Improvement works that began in September on one section of Gyumri's Victory (“Haghtanak”) Park have raised serious concern among residents and environmentalists. Construction machinery uprooted thick-trunked trees 40 to 60 years old, damaging younger plantings and the trunks of surviving trees at the same time. Environmentalist Gevorg Petrosyan, president of the “Biosophia” NGO, describes what he saw on site as the ruthless destruction of a green area.

The park was established in 1946–47 in memory of Leninakan residents killed in the Great Patriotic War. It is said that as many trees were planted as the city lost people — officially 13,074 — with the trees reportedly planted in the names of the fallen.

The works are being carried out under the 2026 “Participatory Budgeting” program, which had a total budget of 86 million drams and in which residents chose the project by vote from three proposals. Funding follows an 80/20 co-financing model: the government provides 68.8 million drams and the community 17.2 million. Because the initial calculations did not account for groundwater flowing through the site or the engineering solutions needed to drain it, the project's cost nearly doubled to 172 million drams, and the community's share was approved at 103 million drams. The municipality decided to carry out the comprehensive improvement on only one of the park's four sections, citing a shortage of funds.

The tender to select a contractor was announced on July 23 with a ceiling of 179 million drams. Of four bidders, “Merdzmoskovyan” CJSC won with an offer of 159 million drams. The contract was signed on August 31, and work was scheduled to begin on September 4.

On September 19, members of the city council publicly raised questions: whether the public hearing required by law was held, whether a professional study was conducted, whether the trees to be cut were identified, whether the process was discussed with environmentalists, and how many trees have already been felled. They did not send an official letter, explaining that the municipality either does not reply to correspondence or delays replies by months. The Shirak regional department of the Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body sent the municipality an inquiry asking for justification of the tree felling, but after two weeks it still had no answer.

Petrosyan stresses that an environmental impact assessment should have been done first, the trees studied and carefully cut, and only then the roots removed. In his view, cleaning of the stream channel should have started at the source; otherwise sewage coming from upstream will again fill the cleaned section. No environmentalist active in Gyumri was involved in discussing the project; there was no public hearing and the project was not published. Unanswered questions remain: how many trees were cut, where the timber is stored and whether it will be distributed to needy families, what will be done with the exposed watercourse section, and whether an environmental impact assessment was carried out at all. Some of the decorative metal fences along the park are also missing, as are some of the curbstones, and it is unclear where they went.

No work has been carried out in the park for a month, while completion is scheduled for January 2027. The site is not properly cordoned off — there is only tape — and there is no sign showing what the park will look like in the end. Andranik Chadryan, head of the municipality's housing, utilities and environmental protection department, did not answer calls.

Source: 
https://hetq.am/hy/article/184640