Armenian president unhappy about delays in capital construction

Noyan Tapan news agency
25 Feb 05

Yerevan, 25 February: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan held a
working meeting on 25 February with government members on issues of
capital construction. The participants in the meting reported on the
course of project and organizational work on capital construction in
their spheres, the press service of the Armenian president has told
Noyan Tapan news agency. The schedule of their implementation was
approved. The republic’s president demanded that the participants in
the meeting make efforts not to violate the schedule of the work.

Kocharyan expressed his concern over the fact that there have been
delays this year in the sphere of project and construction work on
facilities of capital construction. “In essence, no work has been
carried out for several months, and then beginning from May, we try
to complete the construction work by the end of the year, on a tight
schedule and at the expense of people’s health and the quality of
the work that is being carried out,” the president said.

In order to solve the problem, we can initiate the budget process one
or one and a half months in advance and approve it not in December,
but in November in order to have more time for preparing the draft
documents, conducting tenders, etc., he said.

Kocharyan thinks that it is also necessary to include in the state
budget the construction programmes that have been approved, which
will not only reduce the waste of time, but also make the general
process more specific.

Kocharyan thinks that among the programmes of capital construction,
the situation with the participation of construction companies
in competitions is more problematic and requires a radical
solution. “There is some information that the builders do not believe
in the fairness of competitions. There are cases when people are
forced in advance not to participate in competitions. I just want to
warn you that if this information is confirmed, we will take quite
different measures,” the president stressed.

Kocharyan said it is important to differentiate between customers,
controllers and inspectorates in order to improve the process of
holding competitions, which will cause a clash of interests and make
the process fairer and clearer. In cases involving larger and more
important facilities, we can set up an interdepartmental commission,
the president said.

The president also thinks it is not clear why only one or two companies
are taking part in purchase and construction competitions. “I do
not understand why the price is higher than the market one when an
organization wins the competition. We will follow up these cases. Since
budget allocations to these spheres are growing, we want this process
to be fair and ensure wider participation,” Kocharyan stressed.