Illegal Structures Demolition Program Kicks Off Along the Shores of Lake Sevan: Minister of Environment

The Minister of Environment Romanos Petrosyan wrote on his Facebook page: Starting from February 1, processes aimed at addressing the issues registered at Lake Sevan will commence with renewed vigor.

Today, I held a consultation on the matter of registered buildings along the shores of Lake Sevan, the issuance of rental rights for these buildings, and the demolition of illegal constructions.

There are 915 contracts related to the "Issuance of Construction Rights on State-Owned Land" and "Lease of Land" registered with the State Organization of the "Sevan" National Park. According to these contracts, the debtor amount as of January 8, 2021, is 209,542,091 AMD.

Currently, 32 lawsuits concerning the collection of this amount and demands for unilateral early termination of the contracts are in the litigation phase, totaling claims of 43,845,466 AMD.

Through 22 legally binding court acts, an enforceable amount of 36,224,214 AMD has been established and enforcement orders have been submitted to the compulsory enforcement service for execution.

As a result of written notifications and phone calls made as part of our operations, it has been found that 263 tenants have overdue rental payments, amounting to 28,035,000 AMD, despite having no payments on record. Meanwhile, 486 tenants are diligently fulfilling their contractual obligations.

Nine tenants have been declared bankrupt at court, with a total obligation amount of 27,298,852 AMD. There are death registration certificates provided by the RA Ministry of Justice for 12 landlords, amounting to obligations of 14,215,271 AMD.

We plan to propose unilateral early termination of the contracts for 61 tenants, with total obligations of 22,152,203 AMD. Legal claims will be filed against 23 tenants for debt collection and unilateral early termination of contracts, totaling 15,385,164 AMD.

There are also seven problematic land use contracts, which carry obligations of 22,385,921 AMD.

I emphasized once again that saving Sevan is an issue of pan-Armenian significance. Groups and individuals that have exploited Lake Sevan for years under the guise of privilege will not be tolerated, nor will different groups operating under various sponsorships that place their own interests above state and public interests.

There are two overarching goals: to maximize the collection of arrears and to free the coastal areas of Lake Sevan from illegal constructions. We will not waver for a second in taking decisive action towards saving Sevan and restoring the lake’s ecosystem.

From February 1, the processes aimed at resolving registered issues of Lake Sevan and eliminating the evident violations will commence, including the technical re-equipment and enhancement of the "Sevan" National Park to serve the critical goal of freeing the coastal area from illegal structures.