The Armenian government announced on Wednesday that it has demanded nearly $6 million be returned from a private entertainment company after a planned concert by U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg in Yerevan failed to materialize.
The concert was originally slated for September 23, 2023, but was canceled in the wake of Azerbaijan’s military offensive in Artsakh on September 19, which led to the ethinc cleansing of the region’s population and flight to Armenia.
Following the cancellation, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports signed a new contract with the concert’s Armenian organizer, Doping Space, to reschedule the event for 2024. However, the company failed to deliver.
“Since the concert did not take place on time, we have already written to the organization to return the entire amount to the state budget,” Education Minister Zhanna Andreasyan stated.
Doping Space, a relatively unknown company, has not yet responded to the government’s demand to return the 2.3 billion drams ($5.9 million) it received in August 2023. Approximately half of the funding, around $3 million, was reportedly paid to Snoop Dogg and his production team. Minister Andreasyan did not clarify how the government expects Doping Space to recover these funds.
The total amount allocated for the concert far exceeded the annual budgets of many rural Armenian communities, drawing sharp criticism from the public and opposition figures. Detractors labeled the expenditure as reckless and accused the government of using it to divert attention from Armenia’s serious national security challenges.
Government officials defended the funding, claiming that high-profile international events like this could enhance Armenia’s global visibility and boost tourism. In June 2024, Arayik Harutiunyan, the head of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s staff, argued that such initiatives were part of a broader strategy to establish Armenia as a premier tourist destination.
The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports financed the concert through a special budget intended to promote music and arts with a “national basis.” Critics questioned how Snoop Dogg, known for his explicit lyrics and frequent references to drug use, fit into this framework.
The controversy has reignited public debate about government accountability and the prioritization of resources in a country grappling with political, economic, and security challenges. Whether the funds will be fully recovered remains uncertain.
