VIDEO: 60 Hectares of Forest Privately Owned in Tsaghkadzor

The Prosecutor General's Office has completed an investigation based on the publication by "Hetq" and forwarded the materials to the Investigative Committee.

According to the official website of the Prosecutor's Office, the Department for the Protection of Public Interests conducted an examination regarding the "Officials Have Privately Owned 60 Hectares of Forest in Tsaghkadzor" article published by the electronic newspaper "Hetq".

The investigation revealed that based on a relevant decision of the Government of Armenia from 2007, approximately 60 hectares of state property forest land within the administrative borders of the Hrazdan community in Kotayk Province were reclassified to residential land category for mixed development and transferred to the community under free ownership rights, while 14.0 hectares were allocated to the category of specially protected areas for the organization of recreation. Subsequently, these land parcels were sold through auction to several individuals.

It was found that the reclassified lands were not only part of the forest fund but, according to satellite images, also consisted of homogeneous forested areas. However, during the process of reclassification, competent officials ignored the fact that forest fund lands cannot be included in the category of mixed development lands, changing their intended use and transferring them as mixed development lands to the community, which allowed for their subsequent alienation.

Documents have been forwarded to the Investigative Committee of Armenia to ascertain possible violations by officials during the performance of their duties, to provide a legal assessment of their actions, to determine the presence and extent of the caused damage, and to take measures for restitution in accordance with articles 180 and 181 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia.