Four New Public Beaches to Be Created on the Shores of Lake Sevan, Says Hakob Simidyan

Four new public beaches will be established on the shores of Lake Sevan, adjacent to the communities of Lchakh, Shoghakat, Gavar, and Martuni. This was announced today by the Minister of Environment of Armenia Hakob Simidyan during a government session, presenting the draft decision of the government.

“The adoption of the legal act will create opportunities for rest accessible to all segments of the public within the territory of the ‘Sevan’ National Park,” the minister stated.

After the establishment of the public beaches, they will be allocated to physical or legal entities through a competitive process, under conditions of improvement, furnishing, and service provision.

Free services at the public beaches will include access to the beach, changing rooms, public restrooms, showers, a medical point, rescue services, playgrounds for children, waste management, and the availability of cleaning facilities. Contractors must also present plans for prospective investment and the creation of additional jobs.

“Of course, there will also be paid services provided by the servicing companies. We have also established standards to ensure that citizens’ leisure in public areas is appropriate — smoking is prohibited, loud music is not allowed, and music will be allowed only from a single point; only mild alcoholic beverages are permitted. These standards are in place to ensure that our citizens can enjoy their leisure time in public areas without disturbing each other,” Simidyan said.

The Minister also reported that currently there are 8 public beaches on the shores of Sevan, including 2 city beaches, the peninsula beach, and the public beaches of Draxitik, Lchashen, Tsovazard, Noratus, and Tsovagyugh. Among the 8 public beaches, only 3 — those in Sevan and the peninsula — are equipped with sunbeds, umbrellas, restrooms, playgrounds, parking lots, changing rooms, benches, a medical point, a rescue point, and other necessary amenities. Equipment work has begun for the other beaches as a result of completed competitions, while no applications were submitted in one case — at the Noratus beach.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the public beaches of Sevan host up to 90,000 vacationers during the summer.