Yerevan-Aparan highway unblocked; locals demand meeting with Armenia`s premier

ArmInfo.Residents of the Aragatsotn village of Vardenut, who blocked a section of the Yerevan-Vanadzor highway in the morning, are not against the mplementation of the RID company's project to create a ski complex, an eco-village and a reservoir, but not at the expense of refusing to defend their own interests in the alienation of their land plots.

Earlier today, ArmInfo reported that residents of the village of  Vardenut, protesting against the recognition of the village's  territory of almost 110 hectares as a zone of exclusive public  interest, again blocked the Yerevan-Aparan highway. As in March of  this year. The villagers protested against the government's decision  to recognize part of the territory of the villages of Vardenut and  Aragats as a zone of predominant public interest, as a result of  which they would receive compensation several times less than the  real value.

According to the villagers, they are dissatisfied with the amount of  compensation offered - , which should receive the land, offers  them only 345 drams per square meter, while independent appraisers  quote a figure almost 10 times higher. Some insist on an adequate  exchange, which, according to them, is impossible in principle due to  the lack of the same areas in nearby villages.

Today, the villagers agreed to unblock the highway on the condition  of holding a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The investor program was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers  on March 2, 2023. As part of a $200 million program to create 300  farms and an ecotourism center covering over 4,000 hectares of land,  it is planned to build a ski complex on the slopes of Aragats. The  entire complex (about 30 km of ski slopes, five cable car lines, as  well as hotels) is expected to cover the territories of several  villages in the Aragatsotn region - Vardenut, Aragats, Arai and  Shenavan. According to the Ministry of Economy, the implementation of  this project will be of great importance in the context of the  further economic development of Armenia. Based on this, the Cabinet  of Ministers decided to recognize the prevailing public interest in  relation to land with an area of 113 hectares, while simultaneously  giving permission for the long-term lease of land of 3,640 hectares.