Tuesday, October 29 2019 18:28

ArmInfo. Problems with  garbage collection in Yerevan should be solved fundamentally, and not  with the use of one-time solutions. On October 20, Hayk Sargsyan,  Deputy Mayor of the Armenian capital, stated this in an interview  with reporters.  

According to him, already in 2020, the garbage  collection fleet will be replenished with 17 new units, which will  bring the garbage collection system to a whole new level. At the same  time, at this stage the mayor's office does not plan to involve a new  operator on the market, since the sanitary-cleaning cycle is not  fully completed.

Hayk Sargsyan also noted that the Yerevan Municipality is not afraid  of possible arbitration proceedings with the former operator in the  person of Sanitek company. "If the municipality had even a bit of  doubt, we would not have agreed to terminate the contract with the  previous operator," the Deputy Mayor noted.  He also said that next  year several underpasses will be overhauled. The underground passage  at the beginning of Mashtots Avenue, at the intersection with Grigor  Lusavorich and Paronyan Streets, is especially poorly maintained.  "Moisture is accumulating there, which is dripping from the ceiling. 

Therefore, a major overhaul is needed. Without it, everything will  become wet again. That is why no one agrees to open stores here,"  Sargsyan added. Now the mayor's office is conducting temporary  lighting in the transitions, so that at least it is not dark. A  competition will be announced next year for overhauls.  It should be  noted that earlier Mayor of the Armenian capital Hayk Marutyan noted  that having studied all the facts of Sanitek's activity, the  Municipality is not afraid that the company will appeal to the  Arbitration Court. Marutyan praised the work of the second garbage  collection operator operating under  the capital's municipality. He  noted that the positive dynamics will become even more apparent after  a few months, when the process of equipping equipment and related  personnel is completed. So, the number of new garbage containers is  planned to be increased from 4 thousand to 9 thousand, and the  corresponding vehicles - from 34 units to 54.

Problems with the removal of household waste in Yerevan began in the  summer of 2018, and in the spring of 2019, Sanitek was fined twice  for failure to fulfill obligations, for a total of 40 million drams.  Sanitek International has filed a lawsuit against Yerevan Mayor's  Office. The amount of the claim is almost 25 million drams. In  February, criminal tax evasion proceedings were instituted against  Sanitek International and Sanitek Armenia. In addition, the  Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia issued a statement that  "Sanitek" caused damage to the capital budget in the amount of 5.3  billion drams. The company itself denies the allegations. On October  2 of this year, "Sanitek" company received the last remittance from  the Municipality of Yerevan: 160 million drams were transferred to  the company for services provided in the second half of August this  year. It was noted that the Yerevan Municipality no longer has any  financial obligations to Sanitek, given that since August 29 of this  year, the company has completely stopped providing garbage collection  and sanitary cleaning services in Yerevan.