Tigran Avinyan Takes My Claims to Some Personal Level: Sarhat Petrosyan

The former head of the Cadastre Committee, Sarhat Petrosyan, wrote on his Facebook page: 'Tigran Avinyan once again referred to my statements made on the same radio station during an interview with Radio Azatutyun on December 28, reiterating that what I said does not correspond to reality. Since he has opened up and acknowledged that I had previously presented all this to him, I will also be frank and say more. When I told Avetik Eloyan once again that his involvement in the project is unacceptable, he responded that Avinyan is aware and sees no problem. Let’s just note this for the future. I request and suggest to Tigran Avinyan that he try to avoid questions about my statements next time, as every time he expresses unfounded thoughts, he obliges me to shed light on the disgraceful situation in our field, in which he bears a significant share of the blame.'

He continued, 'Regarding the rejection of initiating a criminal case based on my statement (not submitted by me), I would like to add that today many criminal cases would be similarly closed or found lacking composition several years ago. But I assure you that regardless of who it concerns, whether the Deputy Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister’s advisor, when the latter announces on television that this is not his business, but belongs to another family member, and that this business is flourishing during his tenure, if at least there are no legal consequences at that moment, there is still a moral residue, as evidenced by the many bureaucrats who bring the same example and take 'commissioning work' from the side.'

Petrosyan went on to emphasize the need to look at what is currently happening with numerous former officials and to draw conclusions. 'By the way, he has not yet been summoned to provide explanations, so everything is still ahead. Tigran Avinyan also takes my claims to some personal level, suggesting that I have personal issues with the former and current heads of the Urban Development Committee. Perhaps they have convinced the political team in such a way when I voiced numerous deep-rooted issues, so I will ask several questions that might provide an opportunity for those responsible, and perhaps even for Avinyan, as an official responsible for the reform of several sectors, to reflect.'

He listed several points for consideration: 1. During the interview, the online permit system E-permits was discussed, which, according to government decision, was supposed to operate since November 2019, yet now we are promising that it will be operational in two years. And do you remember when I said during the project discussion that with the current regulations, this is not possible, and that a centralized system can only be obtained using the network of cadastre service offices? Or was that also the result of a personal conflict, when the Urban Development Committee did not even have a head at that time?

2. At the end of 2018, during the introduction of the state comprehensive expertise institute at the initiative of Avetik Eloyan, I said that this was a wrong decision and that the functions assigned to the field should not be brought to an unclear interagency commission composed of state bodies. How many developers have complained about the meaninglessness of this institute, and how much is this hindering the granting of construction permits? Or in general, who in this commission, who dominates the field, raises fundamental issues?

3. In response to my numerous calls not to put agricultural lands under construction, what happened with the assignment to various bodies to find solutions? In the last six months, while waiting patiently for the 'new land code' from the Urban Development Committee, where have we reached? By the way, I also did not find this in the recently published strategy for the development of the field of urban development. Perhaps the Deputy Prime Minister’s office is also involved in that?

4. I also propose to discuss how many cases there have been when the scientific-methodical councils for urban development and monuments in the mayor’s office gave a negative opinion on certain construction projects, and then his office tried to turn it positive.

This list can be continued, but I think for now we should be satisfied with this…
P.S. Ironically, on the same day, information was disseminated regarding a consultation on real estate tax at the Prime Minister's office. I would like to note that this work has been carried out at the Cadastre Committee and can be considered one of the most significant achievements of this government. And do you know why this was done on time, as opposed to all the points mentioned above? You guessed it right, this reform was considered part of tax reform, and I worked with Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, and as you can see, it is quite effective,' he concluded.