Land valued at $158 million returned to the state in Ararat Province
Approximately 5,330 hectares of state-owned land in Ararat Province have been returned to the state, the cadastral value of which, approximated to the market price, amounts to more than 60 billion 553 million drams. The information is reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia (RA).
The Prosecutor’s Office study revealed that back in 2006, Alik Sargsyan, the former governor of Ararat Province, had allocated these lands for 49 years to “Kendanineri Ashkharh” LLC (“Animal World” LLC) with the right of gratuitous use, in violation of legal requirements. The company was founded by Vardges Matevosyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia, G.G., the driver of former Minister of Territorial Administration Hovik Abrahamyan, and Governor Alik Sargsyan.
On September 19, the Cadastre Committee terminated the company’s right of use through state registration. The Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to the Minister of Environment to organize the measurement of the territories.
On September 22, the Prosecutor’s Office of Ararat Province submitted a crime report to the Anti-Corruption Committee. Criminal proceedings were initiated under Article 441, Part 2, Point 2 of the Criminal Code (CC) for exceeding official authority and causing particularly large-scale damage.