Yerevan Deputy Mayor Inflicts Over 8 Million Dram Damage to City Budget, Claims Former Deputy Director of National Theater

Yerevan Deputy Mayor Tigran Virabyan has allegedly caused over 8,000,000 drams in damage to the city budget. This was claimed by Manuk Nigoyan, the former deputy director of the National Theater, who recently submitted his resignation.

“After the reopening of the Yerevan Zoo in 2015, my company became the first to operate a café in the zoo. After five months of conscientious work, disagreements arose with an official who is linked to Mayor Taron Margaryan, and after being subjected to an unlawful administrative fine of 1,500,000 drams by the State Revenue Committee, my company terminated its contract with the zoo and vacated the premises,” Nigoyan explained.

“In August 2018, following three years of court battles and passing through three court instances—first instance, appellate, and cassation—we won the case against the State Revenue Committee, once again proving the fabricated nature of the administrative act.”

“Now, four years later, amid talks of revolution and its consequences, the implementation of economic reforms, huge investments, and the conscientiousness of public officials, I want to inform the citizens of the Republic of Armenia that due to the dishonest and criminal inaction of the highest municipal authority, more than 4,000,000 drams have not entered the Yerevan city budget,” he added.

“Let me explain why. The Yerevan Zoo opened its doors to citizens on May 1; thus, between May 1 and now, the cafes have not been operational within the zoo, which could have generated a potential 4,000,000 drams for the city budget over these two months as per the rental agreement. I have called several departments within the Yerevan Municipality over the past Friday regarding the issue: the procurement department, the secretary’s office, the property management department, the reception of Deputy Mayor Hayk Sargsyan, and so on.”

“After three days of bureaucratic struggles, I figured out the name of the official responsible for the café rental tender at the zoo, finally managed to find him, and discovered that he had no documents concerning the zoo. The only information I was given was that issues related to the auction of spaces for conducting economic activities in the zoo are coordinated by Deputy Mayor Tigran Virabyan.”

“If Tigran Virabyan had ever been engaged in private economic activities beyond managing a theater that operates on state subsidies—thereby facing zero economic risks—he would understand that losing two months out of a potential five-month café operation period equates to a permanent loss of profit, which is a blow to the Yerevan city budget and hinders the prompt resolution of the city's problems.”

“Meanwhile, as I write all of this, Tigran Virabyan, the so-called deputy mayor, is talking about developing the city. Hours are passing, and if we believe the municipality’s recent promise that the tender will be announced in a week, it means that participants will only be given an average of 15 working days to apply for the tender, and the tender commission will take an additional 10 working days to review the applications. Then, they will announce the name of the winning company, and within another 10 working days, the rental agreement will be signed. Thus, these spaces will not be operational until at least August 16 at the earliest. In such a case, no company would take such a considerable financial risk, hoping to recover their investment during the subsequent two passive months. It results in the year closing without these spaces being put into operation, and if any daring entrepreneur agrees to shoulder such a risk by renting the spaces for two months, it will mean that the city budget lost four months of rental income, amounting to an estimated 8,000,000 drams, which I am sure Tigran Virabyan will not return. On the contrary, during all these months, he will continue to receive his salary from the city budget for his criminal inaction,” Nigoyan stated.