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Yerevan Residents Hope to Reach Settlement with Construction Company

The Civil Court of Appeal was scheduled today to hear the appeal filed by Yerevan resident Vardan Geravetyan challenging a lower court's ruling in favour of Local Developers construction company which had gone to court seeking the eviction of residents of a number of old buildings on Yerevan's Northern Avenue. 

Geravetyan's lawyer Alina Avetisyan, however, motioned to postpone the hearing since, she said, 23 Teryan St. tenants, including her client, are currently in talks with Local Developers owner Samvel Mayrapetyan to put forward a new compensation amount. Representatives of the Presidential Control Service are also involved in the negotiations and might help the parties to come to an agreement, the lawyer added. 

Judge Alvard Hunanyan granted the motion in view of a possible settlement, despite objections from Local Developers attorney Alexander Sirunyan (pictured). “There's not going to be any settlement. There is nothing to negotiate,” Sirunyan told the judge.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, the lawyer added that the constant delay in the trial process was the result of “procedural negligence,” and the other party “wants to turn the trial into a show.” Sirunyan also claimed that the tenants had no reason to complain since Local Developers has offered them an amount 15% higher than market price: “There is nothing complicated here; if they don't want the money, we offer them a new building. [Samvel Mayrapetyan] has given millions out of his pocket to make sure these people don't have anything to worry about, but they are never satisfied.”