An Interview with Sona Ayvazyan
Environmental Policy Expert/Project Director, Center for Regional Development/Transparency International Armenia

OK: Perhaps the most obvious sign of corruption in Armenia today is the construction of cafes and other buildings in the public parks and green areas of Yerevan . Not only do you have senior officials, supposedly living on modest incomes, building large structures that cost tens of thousands of dollars, but you also have related issues such as the use of position and power to violate the law.

Probably, however, you are more concerned with the lack of public participation in the process of allocating land for construction purposes?

SA: Actually, it is all a concern because a large number of permits for construction are given illegally. Of course, there is corruption in the process and we do think that public participation at various levels of decision-making could reduce that and make the system more transparent. However, I also think environmental NGOs have not been consistent enough when fighting against such illegalities. It would make a huge difference if they were more persistent but I don't want to blame them for that. Neither do I want to criticize ordinary citizens because they are helpless in the matter. There are some communities who have taken legal action but most do not.

Basically, people don't trust the courts and they also know that these cafes are not being built by ordinary people. As a result, they certainly don't want to enter into any conflict with their owners. Besides, there is a certain aspect to the Armenian character. I used to work at the Environmental Public Advocacy Center (EPAC) and its main mission was to help file environmental cases in the courts. It was established with the assistance of USAID and the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative and there was a similar project in the Ukraine .

When we compared statistics between the two projects we found that there were many more cases filed there. We discovered that Armenians are certainly willing to complain but that they are reluctant to go to court. Perhaps it's not in our culture and this contributes to any inaction. For example, when the first big case emerged, it involved the construction of the Golden Palace Hotel in Victory Park . This hotel, which was being built in a green area, was meant to be completed in time for the 1700th Anniversary of Christianity in Armenia [in 2001] but still remains unfinished.

Environmental NGOs combined their efforts to try to prevent the construction but stopped soon afterwards when they were unofficially told that the hotel belonged to the President. They were scared, and although we still don't know who the hotel belongs to, after that happened, the construction of cafes and the general destruction of green areas in Yerevan escalated.

OK: Once those in authority could see that environmental NGOs were powerless to do anything, they understood that they could also get away with illegal construction?

SA: Most of the illegal construction started after that. A few days ago, you might have seen the film by Edik Baghdasarian about the destruction of green areas in Yerevan. In that film, the Chief Architect of the city, Narek Sargsian, says that there are several illegal cafes in the Circle Park. Other cafes are also illegal but these particular cafes don't even have permits. However, their owners are not ordinary people.

OK: Let me just interrupt and explain for the benefit of those living outside of Armenia who haven't visited in recent years that we're not talking about the quaint little cafes that used to exist in Yerevan. We're talking about the large constructions that are usually owned by government officials or their relatives and friends. Even so, why is this such a problem? Isn't it good that such cafes exist?

SA: If you watch old films of Yerevan you can see that it was once a very beautiful city. Now, it is not the same. It has lost its charm and style. There is no taste or beauty here anymore. As a result, we are launching a public campaign and publishing some articles about the city.

We asked several people to write about their memories of Yerevan and what kind of city they would like to live in. Most the authors remember the capital as an attractive and pleasant city, but it has changed and doesn't have the appearance or atmosphere that it used to.

One of the saddest stories was by Stella, our accountant. She remembered how, as a child, her grandfather would take her to the Botanical Gardens so she could lose herself among the trees. Now she has a young son and is concerned that there are not enough trees to get lost in anymore -- neither in the Botanical Gardens nor in fact, anywhere else in Yerevan.

The sad thing about all of this is that nobody ever seems to take into account public opinion. Instead, the green areas are being destroyed without a thought for the environmental impact that this will have. In particular, there are concerns regarding changes in the micro-climate, the loss of bio-diversity and the effect it will have on people's health in terms of respiratory problems. I am also worried that it will affect people's psychology.

OK: Can you tell me which cafes in particular are illegal?

SA: The Chief Architect of Yerevan , himself, has named Hin Rome as a particular example. This is one of the most tasteless cafes I have ever seen in my entire life. As I understand it, some part of the cafe has permission to exist but not all of it.

OK: From what I understand from Edik's articles on the cafes in Yerevan , a small plot of land is first allocated to someone important who then decides to expand it without permission. Rather than act against it, the Mayor's Office is then involved in "legalizing" the construction because the owners are too powerful for them to do anything else.

This then leads to another problem. Edik published the names of the cafe owners after obtaining this information from decisions on record at the Mayor's Office. However, the municipality then prevented him from gaining any further access to decisions which by law must be made available to the public.

SA: And when we wrote letters to the Mayor's Office asking which cafes are illegal and who they were owned by, we received no response. On the one hand, the officials say that these cafes are illegal but at the same time, they are also protecting their owners. As a result, we can only conclude that the Mayor's Office is somehow involved or is simply afraid.

OK: Even so, the former Mayor of Yerevan, Robert Nazarian, recently admitted that all of these constructions were illegal and that his office was powerless to prevent them. The new Mayor of Yerevan, Yervand Zakarian, has said the same but has so far done nothing. It would appear that the Mayor's Office doesn't know what to do and this is a huge failing.

SA: Yes, I think so. They don't have the political will to fight against these illegalities. If they did, they would at least disclose this information and refer to the public interest to justify any action in fighting against them.

OK: Because the interests of the people who own the cafes are greater than the interests of the public?

SA: Of course, and now the situation is uncontrollable. I would also like to add that the destruction of the parks and other green areas in Yerevan seems to have become a special policy. It is not only cafes, unfortunately, and I recently heard that there are several green areas that are being destroyed, including those being built on by Armenians from the Diaspora.

OK: On the other hand, one argument used to justify construction in the green areas is that ten years ago, people used to dump their rubbish in the parks and the municipality wasn't able to maintain these public spaces themselves.

SA: But they don't really look after the parks now. Besides that, state inspection has to play a role in overseeing the environmental situation but in Yerevan , it doesn't even do that properly. The relationship between the Ministry of Nature Protection and the municipality is very unclear when it comes to the division of responsibility.

It would appear that the Ministry of Nature Protection ignores all the issues relating to green areas in Yerevan and the Mayor's Office ignores all those issues relating to the forested areas surrounding the city. However, there has to be a role for both to play on these two issues.

OK: I'm sure you heard the story that was published in the local newspapers about the trees that were taken from a nature reserve and replanted in the cafe owned by the wife of the Minister of Nature Protection. If the Minister himself has no regard for the environment in Armenia , what about the public?

SA: Unfortunately, although I understand the reasons why, social issues are a greater priority for the public than the environment. Also, while someone who is poor blames those with money for opening a cafe, if they were in the same situation they would probably do the same. Basically, people are ignorant about environmental issues.

OK: Which is strange because the residents of Yerevan used to be very proud of their city and towards the end of the soviet era, environmental protests were common. Of course, I understand that there were also political reasons for this but nevertheless, they occurred.

SA: Well, to begin with, it wasn't ordinary citizens that were leading those protests, it was specialists who were really aware of the problems. Secondly, when it came to issues such as the Nairit Chemical Plant and the Medzamor Nuclear Reactor, people generally knew about the dangers. People are not very aware, however, about the dangers of deforestation or climate change.

And I'm sad to say that people are now so completely different if you compare them with how they were back then. Now, people are poorer and are more concerned with money and survival. The qualities of the nation in 1988-9 were completely different. Each person has both good and bad qualities and depending on the situation, one or the other becomes prominent. Back then, perhaps the best features of the nation were evident but now, I'm afraid to say, there is a crisis and the worst in people has come to the fore.

OK: Another issue that would have an impact on the situation would be if the Mayor of Yerevan was elected to his position but there is no sign of that happening in the near future at least. Do you think that it would make a difference?

SA: Yes, I think it would because it would make the municipality more accountable to the public. Of course, we saw what happened in the elections last year but hopefully that situation will change at some point and we can hold democratic elections in the future.

Unfortunately, however, I don't think that there is enough demand from the public for the rule of law to be upheld in Armenia . After the elections, everyone now understands that illegality remains unpunished and in fact, is even encouraged.

Published by the Armenian News Nework — Groong, 2004.

CRD/TI Armenia's web site can be found online at http://www.transparency.am. Edik Baghdasarian's series of articles on the growth of cafes in Yerevan can be found online at: http://www.hetq.am/en/h-1103-vaivazian.html.

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