YEREVAN, September 2. /ARKA/. Sanitek Armenia, a  branch of Sanitek International Group –a multinational waste management company headquartered in Lebanon, accused the Yerevan Municipality of failing  to pay it 330 million drams. In a letter to Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan the company says  more than 300 million drams (about $630,000) were withheld from the amounts that were to be paid to the company in return for its services.

The company quotes the mayor as saying previously that  the municipality  is only responsible for making timely payments for garbage removal. The company says that a new company  created by the municipality  collects garbage with a gross violation of the law.

For several months, residents of Yerevan have been complaining over the failure of Sanitek’s Armenian division to collect garbage throughout the city.

Earlier, Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan publicly expressed displeasure at the work of the Sanitek company, stressing that Yerevan residents will no longer tolerate its ineffective work.

In the spring of this year, Sanitek was twice fined for failing to fulfill its contractual obligations in the amount of 13 million drams (more than $26,800) and 26 million drams ($54,100).

Sanitek Armenia, the branch of Sanitek International Group –a multinational waste management company headquartered in Lebanon, was chosen by the Yerevan Municipality to handle sanitary cleaning and waste recycling of the capital city and until recently it was a monopolist in this business. -($1 – 476.17 drams)