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“I Don’t Want to Give Them My Property”

“Every day President Sargsyan speaks on developing the small and medium size enterprises. Now we are the representatives of that branch, but we are thrown away and the huge area is given to one owner for money making and for only an oligarch getting rich. Maybe later on we would work for him as a slave. But why? I don’t want to give them my property,” says Nikolay Melikyan.

Nikolay is one among those 28 businessmen, who have privatized properties near Botanic Park, an area conterminous to Acharyan Avenue and Tsarav Aghbyur Street. Here there are shops of building materials and car spares, a lot of service centers, but their existence is no longer under threat.

On April 21, 2005 the government came to a decision to separate the mentioned area, 9400square meters, for state needs – for construction. The mayor was assigned to provide realization of the construction projects from 2005 to 2009.

For this reason in July 2006 mayor Yervand Zakharyan adopted Decision 1119-A and assigned the “Investment Project Implementation Unit of Yerevan Construction” (PIU) to realize the construction projects.
“I wanted to sign a contract and involve a partner in my business. I went to cadastre to take the corresponding document, but I wasn’t given it. I knew the area was sequestrated,” tells Nikolay Melikyan. So together with the other businessmen convicted to the same fate he started to send applications to state bodies.

Responses of both the municipality and PIU were of analogous content: “According to the decisions of the government and the mayor the area has been evicted for state needs. But as far as the area hasn’t yet been recognized as a superior public interest, the issue can’t be touched.”
Already on March 1, 2007 by another Decision 347-N of the government the area was recognized as superior public interest. The property alienation deadline was assigned January 1, 2009, and the mayor was authorized to conduct public bargaining – contests – of the alienated property for public and state needs.

“I would like to remind that when the government started to realize the so-called “idea on state needs’ necessity”, decisions of the government were recognized unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court (CC) according to the appeal of the Ombudsman. As a result Decision 700 of the government and consequently adopted mayor’s Decision 1119 are considered invalid. Moreover, mayor’s decision has been adopted after the CC decision,” says Sedrak Baghdasaryan, head of “Victims of State Needs” NGO, emphasizing that the government Decision 347-N on recognizing superior public interest has also automatically lost its force.

Harutyun Vardanyan, one of the businessmen of Acharyan-Tsarav Aghbyur area, has his own formula for “superior interest”: “Those who hold power and have plundered a few million dollars today can legalize these sums of money in such places, and the law is in favor of them. And those who have been poignantly working all their life, who haven’t plundered others earnings, today have not right to own even their properties.”

“We have always sent written complaints, even held rallies in front of President’s residence, but all in vain. Our claims are inscribed to the municipality, the last addresses them to PIU, and the same response with a changed date is always sent to us,” says Melikyan.

In response to another inquiry of the businessmen in March of this year PIU director Robert Harutyunyan informed that the area conterminous to Acharyan - Tsarav Aghbyur Streets has been obtained by “Qaranish” ltd., which will order the real estate assessment located in that sector.”

“We met deputy mayor Karen Davtyan. He said that an announcement on holding a contest had been put in some newspaper and on the Internet, and that “Qaranish” had won the contest. I asked whether we had to check the Internet every day to know if our properties had been sold or not. He said yes you had to know,” reminds Melikyan wondering, “but why? They had to inform us, as they were selling our properties.”

Where has the contest information been published? When has it been held and why has the priority been given especially to “Qaranish” ltd? It is impossible to receive answers to these questions. PIU director says the authorized body to be the municipality, which hasn’t responded to their written inquiry for about two weeks.

“Mayor’s decision 1119-A must report who has participated in the contest and how “Qaranish” has won. Unfortunately I couldn’t obtain that decision,” says Sedrak Baghdasaryan.

The “Hetq” has that decision, but there is no a single word about the above mentioned, amazing even the director of “Qaranish” ltd. Suren Gevorgyan:
“You say you have read the mayor’s decision, where there wasn’t mentioned who has the winner of the area been recognized? Then you don’t tell the truth you have read it… If you really get the decision, read it carefully,” he assures.
He too has no answers to our questions.

“I can’t tell you why we have won, when the contest has been held or who has participated in it, unless I have the documents with me,” says Suren Gevorgyan adding that the information is enjoyed by the founders of the company. “I can’t say who the founders are, because I too don’t know them.
I’m just the executive director realizing the operations for the company to survive. I’m paid to work.”

“Qaranish” director don’t know also when the company was founded and what its business is, “It was already an exploited company, when I got a job.”

Actually according to state registration data the only founder of “Qaranish” founded in 2003 is Suren Gevorgyan himself. It is possible also that he is really unaware of the company being registered in his name. He conceals his being an employee of the municipality, “I have nothing common with the municipality; my only relation to it is that I am a citizen of Yerevan,” assures the chief engineer of “Yerevantrans” SJVC of the municipality.

“The date of realization is January the 1st. If “Qaranish” doesn’t manage, it will apply to the government to prolong the date, or the recognition of superior interest will be considered invalid,” says PIU director Robert Harutyunyan. According to him public buildings, probably a trade center, will be built in the area.

“Is it a state need? If it had been a military project or a gas-pipe construction, then we would have given the area even without any compensation. But we too can build a trade center. Let them give us the plan and fix the deadline, if we didn’t build, let them take it then,” says businessman Vardanyan. “The area price increased for several times during the past two years, and if they really had to realize projects, they would have already solved the compensation problem. But they are not intended to pay, they are waiting for a suitable moment to drive all of us from here with tractors, the way accepted in our country. All the same they would never have the area.”

The businessmen say this issue being supported by deputy mayor Karen Davtyan at the municipality. Once he has been the director of PIU successfully realizing the habitants’ eviction from North Avenue. Now he has been promoted and the “alienation” has again been assigned him.

P.S. Anzhela Martirosyan, head of Information and Public Relations Department of the municipality, says our questions would have been answered by deputy mayor Karen Davtyan. As far as he is on vacation, the response is late. However, Martirosyan promised that we would surely receive the answer.

The article was prepared within the framework of the seminar “Raising the Role of the Media in Covering Justice and Law Enforcement System”, organized by “Journalists for the Future” NGO (www.jnews.am).

Source: hetq.am