The Forests of Norq: A Dissection of Yerevan's Tree Cutting

In the heights of Norq, a vast forest area had formed since the mid-1940s to 1950s, representing Yerevan's largest forest or the city’s 'lungs.' According to CivilNet, in the 1990s, residents began cutting down the forests of Norq to address cold weather issues, and in the 2000s, the government decided to 'cut' and 'partition' half of the total forest area.

The territory of the Norq forests was fragmented by the authorities in 2004. The government led by Andranik Margaryan passed decision 910-N on June 3, which separated 46.5 hectares (465,000 square meters) from the forest land designated for urban purposes within the administrative boundaries of the Norq-Marabash community. The project for zoning the Norq-Marabash community was approved on December 12, 2007. Only 56.7 hectares of forest remained. This marked the beginning of the sale of the former large forest area of Norq to various individuals and companies.

On November 28, 2019, during a government meeting, former Minister of Environment Erik Grigoryan stated that the Norq forest had previously been larger, and parts of it had undergone zoning changes and been developed. However, Nikol Pashinyan's government did not persist in the issue of reclaiming forested areas.

The scheme for the alienation of the forested area functioned as follows: in 2002-2003, various individuals, including those connected with the government, signed lease agreements with Hayantar LLC. The contracts were, in essence, formalities. The lease was, in effect, a right to purchase. Contracts were signed for ten years and were primarily allocated for agricultural purposes. Depending on the area of land, the monthly lease payments amounted to trivial sums ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 drams.

Following the government's decision 910-N in 2004, a new chapter in this story emerged. Lessees submitted requests to the municipality asking to purchase the leased land plots, which the mayor's office approved. In 2005, there were over 38 decisions on various days granting lessees the right of first refusal for purchase and selling the plots. Many individuals on this list were connected to officials. Among them was the father of former Yerevan Chief of Police Nerses Nazaryan, Henrik Nazaryan, who had been granted a 4,000-square-meter plot in 2003 and subsequently alienated it, but later the Nazaryans sold this area.

Lessee Tigran Ghalumyan is also among those who received land. He was given a 1,500-square-meter plot. Ghalumyan is connected to former Yerevan Mayor and then Central District Mayor Gagik Beglaryan's son, Hrant Beglaryan. We find him at Kecharis LLC, where Ghalumyan has held a 50% stake since 2008, while the other half belongs to Hrant Beglaryan.

Also involved are lands belonging to the Ministry of Defense. On May 18, 2006, Minister of Defense Serzh Sargsyan requested Yerevan Mayor Ervand Zakharyan to allocate 2.5 hectares of land in Norq-Marabash for residential and public construction purposes. This request was granted on June 12, 2006, through Yerevan Mayor's decision 950-A. The Ministry was obliged to commence construction within two years. On October 30, 2006, taking into account the Ministry's request, a decision was made to annul part of the June decision, which authorized the mayor's staff to conclude a permanent contract for land use. Later, these plots were removed from the Ministry’s inventory and sold to various individuals. The planned residential and public development for the Ministry's needs was never realized.

CivilNet managed to speak with two businessmen who purchased plots in the areas separated from Norq gardens in the early 2000s and later sold them. One of our interviewees confirmed information that the family of former Police Chief Nerses Nazaryan also owned areas there. According to him, the Nazaryan land amounted to about 10,000 square meters (CivilNet found contracts for 4,000 square meters from this area), and Nerses Nazaryan himself acted as the landowner and negotiated the sales at around $33 per square meter.

The second businessman mentioned that he bought a 2,000-square-meter plot from resellers in 2008 for approximately $120 per square meter. Why were the forests of Norq divided and allocated among different individuals, including officials and companies? Our interviewees provided similar answers: to maintain power, the division and allocation of forest areas occurred among various influential people.

CivilNet examined several dozen documents, archival and cadastral packages, and highlighted a dozen of them.

For more details, refer to the original source.