Criminal Case Launched Against Company Cleaning Lake Sevan Shoreline, Minister Says

Companies contracted to clean illegal structures from the shoreline of Lake Sevan below the 1900-meter mark have committed abuses in fulfilling their contractual obligations. This was announced today during a meeting with reporters by the Minister of Environment of Armenia, Romanos Petrosyan.

“As a result of document examination last year, we had halted payments to the contractors and referred the documents to the prosecutor's office,” the minister said.

He also mentioned that a criminal case has already been initiated based on these facts, and the unpaid amounts have been returned to the state budget.

While Minister Romanos Petrosyan did not specify the exact violations committed by the contractor responsible for cleaning the shores of Sevan, he justified this by citing the secrecy of the investigation, but noted that the contracts and payments for the contractor companies have been suspended due to the identified violations.

Regarding the shoreline cleaning activities planned for 2021, the minister stated that the funds already allocated in the 2021 budget would be redistributed. According to Romanos Petrosyan, the environmental agency is preparing to approach the government with this proposal.

“We are already working on a draft of the relevant government decision to ensure that these funds are directed towards the development of the 'Sevan' national park's own resources, so that such work is not carried out with the involvement of a third party, but rather the 'Sevan' national park, under the ministry's supervision, acquires its own technical means, provides around a dozen permanent jobs, and carries out the cleaning work at Sevan using its own resources,” Minister Petrosyan explained.