Office of Armenia`s second president responds to accusations by  authorities

ArmInfo. The office of Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, responded to  accusations from the country's authorities that Kocharyan's in-laws' company is deliberately delaying road repairs in Yerevan.

In an interview with Channel 5, Bagrat Mikoyan, head of the second  president's office, called these accusations "yet another piece of  nonsense," expressing his conviction that city authorities, who  failed to pave Yerevan streets in a timely manner and were harshly  criticized by citizens, are attempting to shift the blame for the  failure onto their political opponent. "They're spreading  misinformation that asphalt paving work on damaged road sections in  Yerevan's Central Administrative District is progressing slowly  because it's being carried out by AAB, a company owned by Robert  Kocharyan's in-law. This is 'yet another piece of nonsense,'" Mikoyan  noted.

In this regard, he stated that none of Kocharyan's three in-laws owns  a single asphalt paving company. He also noted that many roads in the  Republic paved during Kocharyan's presidency retain their quality  even after 18 years, while asphalt laid during the current period  "melts with the first snow."

"Let them look for the cause of the poor quality asphalt in their  Swiss bank accounts. And if they don't find it, after June 8 (after  the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7, 2026 - ed.), we'll  help them," the head of the second president's office concluded.

It's worth noting that Yerevan's roads are in dire condition.  Residents are complaining about huge potholes forming on the  capital's roads and the inaction of the Yerevan Municipality. Yerevan  Mayor Tigran Avinyan, responding to public discontent, asserted that  the roads were being cleared before their eyes because they had been  salted. The mayor's arguments drew laughter from residents, who had  previously complained that the snow had once again caught the Yerevan  Municipality off guard and that it had failed to treat the capital's  roads in a timely manner, leading to numerous traffic accidents.  Furthermore, in recent days, in an attempt to somehow justify the  poor-quality asphalt being laid on the capital's roads, media outlets  affiliated with the Armenian government have attempted to blame the  slow progress in repairing the potholes on Robert Kocharyan's close  associate, who won the tender. Daniel Ionnisyan, head of the pro-  government NGO "Union of Informed Citizens," also promotes this line  on his Facebook page. He wrote that the worst roads in Armenia are in  Yerevan. He blamed the second president for this, noting that repairs  to damaged sections of the capital's roads should have been carried  out by AAB, a company owned by Robert Kocharyan's in-law.

It's worth noting that the 2026 budget allocates over 100 billion  drams for road construction and repair programs.