Background of the Issue: On January 11, 2008 “Aravot” daily published the article “Has the ‘Alliance’ of the Gafesjians and the Sargsians Failed?”. The piece told about the controversy between the co-owners of “Armenia” TV company, the Sargsians family, and the American multi-millionaire of Armenian descent Gerard Gafesjian, about the rumors of a sale of share of the TV company, the alleged problems of salary allocations and payments, as well as projects implemented. On January 12 on the air of “Armenia” the co-owner of the TV company Bagrat Sargsian refuted the information, published by “Aravot”, announcing he would sue the daily.
On January 15 MEO urged “Armenia” TV and “Aravot” to solve the conflict out of court. Expressing its concern with the incident between the two media and noting that taking the problem to court might seriously harm the reputation of the media, MEO appealed on “Armenia” TV to solve the issue through negotiations and on “Aravot” daily – to be ready to engage in them.
As a result, a written agreement was reached between “Aravot” and “Armenia” on publishing a refutation. It was published in “Aravot” issue of January 19, headlined “In reality ‘Armenia’ Flourishes”. The piece stated that the information about “Armenia” TV company, presented in the daily on January 11, was untrue.