Yerevan's Kond district residents stop president Serzh Sargsyan's cortège and make him come out of the car and talk to them.

Some 30-40 residents of Yerevan's Kond district today grouped outside the presidential residence with the posters, "Do not cheat us," "State is not business to provide priority needs."

According to eyewitnesses, in the morning the residents stopped the president's cortège at the intersection of Demirchyan-Baghramyan streets, making Serzh Sargsyan come out of the car and talk to them.

However, as one of the residents told A1+, they had not stopped Serzh Sargsyan's car.

"We were standing in a group when Serzh Sargsyan stopped the service vehicle, came out of it and approached us. We did not intend to stand in his way," Hovhannes said.

During the conversation, Mr. Sargsyan assured the aggrieved group that the right to redevelop the old Kond neighbourhood has been forwarded to American Building Company. The country's leader also said that new contracts will be signed with the residents and the issue of their flats will be finally settled.

"Everything will be all right," Mr. Sargsyan told the residents.
Thousands of people living in the centre of the Armenian capital have spent the last 5-6 years in limbo, not knowing if and when their homes will be torn down. In 2006 according to the decision made by the RA Government Kond district was recognized as an eminent domain and the "Downtown Yerevan" CJSC was recognized as an acquirer which took the responsibility to use the 175.769 square meter of the district. From 2007 the company started to make negotiations and sign contracts with owners. About 200 contracts were signed according to which the residents of Kond would get apartments with a space equal to the space of their houses in the building which would be built adjacent to the hotel "Dvin".

The terms of the contracts have already expired but only the basis of the building has been built up to now and the skeleton of 4-5 floor. And the destiny of people living in 700 houses of Kond is uncertain. It is already 2 years the negotiations aren't conducted, the contracts aren't signed. The residents do not know whom to apply and from whom to demand the penalties determined for the expired deadlines of the contracts. Frustrated residents have sent more than a dozen letters to the city authorities and to the construction company in an attempt to find out why their new homes have been so slow to appear. However, they have not received a clear reply.

Photo by Haykakan Zhamanak