Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian State Urban Development Committee Chairman Avetik Eloyan guarantees that "Yerevan downtown will be no longer developed with multistoried buildings at the expense of green zones”.

“We suspended the construction of two 16-storey buildings on Tumanyan Street recently. No one will build whatever they want, wherever they want anymore. Every large construction will be thoroughly examined for adherence to the building norms and regulations. Our main goal is to develop and beautify the outskirts of the city. Invest in the future of our country! Further consolidation of the central area of Yerevan will result in a catastrophe,” Eloyan said in the interview to Golos Armenii. 

The chairman also commented on the speech he gave recently on the occasion of Builder’s Day, saying:

“This is what I said, and I quote: “It is time to build universities and parks, not mansions and churches.” Obviously, it was a figurative expression and neither the committee nor I intend to prohibit construction of churches. We do not even have necessary levers for that. What I mean is the approach that the state and the people need to have for priorities. We should change the mentality. The priority is to provide people with accommodation, jobs and clean air. It would be better for everyone if the people investing millions of dollars in building churches invested that money into construction of affordable housing. I wish their charity took the form of restoration of architectural monuments, construction of schools and practice grounds in borderline communities. I repeat: there was no subtext in my statement.”