One hundred days after taking office as President of the Republic, Mr. Serge Sargsian is being evaluated by his fans and foes alike. Such an exercise assumes that 100 days is a milestone allowing a review of the new President’s decisions and actions to predict his future performance.Foes try to make all that has happened in the last 3 months look dark and hopeless. They also present a long list of actions, mainly of political nature, that have not been taken although they were considered desirable and feasible.
Fans and friends portray of course a very different picture; a rosy picture that can only lead to optimism regarding the future. If the first group has a long list of inactions, this group puts forward an extensive list of actions even if they were performed by others or by Mr. Sargsian himself but prior to becoming president.
One of the items being used to boost the new President’s record is a rather modest housing project destined to the Yerevan State University's (YSU) young faculty. Composed of 261 apartments, the building is under construction in Avan district.
The project has been in the pipeline for more than a year. Its initiator, the YSU Alumni Association, had the good idea to do something to improve the welfare of the University’s young faculty. Mr. Sargsian, in his capacity as the Chair of YSU Board of Directors (and not even as Prime Minister), was informed of the project and got involved in it. Thanks to his recommendation, the project’s scope was extended from 64 to 261 units. Subsequently, the architectural work was commissioned.
Now, more than a year later, the project is being positioned as a proof of Mr. Sargsian’s keeping promise. Indeed, during the election campaign, Mr. Sargsian committed himself to favor, during his term of presidency (2008-13), apartment and car ownership by all young families in Armenia. But how can a project that has a history longer than Mr. Sargsian’s presidency, serve as an argument in favor of his determination to implement the presidential program?
Such PR tactics are counterproductive as they assume people believe all they are told, and can therefore be perceived as insulting by this same people. They can even deepen the existing distrust towards the authorities and hurt their otherwise useful programs, including this specific project .
A project that compared to the immensity of issues and problems faced by the academic community is certainly a modest initiative but nevertheless a good one – a small step forward – has been alas reduced to a PR gimmick.
The Avan Project
The project is estimated at 19.7 million USD and, as already mentioned, concerns 261 families. It is being built on a parcel of land owned by YSU in Avan. The University had several buildings there but sold half of them after independence. The remaining 3-4 units are currently used as student dormitories and as classrooms for an extension program.
Avan has been subject to a great deal of real estate speculation and rapid development in the last 2-3 years. The great interest in Avan is based on its proximity to the city center (only 10-15 minutes to Yerevan downtown) and its rather pleasant setting (the Botanical Garden is located there). A good number of villas have mushroomed in the areas adjacent to the Garden, and many more are under way.
To buy an apartment in the Avan complex, all YSU junior faculty and research staff with at least 3 years of seniority could apply. The YSU Alumni Association has not disclosed the total number of applicants but it has indicated that 5 rounds of lottery-type selection were conducted in “full transparency”.
It seems that the reason for such a strong demand was price (550 USD per square meters) which according to Mr. Arsen Karamian, the chairman of the Association, is half the market rate. To quell the frustration of rejected applicants, the Association has already announced plans to start another building in 2009.
The construction of the current building will be completed by 2010. The contractor, Glendale Hills (Mr. Vahe Hakopian), is among the big players in the Armenian construction business.
Who Is Really Paying?
What remains unclear is how the Association has managed to lower the price by half.
What remains unclear is how the Association has managed to lower the price by half.
Is it that they have not included the price of land in their expenses as the University already owns it, or is this project being funded/subsidized by the government or by the University?
If it is being funded by the government or by YSU, is the sum coming from the regular budget (in which case some other institution or department is paying for it), or is it a new budgetary expense?
