Threatening to Use National Security Service Against Us: Sanitek Director Details

For about 1.5 years, waste collection in Yerevan has posed a serious challenge for the municipal authorities. The City Hall notes that the waste management company is not fulfilling its obligations properly. In turn, Sanitek claims that they do not have the necessary conditions for their operations.

Recently, the City Hall announced that the Sanitek company has not been collecting waste in the city for several days at all. The company responded by stating that the City Hall has not paid 330 million drams, which has resulted in the inability to pay their employees' salaries.

Regarding the current situation, Tert.am spoke via video call with the owner and director of Sanitek, Nicolas Tavili.

- Mr. Tavili, are you aware that the Sanitek trash bins next to the Yerevan municipal waste management company's bins are overturned? What do you think about that?

- Yes, I am well aware that our bins are overturned, and that is indeed unfortunate. It reflects how the City Hall has been treating us for months. We are not surprised; it mirrors the municipality's attitude towards us.

- Sanitek employees were protesting in front of the City Hall, noting that the municipality has not paid the funds allocated to Sanitek, as a result of which supporters have not received their salaries. However, Hayk Marutyan assured that Yerevan City Hall had properly transferred over 3 billion drams owed to Sanitek.

- First and foremost, since December 1, 2014, when the contract with Sanitek came into effect, we have always paid our employees' salaries on time. Of course, there have been delays related to holiday payments, but until last month, when the municipality seized over 330 million drams, salaries have always been paid on time. I would also like to point out that the municipality has refused to accept our invoices for services provided from August 2015 until recently.

The City Hall is trying to play a very illegal game before the public, claiming that they have seized only 9% of our funds, but the company's financial management does not work that way. Mr. Marutyan knows very well what days we pay salaries and what other expenses we have. As for the 9 percent, that amounts to a significant sum. We are not even talking about July salaries; we are only discussing August salaries.

- According to the municipality, Sanitek has not been carrying out sanitation for 10 days, while the City Hall is expanding the staffing of the Yerevan Waste Collection and Sanitation Company and urging Sanitek employees to work there. What will be the resolution of the situation?

- First of all, the municipality has seized more than 1 million dollars from Sanitek, along with invoices and cash. And then they seize this large sum. What does the mayor and the municipality think, how are we supposed to work? How do they imagine our operations if they seize everything we have? As for taking our employees from the company, this is not new. We even sent a letter to Hayk Marutyan 4-5 months ago stating that the head of the Yerevan Waste Collection and Sanitation Company and many people from the municipality have been secretly discussing the termination of our employees and taking them from us. Everything that is happening now is not just a three-week story; they have been preparing for this for the past 6-7 months, and they have utilized us during that time. And it continues to this day.

Regarding the future of Sanitek in Armenia, I want to tell you that we believe in what we are doing. Our concept is very simple, and of course, we plan to use any legal means that we have, both locally and internationally. I would like to add that I am very shocked by how the municipality operates 36 vehicles throughout Yerevan, yet we still see a large amount of garbage in the city. Now, I want to direct a question to the municipality: who is performing poorly, the municipality or Sanitek?

- Do you consider the municipality's actions in the current situation to be intentional?

- Previously, I did not, but now I am 100% sure that it has been done intentionally. I want to remind you again that the municipality has repeatedly stated that the termination of the contract is a political decision; this is called dispossession. And when many government officials say that there are corrupt schemes in Sanitek and that I have connections with the former government and such things, they have been talking about this for a year and a half. I would like to see any document, any evidence that we have corruption. All of this is false and a manipulation directed against the public.

The video is courtesy of Tert.am.