EVERYBODY IS EQUAL BEFORE LAW, AND NO ONE CAN INFLUENCE MAYOR’S OFFICE ANY LONGER, YEREVAN DEPUTY MAYOR STATES

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 16, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Today Yerevan Mayor’s Office is
concerned with the problem of construction, unauthorized constructions,
and land seizures in Yerevan. As Kamo Areyan, the First Deputy Yerevan
Mayor, said at the June 16 press conference, in the past months of
2008, 95 protocols on seizure of lands being state ownership and
starting unauthorized construction on them were made up, Mayor’s
Office pulled down 102 constructions, which exceeds the index of
the same period of the previous year four-fold. At the same time it
was mentioned that all 12 Prefectures of Yerevan in total made up 25
protocols on unauthorized construction.

According to K. Areyan, Mayor’s Office also imposed administrative
fines on trespassers. 79 cases were filed in the above mentioned
period, as a result of which administrative fine of 11m 660 thousand
drams (nearly 38.2 thousand USD) was collected, while only 5m drams was
collected in the same period of the previous year. This year in many
cases the fines were collected in accordance with court judgements:
10m 380 thousand drams has been already transferred to the state
budget on 45 cases. According to the Deputy Mayor, 59 cases are still
underway, and in case of a judgement in favor of Mayor’s Office,
21m 270 thousand drams will be transferred to the state budget.

According to K. Areyan, the only way of making trespassers execute
the requirements of the law is administration. "We have very serious
problems, and one thing is established exactly by the country’s
supreme power and Mayor: everybody is equal before the requirements
of the law. No one will be able to influence Mayor’s Office and town
authorities with his title, position, capital, influential relatives
any longer," K. Areyan said.

At the same time it was mentioned that local self-government bodies are
responsible for prevention, suspension of unauthorized constructions
and liquidation of their consequences, the Urban Developmet department
is responsible for current checkings of documents and construction
quality, and the general checking is carried out by Yerevan Mayor.