ARMENPRESS

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN VISITS NEW DEFENSE MINISTRY
PREMISES

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS: President Robert
Kocharian visited today the new under construction
premises of the defense ministry. Colonel Armen
Sarkisian, head of a defense ministry department in
charge of major construction and troops housing, spoke
in detail about the new building.
He said the complex will occupy a space of 26
hectares. It will have sporting grounds and a parking
lot for helicopters to land and take off.
Speaking to journalists Kocharian said they expect
the work to be fully over late in May and then the
ministry, the central headquarters and other military
infrastructures will move into the new modern
building.
Now the ministry is in one building while some of
its major departments are housed in different parts of
the town. The idea, according to Kocharian, is to
house all in one building for a better coordination of
defense and related activities.
The construction of the new premises will cost 13
billion Drams. According to the defense minister
Mikael Harutunian, they are off-budget funds.
Today Kocharian also had a consultative meeting
with army brass, attended by foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian. Later Kocharian told journalists they had
discussed details of a CSTO military exercise
scheduled to be held in Armenia late in summer.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress