a very good experience for us. Afterwards I worked in the USA for a few months within the scope of "Work and Travel" program. I worked in pizza delivery. In the USA you don’t have to be ashamed for the job you do and this is one of the positive aspects. But when you go there with the image of a wonderful world in your mind, your expectations crash against bitter reality. In any case, I gained most of my experience there, not only in terms of obtaining work skills, but also in terms of human relationships, manners and habits. Once I even lost my job because of an incident, but I overcame it with honor, because honesty and fair work have always been a top priority for me.

Eventually, I returned to my homeland. Staying there was not even considered, as I always clearly realized that I should live and work for my country.

Before establishing my own company, I had been involved in various activities which had a huge influence in formation of  my skills. Then, in 2007, we founded "Mikshin", which was one of the first development companies in Armenia.

"Mikshin" already has a 15-year history. Tell us about the idea of founding the company and its development path.

The economic situation in our country was not quite favorable, but by nature I have a great will and desire to take risk and achieve my goals. I have been cherishing the idea of establishing a development company for a long time, as I clearly saw the risks and the opportunities in this field. So, I thought it was the right time to start materializing my idea.

We launched the first major project of "Mikshin" in 2008, it was the construction of "Yeraz" residential district. Just imagine, it was 2008, at the times of global economic crisis and we decided to start large-scale construction in Armenia. It sounds quite brave, doesn't it? Construction of a multi-apartment residential building in those times meant starting a project with no deadline. The banks simply refused any transaction or loan, they got surprised, even were laughing at our offers. But I never gave up. I was persistently in search of solutions. However, after long and hard negotiations, we made an interesting innovation and decided to resort to mortgage lending.

I can say that we were the pioneers in this field in Armenia, especially considering the lowest ever interest rate we offered.  It was something unprecedented. Finally, we made a deal with one of the banks, which trusted us. We offered the most favorable conditions. We promised to buy the apartment ourselves if after completion of the construction, the client refuses to buy it. Further on, many people, mainly newly formed families got interested in our offer. We promised to finish the construction of the building in three years and we did. Despite the unfavorable economic situation, we decided to construct yet another building. That was the start of our intensive development activities. There were rumors about the income tax return law since 2014. Once it was adopted we built 1000 apartments within the scope of the state program.

In total, "Mikshin" has constructed 1700 apartments in "Yeraz" residential district, and our next program within the scope of which we are planning to construct another 1700  apartments is on the way.

"Mikshin" has been our first major challenge and success. You know, very few believed in success of "Mikshin", as well as some of our other projects. But we have consistently proved that nothing is impossible for our team, because responsibility, strong will, trust in ourselves and in what we do, professional approach and integrity are the principles uniting the whole team.

It is very important who is by you when fulfilling your goals. From the very beginning of my business activities I have been surrounded by people - friends, relatives, who, like me, believed in the outcome, and we shared the positive vibes and the belief that nothing is impossible.

Currently we are the owner of a group of companies engaged in various spheres: "Mikshin", "Locator" (IT company), "Yeraz" Charity Foundation, "Yeraz" Business Center, "Yeraz" park and restaurant, "Angles’ Home" furniture salon, and "MyLer" Project.
Each of them contributes to the development of the strategic industries of the Armenian economy.

Would you tell us more about the companies included in the group? In what areas are they engaged and what is the nature of their activities?

As I mentioned, the group includes different types of companies and projects, among which "Yeraz" Charity Foundation has its unique place. We started it with a special mission and goal. Angela, my wife, faced lots of challenges in the course of her professional activities, especially related to child diseases and problems with the treatment of children. We both had stopped practicing medicine, but we could never stop giving the children a helping hand. In 2010, we established "Yeraz" Charity Foundation, clearly understanding the nature of the problems the children suffering from childhood diabetes face in Armenia. From the very first day of its establishment, the Foundation has been dealing with the problems of childhood diabetes, providing the necessary medical supplies, medicines, psychological support, defending their interests, organizing various events.

Thanks to the activities of the Foundation, there were significant positive developments in the field, up to including support for children with diabetes into the state program. Today, "Yeraz" Charity Foundation is expanding its activities and is being engaged into social programs and community development.

We also built "Yeraz" park, because we had a great desire to create a small Lapland in Armenia and to make the New Year magic available to Armenian children. In this case too, few believed in our success, because the park was in a poor condition, to put it mildly. But our team worked day and night and completely transformed the park and still continues to improve it every year.

Our group of companies has a quite diversified activities. Today there is a need for innovations in any field, and we have to keep pace with the technological advancement as well. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of our services, to fully serve the projects, we acquired "Locator".

"Locator" is engaged in elaboration and installation of satellite surveillance and security systems, telemetry, wireless data transmission technologies, automated management systems, medical institutions management systems, security systems, and traffic management systems.

Mr. Harutyunyan, what is the major project at the moment? What are the plans and projects for future?

At the moment, our biggest project is "MyLer". "MyLer" is one of my childhood dreams.

I have been a great fan of alpine skiing since childhood. When I was thirteen, I used to go skiing to Tsakhkadzor and Mount Aragats with my friends on Sundays. Of course, there was no infrastructure for professional skiing in those times, and we had to walk for miles but we had great desire and passion. These were our best years. It was then that the idea of having a developed ski resort in Armenia was born for the first time.

This year we decided to launch the project and chose Yeghipatrush village of Aragatsotn marz for this purpose. Both the geographical location and the climate are quite favorable for building a complete complex equipped with all the relevant infrastructures. “MyLer” is a long-term project, the initial phase of which, requiring an investment of more than 60 million euros, will be completed in winter 2022, and we plan to complete the whole project in 2032. Like all our projects, “MyLer” is also aimed at creating lasting value in Armenia, and I hope, once accomplished, this will contribute to the development of sport, tourism and a number of related fields in Armenia.

Over 15 years, our companies have been holding leading positions in the respective sectors by providing high quality services and products.