Hrant Balasanyan cannot return to Artsakh at 83 years old. He is asking for his deposit at the Savings Bank to be paid in Armenia. As a result of the last Artsakh war, he left everything, including his home, assets, money, and documents in the Aygestan village of Hadrut. Hrant Balasanyan was displaced, and he has been living with his daughter and granddaughter in the Jrvezh neighborhood for the past 8 months. He said that his wife died 34 days before the war of a heart attack.
Hrant Balasanyan and his family members live in two rooms in a dormitory. He is not dissatisfied with his living conditions. He said that they have a roof over their heads, and what’s important is that they are not outside. But he wants to receive a plot of land so that he can build a small house. However, no matter where he applies, he is told that the community does not have any free space. He cannot buy any, either. According to him, he does not wish to return to Artsakh at his age.
In an interview with Aravot Daily, Hrant Balasanyan said that his relatives living overseas have promised to help him build a house, but the money will be sufficient if he receives a deposit from the Savings Bank. During the Soviet era, Hrant Balasanyan invested 20,000 rubles in savings at the Savings Bank. Since he officially lives in Yerevan, Hrant Balasanyan visited the Kentron and Nork-Marash branch of the United Social Service at Tumanyan 8 to receive the deposit. First, they told him that he must receive the money from Stepanakert, then they said that he should wait 90 days. Another time, according to Hrant Balasanyan, he was taken to the bank where they had data of citizens with deposits at the Savings Bank. According to Hrant Balasanyan, his information and deposit booklets were at the bank, but they told him that Paros must deal with that issue so they can pay him.
Hrant Balasanyan was unable to find out how much money 20,000 rubles is in AMD, as well as the calculations used to convert 1 ruble to AMD.
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“They sent me from place to place, and they didn’t tell me anything specific. I didn’t even need that money. I had 57 pomegranate trees, 11 walnut trees, 17 mulberry trees, and 15 cherry trees. We lived like kings. We had peaceful pastures. Now we have nothing, nothing. We are now refugees. I need the money so I can solve our living problems. But they aren’t telling me how much it is so I can start something,” Hrant Balasanyan said. According to him, if he must receive the deposit from Artsakh, then he cannot go to Stepanakert at that age. He does not even have a place to stay so he can deal with those issues. He said that if he lost his homeland and lives in Yerevan, those issues must be resolved in Yerevan so that they don’t send elderly people from place to place “like a soccer ball.” Especially since they give Savings Bank deposits to people his age.
In response to Aravot Daily’s question, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said that Hrant Balasanyan appealed to the ministry about the issue. But the issue is that he does not meet the requirements. In other words, he cannot be considered a beneficiary because his documents do not mention the ASSR. Besides that, the citizen is registered in Artsakh, and to understand if he is a beneficiary of Savings Bank deposits or not in Artsakh, he must appeal to Artsakh.
People who made a deposit in the USSR Savings Bank of the ASSR Republican Bank until June 10, 1993, in Soviet rubles have the right to receive compensation for money deposits made in the USSR Republican Bank until June 10, 1993.
Lusine Budaghyan
