ArmInfo.The Armenian Prosecutor's Office has opened criminal proceedings regarding the rental of premises in the center of Yerevan at clearly reduced prices. According to preliminary data, around 877 million drams of damage was caused to the community.
In particular, according to information from the supervisory authority, it was established that in the period from 2010 to 2023, the relevant officials of the Yerevan Municipality leased a number of areas on the territory of the Second Building the Municipality of Yerevan at Yerevan, Buzand Street, 1/3, owned by the same community, to various individuals and to legal entities at clearly low prices. Meanwhile, as noted, the minimum rental price should have been calculated according to established formulas, an auction or competition should have been announced at the specified price, the market value should have been formed, and an independent appraiser should have been attracted to determine the market value.
For example, a plot with an area of 140 square meters has been available for rent since 2011 for only 56 thousand drams (1 square meter costs 400 drams), while, according to the Cadastre Committee, the average market price for renting a 1 square meter area of a public building in the same area is currently 5,187 AMD (in case of renting at the market price, the monthly rent for a 140 square meter area will be 726 thousand 180 AMD). "Given that as a result of the audit, cases of obvious crime were identified, the prosecutor submitted a crime report to the Anti-Corruption Committee. On January 20, 2024, the Anti-Corruption Committee opened a criminal case under Article 441, Part 2, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code (abuse by an official of official powers or the influence caused by them, causing particularly large property damage to the state).