Samvel Karapetyan receives the highest award from the Armenian Apostolic Church

On September 17th, during the ceremonial consecration of the Cathedral Church and the opening of the Temple Complex of the New-Nakhichevan and Russian Episcopate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Samvel Karapetyan, the president of Tashir Group, received the Church's highest accolade for his contributions to charity – the order of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.

The award ceremony was held during the consecration of the Cathedral Church and the opening of the Temple Complex of the New-Nakhichevan and Russian Episcopate of the Armenia Apostolic Church. It was attended by various benefactors together with leaders from the Russian and Armenian business communities, and included Serge Sargsyan, the president of Republic of Armenia; Armenian Catholicos Garegin II; His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Ezras Nersisyan, the head of the New-Nakhichevan and Russian Episcopate of the Armenian Apostolic Church; and representatives of the Russian Council of Muftis, Russian traditional Buddhist Association, and the Federation of Russian Jewish Communities.

Accepting his award from Gagerin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Samvel Karapetyan thanked him for this honour. “I am deeply touched by this award – it was a total surprise for me. Today we are witnessing a historic event: the opening of this Temple Complex. It is an important event for every member of the Armenian community, regardless of their social status. We have always been strong as a community which is thanks to our strong roots and spiritual traditions. I believe that the Temple Complex will become the centre of our spiritual and cultural unity that rallies together our compatriots and forms the core of our national identity. By making this gift to our fellow citizens, we believe that it will strengthen their ties with their motherland and intensify our solidarity with the Armenian community around the world. That is what I believe is the main objective of any patronage – to maintain and to expand our traditional values, our love for historical and spiritual relics, and our desire to become part of our future development.”

Samvel Karapetyan has been actively engaged in patronage and charity since 1999. The Tashir Foundation, established by Mr Karapetyan, focuses on the development of charitable cultural projects.