VIDEO: Property Owners Must Preserve Historical Buildings; Municipality Begins New Process with Ministry of Education

"The city has historical buildings that have been neglected, are not in use, have broken windows, and we have work to do here," noted Tigran Avinyan during a working meeting last year.

Approximately three dozen historical buildings in Yerevan are currently in dire condition, and their owners are either unknown or their whereabouts are unclear. In order to preserve buildings of historical and cultural significance, the Yerevan Municipality has initiated a new process in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports to locate the property owners and restore the buildings.

"Primarily, these are the well-known black buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries among Yerevan residents. They face various types of issues. Some have structural problems, some are abandoned, and some are being used improperly. According to the law on the preservation and usage of immovable historical and cultural monuments and environments, the responsibilities of monument owners are defined, including the obligation to ensure their preservation and structural soundness. We have started a joint initiative with the municipality regarding this issue," stated Hrant Hovsepyan, head of the monument restoration division at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

"The municipality is also cooperating with the Cadastre Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to identify the owners or their locations and to ensure that they fulfill the legal obligations regarding the preservation of historical buildings, as well as the execution of reinforcement, restoration, and maintenance works stipulated by council decisions," emphasized Sona Tevanyan, adviser to the Mayor of Yerevan.

All property owners have been sent notifications regarding their obligations. One or two have responded and expressed willingness to ensure the preservation of the buildings. In some cases, the notifications simply do not reach the owners, who may be residing abroad. If the property owners fail to meet their obligations, legislation allows for the imposition of administrative fines.

"The municipality has also initiated another process for amendments to the law on local self-government in Yerevan, which, among other regulations, is aimed at creating a new legal framework where the community can intervene and carry out the preservation of buildings when the owners do not do so, considering that these buildings are not only their property but also part of the city and state’s cultural heritage. Subsequently, we expect to recover the costs incurred from the owners. Administrative fines will also increase significantly, reaching potentially very high amounts," Sona Tevanyan said.

The city must do everything possible to preserve Yerevan’s cultural heritage. The law also provides the option for judicial return of historically unmanaged buildings from the owners.

"The new draft law anticipates very strict and rigid methods of preservation and penalties for violations regarding historical buildings, and non-compliance with those rules will have very bitter consequences for the owners. Moreover, any deviations from the original design of historical buildings are considered criminal acts, and rectifying those deviations is the owner’s obligation. That obligation must be adhered to or it will be enforced," highlighted Mayor Tigran Avinyan this past July.

"Our aim is certainly not to seize properties from owners or create circumstances for expropriation, but to ensure they fulfill their obligations. We are optimistic that this process will yield results soon," noted Hrant Hovsepyan. The strengthening, renovation, restoration, and preservation of cultural buildings should be well-maintained both externally and internally. However, today, some buildings are simply in emergency conditions.

The community and the administration have joined forces to restore the historical face of Yerevan.