Armenian taxpayers to pay $6mln for Jennifer Lopez`s concert

ArmInfo.  The Armenian government plans the following expenses for Jennifer Lopez's concert: $37,000 for Lopez's two-day meals, $185,000 for the film crew's hotel services, 4 million drams for dressing room meals, a lawyer will cost 4.4 million drams, an accountant - 4.4 million drams, a concert  program producer - 5.9 million drams, and technical management of the  concert (not to be confused with technical staff) - 30 million drams.  The Armenian service of Radio Liberty inquired about the expenses.

On July 31, just two days before Jennifer Lopez's concert in Yerevan,  it became known that the money for its organization was allocated  from the Armenian budget: yesterday, the government decided to direct  $6 million, allocated for the cancelled concert of American rapper  Snoop Dogg in 2023, to organize Jennifer Lopez's concert in Yerevan.  And this despite the fact that for several months now, nowhere, in  any advertising campaign, on any poster, has it been mentioned that  the government and are sponsors and organizers of this  concert, which will take place as part of Lopez's world tour.

Moreover, the government's decision does not mention that Jennifer  Lopez's concert in Yerevan will take place on August 3.  Instead,  vague dates are indicated, for example, .

In addition, the budget for organizing Jennifer Lopez's concert  includes expenses in millions of drams, the validity and  appropriateness of which raise questions.

$37,000 for Jennifer Lopez's two-day dinner, $15,000 for the concert  program producer. It is clear from the government's decision that  Lopez will receive 1 billion drams, or more than $2.5 million. Since  the duration of the concert is unknown, it is difficult to assess  whether this amount corresponds to the fees paid for previous  concerts.

More suspicious is the amount allocated for food delivery services  for Jennifer Lopez: 14.4 million drams, or $37,000. 6 million drams  were allocated for the meals of her team, and 3.8 million drams for  the services of makeup artists.

According to government documents, Jennifer Lopez will stay at the  Dvin Hotel (Seven Visions Hotels 5), which is planned to be paid  about 4 million drams for two days. According to preliminary  estimates, more than 71.5 million drams, equivalent to $185,000, will  be spent on Lopez's accommodation and the placement of her support  team in various hotels in Yerevan.6 million drams will be allocated  for consulting services related to procurement, 4.4 million drams for  legal advice, and the same amount for accounting services.

Doping Space plans to pay 1 million 320 thousand drams to the person  meeting the artist, 2.5 million drams to the transport manager at the  concert, and 2.3 million drams to the food manager. An will also work in the building, whose salary will be 3.5  million drams per concert, and 3 million drams to the generator  manager. plans to spend 8.5 million drams on car  rental and passenger transportation.

At the same time, Radio Liberty notes that although two years have  passed between the previous concert and this one, the stars, genres  and fees have changed, but by an amazing coincidence, the estimate  for Lopez's concert ended up being exactly the same as what the same  company received from the government for Snoop Dogg in 2023.

The executive producer of the concert is expected to receive a salary  of 2.5 million drams. In addition to this position, there will also  be a producer of the concert program with a salary of 5.8 million  drams. The technical management of the concert will receive 29.4  million drams.

Doping Space has not returned the budget money

In the summer of 2023, the government allocated about $6 million to  to organize a concert by Snoop Dogg, but due to the  attack of Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh and the exodus of Armenians,  it never took place. has been corresponding with the  Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports since March  regarding the failed concert by Snoop Dogg. However, the ministry has  not given a clear written answer to questions about why they did not  receive the allocated $6 million from the concert organizer and, having not received it back, did not file a lawsuit  against the company. The agreement concluded between   and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports provided  for such a possibility.

Radio Liberty specifically asked the Ministry of Education, Science,  Culture and Sports what specific actions it took to return the $6  million to the budget. In one case, the ministry said it had  contacted Doping Space to terminate the contract and return the funds  to the budget. In another case, Doping Space was reported in February  of this year to have proposed holding an event in 2025. The company  did not respond to RFE/RL's written questions on the matter.