City Hall Did Not Help but Instead Hindered Sanitek, Says Ruslan Baghdasaryan

Former Davtashen community leader Ruslan Baghdasaryan has addressed the explanations given by Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan regarding why Sanitek has not been making investments. Baghdasaryan also responds to the question of when and why Sanitek halted its investments.

His full post is presented below:

“It is true that the mayor says Sanitek is not making investments. Let there be no absolute impression that I am Sanitek's lawyer; I view Sanitek as an international investor. Nevertheless, when and why did Sanitek stop its investments?

Let me remind you that since last year, during Hayk Marutyan’s election campaign, he announced in all his speeches that he would take back that function from the company. Which company would continue to invest money without knowing its fate?

And let the mayor not mislead the residents of Yerevan by claiming that the city hall has tried to help Sanitek in every possible way; he is simply lying, as they have hindered it by all possible means, with evident proof being his speeches during the campaign.

In any case, we have a waste management issue that needs a solution. How does this city government plan to resolve it? They are establishing a new community company, having already spent nearly 3.5 million dollars from our budget, aside from allocating 2 billion drams annually to that company, and now an additional 1.7 billion drams, part of which is from the kindergarten renovation budget. (If anyone asks why those renovation tenders have not yet taken place, when that money is still on hand.)

When I previously stated that this would be at the expense of Yerevan residents, who was arguing with me that it wouldn't be? Now I also say this will NOT justify itself, and we will have temporary results. Today he says the community will take action, and when the situation stabilizes, we will think about involving another operator. So what do you plan to do with those vehicles; is Yerevan’s budget a ‘non-political garden’ for you to spend billions to extend your tenure by a few months, and then curse the ‘father of Yerevan’ and the Yerevan residents as well? This will remain in your throat.”