ARMENPRESS. A criminal investigation led by the Special Investigative Service has obtained information that a former mayor of Yerevan has illegally approved the sale of 10,000 square meters of land in Yerevan’s Victory Park in 2008, the Special Investigative Service said in a news release.
In 2008 the Mayor of Yerevan was Yervand Zakharyan.
According to authorities the former mayor first removed the area from the layout of the park under the public green territory list and then sold it off to the Golden Palace Hotel by prices reaching as low as 16,476 drams per 1 square meter.
Years later, the Golden Palace Hotel LLC pledged the lands to a commercial bank for a 2,800,000 dollar loan in 2015. The amount of the money was further increased through changes made in the contract between the bank and the company and reached 12 billion drams, which is nearly 70 times more that the price paid for acquiring the territory, authorities said.
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A criminal investigation has been launched on suspected official misconduct.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Awful affair, especially if one recalls those “clean city” campaigns that were taking place in Yerevan approximately in 2009-2011! Yet another example of privatization in a country that failed to conduct the effective transition to capitalism in 1990s. It’s striking how the “price” of the park soared from 2.8 million to 12 billion; what oligarch had a bid on this territory? ? And how is it even possible that a public park is pledged in a commercial bank? ? Also, it’s interesting who currently holds these 12 bln dram liabilities; the Golden Palace Hotel doesn’t exist anymore. Is it Radisson Armenia that is obliged to pay for a contract signed by its “predecessor”? And, finally, I wonder what the bank’s name is: the city should know its “heroes” and “owners” ??