«Žhoghovurd». The Municipality Does Not Support the Restaurant Business

Members of the Armenian Restaurant Association find themselves in an awkward position as the Yerevan Municipality does not accommodate their needs. In an interview with the newspaper «Žhoghovurd», the director of the Armenian Restaurant Association, Vahe Gevorgyan, candidly expressed that the municipality has not made any concessions and has retained seasonal fees from the restaurant business.

“For example, there is a problem related to the Yerevan Municipality. Businesses, while not operational, paid seasonal fees to the municipality, but the municipality as a whole did not make any accommodations. After all, the businesses did not operate during that time; it could have been accounted for in some way. Since only outdoor areas are being utilized, and our citizens prefer to sit in open places, the areas for cafes in outdoor spaces have been reduced according to government decisions—this was to maintain distance,” he stated. “For this reason, we had suggested to the municipality that cafes be allowed to add a few more tables for the new season, at least this way they could restore some percentage of their turnover, but there has been no response from the municipality.”

He added, “We will try to work on this matter. We want to meet with the mayor on this issue and hope that a solution will be found at that level.” It is noted that there has also been no response from the municipality regarding the proposal for a meeting with the mayor. One could say that the entire city has declared a ‘manhunt’ for the mayor.

For more details, refer to today’s edition of the newspaper.