Armenian Ministry demands refund for Snoop Dogg's concert

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, Zhanna Andreasyan, stated during a conversation with journalists that the ministry has requested a refund for the canceled concert of the famous rapper Snoop Dogg.

She noted that the ministry is currently awaiting a response from the organizers, according to Aysor.am.

"In this regard, our actions are clear—based on the contract terms, we anticipate a refund. The concert was planned, and while this was not anyone's deliberate intent, circumstances have led to a situation where organizing the concert in 2024 has also become impossible," she said.

The minister added that the organization's efforts have not yielded results and, therefore, the funds should be returned.

"I believe we will receive a response in the coming days, and everything will become clear," Andreasyan concluded.

Earlier, it was revealed that the Competition Protection Commission had launched proceedings regarding the funding of Snoop Dogg's concert, initially scheduled for September 2023 but canceled. The commission noted signs of prohibited state aid in this case, stating that the funding provided for organizing the concert by "Doping Space" LLC demonstrated selectivity, as the project was entrusted to a single entity without a tender process.

According to a government decision from August 11, 2023, 2,318,596,800 AMD was allocated to Doping Space LLC as part of the World Star's Armenian Tour music project to organize Snoop Dogg's concert in Armenia. Under the contract between the ministry and the company, the amount was provided as a grant and was fully paid on August 25. Snoop Dogg has not returned the funds, with his fee amounting to $1.8 million.