Epress.am News from Armenia
In the last week, Epress.am correspondents have noticed that on a few occasions, employees with Yerevan City Hall or the Kentron (“Center”) district’s office, implementing the city’s decision to ban street trade, have prohibited groups of people from street trading along Tigran Mets Ave. Recall, since January there have been numerous protests by Yerevan city vendors against the ban which was enforced this year.
Street traders along this particular strip most often sell undergarments and socks or greens and lemons. On Friday, an unmarked BMW pulled up next to one of the street traders: three people, without showing ID, confiscated the bag of greens the woman was selling and threw it in the trunk. The woman pleaded with them to return her goods, promising to no longer “stand” in the block in question; however, the men said, “You can go and get [your goods] from the district’s office.”
“I won’t get them, how will I get [them]; please, I owe money on interest,” she pleaded to no avail as the men got in the car and left.
The conflict between street traders and city staff became more heated today, as the latter used stricter measures in attempting to prohibit vendors’ activities.
Epress.am spoke with one of the men involved, a young man who identified himself as an employee from the trade department of the Kentron district office. “Street trading is not permitted. It’s been decided in the entire city that there shouldn’t be [any] outdoor trade.”
During the altercations, one of the street traders, Alla, who was until then speaking angrily, became unconscious. Among those trying to bring her back to consciousness was the aforementioned city employee. Paramedics arrived a little later. After measuring her blood pressure, the paramedic declared that she had high blood pressure and she was taken home in the ambulance.
Other street traders informed Epress.am that decision or no decision, they intend to stay and will fight “till the end,” though they don’t know what form their struggle will take.
One of the street traders (who were predominantly women) said they had gone to the downtown district office where they were met with a staffer named Mkrtich.
“He told us, we’re giving you a place in Firdus [the outdoor market off of Tigran Medz Ave. and across the street from the Yerevan City supermarket], if you don’t agree to that either, beginning tomorrow, we’ll bring the police and the Red Berets [special forces] and your places will be swarmed with them, your goods will be confiscated, and along with them, you will be taken to police [division] and we won’t let you go till you abandon [your spot].
“And I said, you will place the gun in police officers’ hands, I don’t want to die from starvation, I don’t want my child to die from starvation, shoot us all, be done with it, you’ll be relieved of us, because I don’t have another option. We want to live, just like them and their children,” she said.
Asked why they don’t want to trade in the venue proposed by city staff, the woman said, “In Firdus, the house owner wants 4,000 drams [about $10.81 US] for a spot, the alley owner wants 1,500 drams [about $4.05 US], then you’ll get into the tax system, you’ll have to pay taxes, and if you don’t punch in [the sale], [either way] you’re already damned.” Note, Firdus stall owners pay a fee to a home owner for the area adjacent to the owner’s house, as well as a fee to the “alley owner” for the permission to be able to conduct trade at that stall.
According to the street vendor, they conduct small volumes of trade, they “don’t even make two nickels in a day.”
She then added if she had the chance she would “spit on this country” and leave, go abroad. “I am disappointed with this country, with this leadership. For the entire day, they talk about massacres [butchery], they are massacring an Armenian to an Armenian, how can you speak of Sumgait?”