ArmInfo.The Sevan Startup Tent Sammit 2021 will not take place this year. According to the official announcement of the organizers, the event is canceled due to the ban of the Ministry of Nature Protection on the use of the traditional site.
In particular, the organizers noted that after almost two months of negotiations, the relevant state bodies considered it inappropriate to provide a platform on the shores of Lake Sevan for the summit, where the organizers are used to holding it.
At the same time, the RA Minister of Nature Protection Romanos Petrosyan on his official Facebook page explained that the main reason for the refusal to grant a place is that the summit was held in close proximity to the specially protected area of the Norashen reserve of the Sevan National Park. On the assurance of the acting Minister, the organizers of the summit were offered other venues for the event, but the latter categorically refused.
Moreover, after detailed discussions, the organizers were granted permission to hold the Summit in their preferred location, but with a number of restrictions due to the legal regime of reserves and specially protected areas regulated by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. For example, it is forbidden to make bonfires in this area. According to Petrosyan's assurance, the organizers were officially notified of this. However, the latter again rejected the proposal, citing the impossibility of holding the event, involving about 10 thousand participants, in the mode of such restrictions.
At the same time, the Ministry of Nature Protection declares that the proposal to hold the Summit on the territory of the Sevan National Park, which does not have the status of a reserve or wildlife sanctuary, is still in force. In this regard, Romanos Petrosyan urged to refrain from spreading misinformation and misleading interested parties. In fact, information about the ban was picked up by many sources and Telegram channels, and was presented without mentioning the environmental component of the problem in the exclusive vein of the authorities' disinterest in the development of initiatives and creativity of the Armenian IT community. It should be noted that the Sevan National Park includes protected areas with a strict environmental regime. The most famous is the Norashen reserve, which is also called the "island of the gulls", where the unique Armenian gull (Larus armenicus) is under protection. Note that Sevan Startup Summit is a tent startup that brings together aspiring entrepreneurs, investors and other representatives of the IT ecosystem, creating an unprecedented informal environment for education, establishing business ties and investment deals. This site was the permanent venue for the Summit in 2016- 2019.