Despite ownership documents and a court order, bulldozers are demolishing kiosks and shops on Shinararneri Street in Yerevan.

ArmInfo. Since early morning, bulldozers have been working on Shinararneri Street in Yerevan's Ajapnyak district, demolishing kiosks and hardware stores.

The municipality is demolishing the buildings despite the businesses possessing cadastral documents and permits for operations until 2029, issued by the Yerevan City Hall. Consequently, the building owners continue to protest, demanding that their rights be respected and that the illegal demolition of their property be prevented.

In an interview with journalists, Serob Sargsyan, head of the Ajapnyak district, assured that measurements were taken before the demolition, which revealed that some of the buildings are located outside the boundaries of the plots specified in the lease agreements. According to him, even if kiosk contracts are extended, this does not mean that the structures can remain in areas where they are not intended. "Extending contracts is a daily process. However, based on the results of measurements, it turns out that some structures should not be located in a given area and, therefore, are subject to dismantling. We have a legal decision from the mayor, which was also provided to our citizens," Sargsyan stated.

At the same time, he assured that the authorities intend to find new locations for all tenants and assist them throughout the process. He added that compensation will also be discussed with the building owners. "This does not mean that we will simply destroy everything and forget about the people," the head of the administrative district emphasized.

During a conversation with journalists, Sargsyan also attempted to shift attention from the topic of dismantling the kiosks to the Armenia faction MP, Mesrop Manukyan. He stated that the deputy allegedly came to the defense of citizens because he was interested in the issue and was trying to protect a nearby gas station owned by his father-in-law, Sasun Arakelyan. Sargsyan then reiterated that the demolition of the buildings would continue. He stated that an exception would be made for structures subject to court rulings. He also noted that the work had been ongoing for about a month, and that 42 kiosks had already been dismantled. That is, according to the head of the administrative district, the intention to demolish the buildings was announced "not yesterday."

The kiosk owners, in turn, told journalists that they were the ones who approached Mesrop Manukyan for assistance, and not the deputy who contacted them to protect his own narrow personal interests.

"We ask that it be recorded: we approached Mesrop Manukyan to intervene in the situation and protect our interests. We do not want such statements to create the false impression that he is acting in his own interests. We personally asked him to help us," the owners emphasized.

They also expressed concern about how the property's value would be determined after demolition. According to them, the assessment should have been conducted by the appropriate organization before the demolition of the buildings. Now, they say, even if the authorities pay compensation, proving the actual value of the destroyed property will be significantly more difficult. One of the owners reported that their lawyers have prepared documents detailing alleged violations by the Yerevan City Hall and the head of the Yerevan administration, Tigran Avinyan. He said the documents are planned to be sent to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan, Chief of Police Kamo Tsutsulyan, and Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Artur Poghosyan. The owners also reported that some of them have already received a court decision. "We already have the court decision. If everyone is given time, everyone will be able to receive a similar decision." "Meanwhile, city officials even attempted to dismantle those kiosks whose owners had already filed lawsuits," they said.

The owners believe the authorities are attempting to demolish the structures before court decisions are made, so they can later claim the structures were illegal and should have been dismantled. However, the owners claim they have cadastral documents for their property. They believe the authorities' actions are causing millions of drams in damages and are unacceptable. "Whether they want it or not, they will have to take our interests into account. Even if someone doesn't have a court decision, that doesn't mean their property shouldn't be compensated. It's unclear what the city authorities are thinking. No one is opposed to the landscaping, but as a result of their actions, around 500 families could be left without a livelihood. We're not even demanding a complete halt to the demolition. "We call on the authorities to take our interests into account if the public good is truly at stake," the kiosk owners stated.

Earlier, lawyer Sos Hakobyan also commented on the situation on his Facebook page. Specifically, he noted that, as part of the ongoing campaign to demolish garages and kiosks throughout Yerevan, the city administration is applying the same approach to both citizens with land leases and title deeds and those without any documents. "This is the simplest form of encouraging unlawful behavior: if, simply put, the price of having and not having 'papers' is the same, then what's the point of trying to formalize everything legally, paying taxes, and so on? "After all, the state doesn't equally protect those who have rights and those who don't," Hakobyan wrote.

The lawyer also questioned why the authorities didn't negotiate with the owners in advance for reasonable monetary compensation, the provision of land elsewhere, and agreements to dismantle garages and kiosks.

It should be noted that on October 12, the head of Yerevan's Ajapnyak administrative district sent heavy equipment to demolish buildings on Shinararneri Street. However, thanks to the intervention of members of the Armenia faction, including Mesrop Manukyan, the process was stopped. The opposition MP then filed a police report regarding the alleged crime, demanding an investigation into the legality of the Ajapnyak district administration officials' actions.