Apoyan Solomon Haykazovich

Solomon Aykazovich Apoyan (born July 7, 1989, Artik, Armenian SSR) is a Nizhny Novgorod physician and politician, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region of the 7th convocation (2021–2026) from the "United Russia" faction, elected from single-member district No. 3 in the Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod; deputy chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, deputy head of the United Russia faction, and chair of the expert council on healthcare, which was created on his initiative. Since November 2017 he has been the chief physician of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases. He is the youngest deputy of the convocation and one of its three "budget-sector employees" (state-paid workers). ^[1][4][17]

"Best Deputy": What Lies Behind It

There is no "best deputy" title or award in Nizhny Novgorod Region, and Solomon Apoyan has never received such a title. The only regular outside assessment of Nizhny Novgorod deputies is the annual influence ranking of the Legislative Assembly compiled by the agency "Nizhny Seychas": experts rate each deputy on three scales — "Influence," "Recognizability," and "Information Activity," from 0 to 10 points — and the deputies are then sorted into the groups "Strong Influence," "Medium Influence," and "Outsiders. Weak Influence." In all of the last three editions Apoyan fell into the middle group, and his position dropped from year to year — each time the publication placed a downward arrow next to his name. ^[21][15][5]

The institution he heads, however, has indeed been called the best in the country: the Nizhny Novgorod Regional AIDS Prevention and Control Center has four times been the winner of the all-Russian "Best AIDS Center" competition held by the Russian Ministry of Health. The competition recognizes the best practices in HIV prevention and treatment, and its jury includes representatives of the Ministry of Health and of public organizations; in 2021 it received 86 applications from 50 medical organizations, and the awards ceremony took place on November 25 in Moscow at the seventh All-Russian Forum of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment Specialists. ^[24][2][25]

Another difference is the Region's representation in the Youth Parliament under the State Duma. On April 27, 2023, the Legislative Assembly sent Apoyan there: as Natalya Smotrakova, Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, explained, he was the only deputy who met the age requirement — under 35. Vice Speaker Olga Shchetinina remarked at the time that the appointment had been "voluntary-compulsory," and added that in the next campaign young people should be supported more actively. ^[22]

The Center's Victories in the All-Russian Competition

In 2021, the center won in the "Breakthrough in Treatment" category. Apoyan cited figures at the time that explained the win: treatment coverage among patients on the dispensary register nearly doubled, from 46.6 percent in 2017 to 89.7 percent in 2021, and the rate of mother-to-child transmission of the virus fell sixfold over four years, from 3 to 0.6 percent. In December 2025, the center's staff won the "Best AIDS Center 2025" competition, and the award was presented to Apoyan in Moscow; Aleksey Mazus, the Russian Ministry of Health's chief freelance specialist on HIV, noted on that occasion a 15 percent decline in the HIV incidence rate in Nizhny Novgorod Region — one of the best figures in the country. ^[24][25]

Biography

Born on July 7, 1989, in the town of Artik in the Armenian SSR. He has lived in Nizhny Novgorod since his school years: "I moved to this city with my parents when my father was transferred to Gorky on a job assignment," he told Nizhegorodskaya Pravda. The first vivid impression of the city he named was the medical class at School No. 101, which bears the name of Elena Deych, the school's director from 1990 to 2005: that class and his first teachers, in his words, determined his choice in life. ^[2]

In 2011 he graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy with a degree in general medicine, in 2012 he completed an internship in radiology there, and in 2014 he completed professional retraining in healthcare management and public health. From 2011 to 2016 Apoyan worked at the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy: he assisted the vice-rector, completed an internship as a radiologist, and ran the institution's sports and recreation camp.^[33] In 2019 he completed postgraduate studies in preventive medicine at the Volga Research Medical University. ^[1]

For a long time his home was the Leninsky District — the very district from which he was later elected to the regional parliament. In interviews he named the district as his favorite place in the city: it has many industrial enterprises, including defense plants, and sports facilities, and it was from there — from the Leninskaya station — that construction of the Nizhny Novgorod metro began. ^[2]

At the end of July 2023 he got married; instead of a honeymoon, he and his wife Svetlana bought supplies in response to one of the requests of the regional branch of the People's Front, which collects and delivers humanitarian aid to participants of the special military operation. ^[7]

The 2021 Election and District No. 3

Apoyan announced his intention to run in April 2021, registering for the United Russia preliminary vote in regional group No. 6. He pointed out that during the pandemic the center he heads became the largest laboratory in the region for diagnosing coronavirus infection, and that its specialists carried out up to three thousand tests a day. ^[23]

In the election he ran in single-member district No. 3, which covers the Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod. According to the results of the September 2021 vote, Nizhegorodskaya Pravda included him on its list of 25 single-member district winners, crediting him with 10,472 votes. ^[6][12]

Taking part in the preliminary vote is a chance to test your own strength. At this stage we will be able to talk with residents and find out what concerns them. And most importantly, it will be Nizhny Novgorod residents themselves who nominate candidates for the election, backing one candidate or another with their votes. ^[23]

Committee Work and Laws

Apoyan is deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly's committee on social issues and serves on two other committees: the committee on the economy, industry, and support for entrepreneurship, trade, and tourism, and the committee on housing and utilities and the fuel and energy complex. He has held the post of deputy chairman of the social committee since at least 2023. ^[1][19][17]

In 2025 the committee on social issues held 37 meetings and considered 159 matters, adopting 22 laws; the committee on the economy held 33 meetings and considered 187 matters, adopting 17 laws; and the committee on housing and utilities and the fuel and energy complex held 24 meetings and considered 137 matters, adopting 16 laws. Among the laws passed in 2025 with Apoyan's participation in the social committee are a regional maternity capital program effective July 1, 2025 (ranging from 10,000 rubles a month for a first child to a lump sum of one million rubles for a fourth and subsequent children), priority access to social services for disabled combat veterans and families of the fallen, free admission to museums and parks for large families on any working day, veteran-of-combat-operations status for volunteers, and a one-percent quota of jobs for returning participants in the special military operation at enterprises with more than one hundred employees. At the same time, the honorary badge "Distinguished Donor of Nizhny Novgorod Region" and the regional medal "For Support of the Special Military Operation" were established. ^[17]

In 2024, at the committee's initiative, the Committee on Housing and Utilities saw the adoption of a law requiring local government bodies to appoint an official to review residents' complaints around the clock during the heating season: in January 2024, the parliament had received complaints about cold apartments and the impossibility of getting through to emergency services. ^[18]

In November 2023, Apoyan supported a bill introduced by Governor Gleb Nikitin banning abortions in private clinics. In the first reading, 41 deputies supported the bill, with no votes against and no abstentions; a petition against the ban was signed by four thousand women of Nizhny Novgorod. ^[14] In February 2024, he presented the regional program for the protection of motherhood and childhood. ^[13]

I support the bill. I believe that any abortion is murder. ^[14]

Expert Council on Health Care

At Apoyan's initiative, an expert council on health care issues was established under the Committee on Social Issues, and he heads it. In 2025, the council counted among its results a change to the federal rules for applying clinical guidelines — the physician is now granted the right to depart from them in the interests of a specific patient — a transition to federal co-financing of purchases of expensive medicines for patients with orphan diseases, and the inclusion of preimplantation genetic diagnostics in the state guarantees program for 2026. ^[17]

On March 10, 2026, the council discussed relations between hospitals and insurance companies in the compulsory health insurance (OMS) system. The meeting was chaired by Apoyan; participants included the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Evgeny Lyulin, Senator Olga Shchetinina, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection Badma Bashankaev, representatives of the regional Ministry of Health and the territorial OMS fund, and chief physicians. ^[27]

If a patient has been treated and discharged healthy, why fine the hospital? Sometimes the fine is out of all proportion to the mistake made. A doctor, overloaded with work, forgot to write something in the paperwork, and they fine the hospital half the cost of the treatment. ^[27]

The rest is paperwork, filling out forms… The doctor has turned not into a healer but into a scribe! ^[27]

Appointments, Appeals, and the Deputy Fund

The deputy's reception office operates in the Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod — Lenin Avenue, building 46, office 129, in the district administration building; appointments are held on the last Thursday of every month by prior registration, and there are also remote and on-site visits, while residents can make contact by email, by phone, and by private message on social media. ^[1][17]

The topics of appeals are the same year after year: housing and utilities, public amenities, health care, social issues, and financial assistance. In 2025 the breakdown looked like this: appeals about the work of authorities and institutions — 18 percent, housing and utilities — 15, public amenities and road repair — 15, health care — 15, social issues — 11, financial assistance — 10, education — 9, other — 7 percent. Among the issues resolved in 2025 were the installation of playgrounds in courtyards on Kosmonavta Komarova, Generala Popova, Baumana, Goncharova, Stankozavodskaya, and Khersonskaya streets, benches and trash bins at the same addresses, additional trash containers on Norilskaya, speed bumps on Molodoy Gvardii Street, as well as payment for expensive medicines, genetic tests, and operations, and the purchase of large household appliances for large families. ^[17]

Apoyan directed the deputy fund for supporting territories to hospitals and clinics in the Leninsky District, schools and kindergartens, institutions of supplementary education, and the improvement of courtyards. In 2025 this money paid for the following in the Leninsky District: a fire door for School No. 175, plastic windows in the physics classrooms of Schools No. 72 and No. 160, an endodontic device for the regional dental clinic, a refrigerated cabinet for Kindergarten No. 297, electronic scales with a height meter for Kindergarten No. 401, a video surveillance system and computers for Children's Clinic No. 18, and six playgrounds. In the Tekhnotkan Square, with his participation, 90 arborvitae trees were planted — one for each year of the Leninsky District's existence. ^[17][18]

Fund for the Support of Territories

The deputy's reports state the amounts he directed to his district from the regional fund for territorial support. In each of the last two reporting years, the total was exactly five million rubles, divided among four areas. ^[17][18]

Party and Public Work

Apoyan is deputy head of the United Russia faction in the Legislative Assembly and a member of the party's regional political council, as well as a member of the Youth Parliament under the State Duma. From 2012 to 2018, Apoyan served as a trusted representative of the President of the Russian Federation.^[33] In September 2022, at an on-site session of the Youth Parliament in Nizhny Novgorod, he gave a welcoming address and co-moderated the committees on health care and sports: more than 150 young parliamentarians from 66 regions of the country and Belarus came to the city at that time. ^[17][20][22]

He is co-chair of the regional headquarters of the People's Front and a member of its regional executive committee. For ten years, Apoyan has held the post of co-chair of the Nizhny Novgorod regional headquarters of the All-Russia People's Front.^[33] The former head of the movement's Nizhny Novgorod executive committee was detained on October 14, 2025, and the next day was remanded in custody on charges of large-scale fraud; according to "Nizhny Seychas," as of December 5 the branch had been without a leader for almost two months, and Apoyan told the outlet that the movement's central executive committee had not proposed any candidates for the post, and that no date had been set for a session of the regional headquarters to hold an election. ^[2][11]

In December 2025, he joined the nationwide "Wishing Tree" campaign and gave a boy named Maxim a computer gaming steering wheel, and his sister a craft kit; at the same time, together with the "Volunteers of Victory" and activists of the "Young Guard of United Russia," he congratulated a Great Patriotic War veteran, Efimiya Petrovna Repetilova, on the New Year. She was a frontline nurse at Crimean Hospital No. 4245, worked for almost forty years as a stamping-press operator at the "PKO Teploobmennik" plant, and was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod in March 2025. On January 3, 2026, Apoyan presented the first recipients with the medals "For Supporting the Special Military Operation" in the parliament. ^[28][29][30]

In his district, he holds meetings with residents and reports back to them on his work: he organizes tours of the Legislative Assembly for schools in Leninsky District, congratulates families in Dubki Park on Family, Love and Fidelity Day, and opened a photo exhibition, "Victory in Faces. The Labor Feat of the People," at the Children's Creativity Center for the 80th anniversary of the Victory. ^[17]

At the Head of the AIDS Center

Apoyan headed the center in November 2017; in a 2023 interview he dated the start of his work as chief physician to 2018. According to his account, over those years the institution was switched to a two-shift schedule, its fleet of laboratory equipment was renewed, staff salaries were raised, and a mobile laboratory based on the "GAZelle-NEXT" was launched, which toured all the districts of the Region offering free HIV testing; a mobile app for patients and a children's educational character, Immuntik, also appeared. ^[1][2]

In July 2025, the center put into operation a robotic laboratory system capable of performing up to 50,000 tests a day. According to Deputy Governor Andrey Checherin, automation cut the time needed to get results from fifteen hours to two; according to Apoyan, during the coronavirus pandemic 40 employees carried out up to 15,000 tests a day. ^[8]

On July 7, 2026, the results of the All-Russian Competition of Digital Transformation Projects of Medical Organizations were announced in Moscow — it was organized by Moscow State University of Management, the Roshal Children's Scientific and Clinical Center, and the autonomous nonprofit organization "VOK Expert Programs Center" — and the Nizhny Novgorod center took second place. The digital transformation affected the laboratory, several departments, and the pharmacy outlet; the institution operates a robotic laboratory integrated with the Unified Digital Healthcare Platform, and the Region's first AI assistant for rapid assessment of patients' condition. Apoyan named robots for carrying, sorting, and escorting laboratory cargo as the next stage. ^[9][26]

In April 2026, Apoyan reported that 935 HIV cases were detected in the region in 2025 — a historic low; a year earlier, 1,323 cases had been detected. Testing coverage in 2025 reached 45 percent of residents, compared with 40.6 percent in 2024. ^[10]

HIV infection is a controllable chronic disease, not a fatal one. It is important to establish the diagnosis in time and to take medication. ^[2]

Visit by operatives to the center (2026)

On March 26, 2026, operatives worked at the Regional AIDS Center; the outcome of the activities was not disclosed, Apoyan was not a suspect, and the publication Nizhny Seychas linked the visit to detentions at Nizhegorodskaya Oblastnaya Farmatsiya (the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Pharmacy). The next day, one regional media outlet reported that a deputy had been detained on suspicion of taking bribes. ^[16]

The same day, the Information Policy Department of the Legislative Assembly issued a denial. In its review of the results of the seventh convocation, Nizhny Seychas placed the episode within a general intensification of investigative actions against the deputy corps and budget-funded organizations of the Region over the past two years. ^[3][4]

The information is not true. Solomon Apoyan is currently present at another session of the Legislative Assembly. ^[3]

End of the Term

The powers of the seventh convocation expired in the fall of 2026. Elections of deputies to the Legislative Assembly of the eighth convocation took place on the single voting day, September 20, 2026; in single-member district No. 3, Vladimir Moskalenko won. In total, the new composition of the parliament has 50 deputies — 25 from single-member districts and 25 from the regional electoral district; in all districts, candidates of United Russia won, which ended up with 41 seats, with the CPRF getting four, the LDPR and New People two each, and A Just Russia one. ^[31][32]

In the last influence ranking published before the elections, "Nizhny Seychas" noted that 46 of the 50 deputies made it to the end of the term and that roughly a quarter of the body stayed in the group of outsiders throughout all those years. Apoyan was never in that group. ^[5]

In 2015, Apoyan became head of the Lukoyanov Central District Hospital, becoming, at age 26, the youngest chief physician in Russia.^[33]

In 2026, Apoyan did not take part in the United Russia primaries and did not put forward his candidacy in the elections to the Legislative Assembly of the new convocation. In October 2026, a criminal case was opened against him; the investigators' preliminary theory is abuse of authority.^[33]

In 2026, Apoyan became a defendant in a criminal case for abuse of official powers: according to the investigators' version, from 2019 to 2024 he helped one organization obtain contracts for placing public-service advertising on disease prevention, causing damage to the budget of Nizhny Novgorod Region of more than 1 million rubles; the case was opened following joint work by the regional directorate of the Investigative Committee and the FSB directorate.^[34]

Sources

1. Newsroom24 — In 2026, Apoyan became a defendant in a criminal case for abuse of official powers: according to the investigators' version, from 2019 to 2024 he helped one of the organiz

1. NN.RU — In October 2026, a criminal case was opened against Apoyan; the investigators' preliminary theory is abuse of authority. By that time he was already a

1. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Apoyan Solomon Aykazovich: date and place of birth, education, work history, committees, deputy's reception office (archive)
2. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — "My Nizhny": Chief Physician of the AIDS Center Solomon Apoyan (June 7, 2023) (archive)
3. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly Refutes Rumors of Solomon Apoyan's Detention (March 27, 2026) (archive)
4. Nizhny Seychas — 50 Shades of Not-So-White. What the VII Convocation of Deputies of the Regional Legislative Assembly Will Be Remembered For (April 21, 2026)
5. Nizhny Seychas — Influence Ranking of Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region Deputies — 2026 (August 20, 2026) (archive)
6. NN.RU — 2021 Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region: Parties, Politicians, and Platforms — Candidates by Electoral District, Including District No. 3 (Leninsky District) (September 10, 2021) (archive)
7. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Solomon Apoyan and His Wife Spent Money on Aid to Soldiers of the Special Military Operation Instead of a Honeymoon (August 16, 2023) (archive)
8. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Robotic Conveyor for Blood Analysis Launched at the Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center (July 10, 2025) (archive)
9. Nizhny Seychas — Deputy Apoyan Boasts of the AIDS Center's Digital Transformation (July 8, 2026) (archive)
10. Nizhny Seychas — 935 HIV Cases Detected in Nizhny Novgorod Region (April 30, 2026) (archive)
11. Nizhny Seychas — Regional Branch of the "People's Front" in No Hurry to Appoint a New Leader (December 5, 2025) (archive)
12. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — 25 Deputies Elected to the Regional Parliament from Single-Member Districts of Nizhny Novgorod Region (September 23, 2021) (archive)
13. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Solomon Apoyan: "The Maternity Protection Program Will Preserve the Health of Generations" (February 29, 2024) (archive)
14. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhny Novgorod Region Wants to Tighten Abortion Legislation (November 30, 2023) (archive)
15. Nizhny Seychas — Influence Ranking of Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly Deputies — 2025 (October 30, 2025)
16. Nizhny Seychas — Legislative Assembly Deputy Apoyan Was Not Detained (March 27, 2026) (archive)
17. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Report of Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region Apoyan Solomon Aykazovich for 2025
18. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Report of Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region Apoyan Solomon Aykazovich for 2024
19. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Report of Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region Apoyan Solomon Aykazovich for 2023
20. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Report of Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region Apoyan Solomon Aykazovich for 2022
21. Nizhny Seychas — The Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly of the VII Convocation Is 3 Years Old. Influence Ranking of Deputies
22. Nizhny Seychas — Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly Sends Solomon Apoyan to the Youth Parliament under the State Duma (April 27, 2023)
23. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Solomon Apoyan Plans to Run in Legislative Assembly Elections for United Russia (April 13, 2021) (archive)
24. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Nizhny Novgorod Regional AIDS Center Once Again Named One of the Best in the Country (November 25, 2021) (archive)
25. MK — Nizhny Novgorod — MK in Nizhny Novgorod — Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center Is the Best in the Country (December 3, 2025) (archive)
26. Vremya N — Nizhny Novgorod AIDS Center Takes Second Place in the National Digital Transformation Ranking (July 8, 2026)
27. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Evgeniy Lyulin Calls for Optimizing the Compulsory Health Insurance System to Make It Person-Centered (March 11, 2026)
28. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Solomon Apoyan Presents Nizhny Novgorod Volunteers with "For Support of the SMO" Medals (January 3, 2026)
29. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Solomon Apoyan Congratulates Great Patriotic War Veteran Efimiya Petrovna Repetilova on the New Year (December 28, 2025)
30. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region — Solomon Apoyan Takes Part in the Nationwide "Wishing Tree" Campaign (December 29, 2025)
31. Vremya N — Preliminary Results: How the 2026 Elections Went in Nizhny Novgorod Region (September 21, 2026)
32. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Results of the Legislative Assembly Elections: How the Seats Were Distributed (September 22, 2026) (archive)