I residenti di Vardenut preferiscono gli investitori francesi. azione | I residenti di Vardenut preferiscono gli investitori francesi: protestano

Residents of Vardenut village blocked the inter-provincial road today, demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

In order to build an eco-village, a ski complex and a reservoir on the slope of Mount Aragats, 4400 hectares of land in Vardenut should be alienated to the “RID” company. This was decided by the Government in September 2023, considering the interest of the investment project to be superior to the interests of the peasant owners.

The participants of the demonstration believe that the permission to build a ski complex on Aragats should have been given to the French company “Aragate Investments”, not to the “RID” of Russian businessman Ruben Grigoryan. According to the locals, “RID” offered an “unacceptably cheap price” for 110 hectares to around 200 owners, the company estimated one square meter of land at only 300 drams, “cheaper than just a pack of cigarettes”.

And the French competitor promised the villagers to build a new Courchevel on Aragats and to pay a higher price for the land. Although “Reed” won the developers’ competition, the French “Aragate Investments” contacted the residents with its pipes, trying to interest them in its offer.

The residents deny that they have become a tool in the hands of Russian and French businesses. Contact with “Reed” surprised them. The company, they say, wants to buy the land cheaply, and one more thing, it accuses the villagers of getting rich and sues all 250 property voucher holders. The land of one of them has already been confiscated by the court’s decision.

“Reed” company did not hold public hearings in the community. But the residents learned from the Internet that Ruben Grigoryan is a Russian businessman, he was declared bankrupt, and the Russian is trying to transfer his assets to other countries.