Gagik Tsarukyan's 'Ararat Cement' CJSC Has Not Paid 118 Million Dram in Land Rent to the Ararat Community

'Ararat Cement' CJSC has not paid rent for the lands rented from the Ararat community for six years to carry out production activities. According to 'Hetq', the owner of 'Ararat Cement' CJSC is businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, who acquired 100% of the company's shares in 2006. Tsarukyan's debt to the community for land rent amounts to approximately 118 million dram.

The community lands include limestone and travertine deposits that were leased to 'Ararat Cement' CJSC in October 2015, based on a decision by the Ararat City Council. The council had set the rental term for a mining site of 53.8625 hectares located in the community’s administrative territory until July 14, 2020, based on a mining allocation act granted to the company in February 2014. The rental terms for areas of 13.63617 hectares, 9.76758 hectares, and 2.8781 hectares were established until July 20, 2032. The annual rent for one hectare of the mentioned lands was set at 124,200 dram according to the same council decision.

On December 8, 2022, the council decided to waive penalties calculated for not paying land rents according to the lease agreements for 'Ararat Cement' CJSC. Based on the agreement between the Ararat community and 'Ararat Cement' CJSC, which recognized the obligation to pay the rents, a payment schedule was established for the accumulated rent for land areas of 9.7857 hectares, 13.6361 hectares, 2.8781 hectares, 20.05 hectares, 6.4034 hectares, 18.46 hectares, 27.9453 hectares, 5.3362 hectares, 27.31 hectares, 9.1874 hectares, and 17.2534 hectares from 2017 until December 31, 2022.

The same decision indicates that the municipality has reached agreements with 'Ararat Cement' CJSC to set the lease rents for areas of 26.30021 hectares in the community at 4% of the cadastral value instead of the previously established 1%, and contracts with a 4% cadastral value will be signed for areas of 47.35 hectares and 2.9 hectares, to increase social programs and implement them through the Ararat community, while providing irrigation water to the community through a pipeline bringing water to the cement plant from the Kakhank river.

It also became apparent from the decision that 'Ararat Cement' CJSC has unregistered buildings in the cadastral register, for which it has not paid property tax to the community. Nevertheless, the council decided not to apply any penalties based on the lease agreements for the total of 158 hectares to 'Ararat Cement' CJSC up to and including December 31, 2022. The only dissenting vote on the decision to waive the penalties came from Karo Karapetyan, the former head of Surenavan community, representing the 'My Strong Community' party. This party is led by Hayk Haykyan, the former head of the Ararat city community and now a council member who voted in favor of waiving the penalties. During his tenure, 'Ararat Cement' acquired the lands and started neglecting rent payments two years later.

We attempted to obtain information from Ararat community chief Aslan Avetisyan about how much the penalties arising from not paying rents accumulated from 2017 to December 31, 2022, and why it was decided to waive them. We asked how much money has been paid so far according to the established schedule of rent payments. We also inquired about how many of 'Ararat Cement's' constructions are not registered in the cadastral register, from which year they have existed, why they have not been registered, and how much the annual property tax for unregistered structures amounts to, among other questions. Aslan Avetisyan did not respond to our letter dated February 14, 2023. After the legally established period expired, we reminded the staff once again over the phone. Subsequently, on March 1, we received the following response from Aslan Avetisyan: 'To provide the information requested in writing, it is necessary to present authorization to act on behalf of the NGO