City Hall to Offer Spaces for Cars Parked for Sale on Streets

The head of the Transport Department of the Yerevan City Hall, Edgar Galstyan, presented a draft decision to the council regarding the extension of rights to operate service parking lots established between 2013 and 2020, which was approved during a council meeting. According to Galstyan, 14 legal and natural persons who received the right to establish service parking lots based on the council’s decisions from 2013 to 2020 have requested the mayor of Yerevan for permission to operate these parking spaces from 2021 onward.

Member of the 'My Step' faction Vahe Gevorgyan addressed Edgar Galstyan regarding the privileges for electric vehicle parking, noting that citizens complain that their cars are not classified as electric vehicles and thus do not receive benefits, with the justification being that their cars also have a gasoline engine. “In international practice, a vehicle is considered an electric vehicle if its wheels are powered exclusively by an electric motor. These citizens are being denied on the grounds that their vehicles contain a small engine specifically for charging, not for rotating the wheels. How do we regard this? Do we consider it an electric vehicle or not?”

Galstyan indicated that only after establishing new legal provisions can they include these vehicles as well. He added that citizens can find out from the city hall's official website where service parking spaces are available and whether the council has granted permission for any service parking in those areas.

Council member Arthur Isperyan also emphasized that there are a large number of vehicles parked for sale or rent, particularly on central streets of Yerevan, such as Baghramyan Avenue, occupying valuable space. “Isn’t it possible to warn that this city is not a place for selling cars? They should be taken to where it is possible to sell or rent them because they occupy space for months or even years and disrupt street cleaning activities,” asked Isperyan.

Galstyan responded that a legislative package concerning this issue has been discussed in the National Assembly. “These vehicles also disrupt traffic. Similar to new regulations for mobile trading points, the city hall will propose locations where sales can take place, and those cars will be completely removed from the street network—it’s a matter of a short time.”