Official: Arshak Koryan signs “1+1” contract with SKA-Khabarovsk

SKA-Khabarovsk have officially announced the signing of Arshak Koryan. The 31-year-old former Armenia international has agreed a contract structured on a “1+1” basis.

Koryan spent last season with Moscow-based Rodina, helping the club earn promotion to the Russian Premier League for the first time in its history. For Arshak himself, this was far from his first successful campaign in the First League.

Koryan has twice won the so-called “Best League in the World”: with Khimki in the 2023/24 season and with Rodina in 2025/26.

On two other occasions, Koryan’s teams also secured promotion to the RPL. In 2019/20, Arshak finished as an FNL runner-up with Khimki, while in 2021/22 he took third place with Orenburg and earned promotion through the play-offs.

A product of Lokomotiv Moscow’s academy, Koryan made his first-team debut during the club’s title-winning 2017/18 season. In Russia, he has also represented Torpedo Moscow and Alania Vladikavkaz. With the latter, he won bronze medals in the First League in the 2022/23 season.

Koryan arrives in Khabarovsk at a difficult moment for the club. SKA have made a disastrous start to the new First League campaign, losing all five of their opening matches.

Journalist Sergey Ilyov has revealed some interesting details of the contract. According to his information, Koryan’s initial deal runs until June 2027 but will be automatically extended for another season if the player features for at least 70 minutes in 60% of the team’s matches.

If that condition is met during the summer-autumn part of the season, Koryan will also receive a substantial salary increase starting in the spring. According to Ilyov, the player currently earns around 150,000 rubles per month, with his salary potentially increasing by approximately five times.

At the same time, the journalist reports that if Koryan fails to accumulate the required amount of playing time, the Khabarovsk club will have the option to terminate the agreement early.

For SKA, signing an experienced attacking player should be one of the steps aimed at turning around their disastrous start to the season. Koryan is capable of playing both out wide and in a more central attacking role, while his extensive experience of fighting for promotion could prove particularly valuable to the Khabarovsk side.