The construction of a new medical-rehabilitation center in the heart of Vanadzor was to have been completed in May and the construction works of the cinema were to have started at the beginning of the year.

But the global economic crisis upset all the plans in the third largest town of Armenia and the works over two construction projects have stopped now.

Tigran Papanyan, Head of the Town Planning and Architectural Department of Vanadzor Municipality, says that the crisis, in fact, entered Vanadzor with all its manifestations and consequences.

“There was an agreement that construction works would start as soon as the weather gets warmer. But later we found out that they cannot start the works because of the crisis. And there is no hope that the works will start till autumn,” Papanyan says, referring to his conversation with the owner of the ‘Paradise’ Company about the construction of the cinema in the town’s central ‘Artsakh’ park.

Yet three years ago – in 2006, the authorities of Vanadzor sold half of the ‘Artsakh’ park to ‘Moscow Cinema’ LLC belonging to ‘Paradise” company (which owns the Moscow Cinema House in Yerevan). They hoped that three years later the territory would turn into a theatre area, with cinema halls and a well-preserved park.

‘Paradise’ promised residents of Vanadzor to construct two halls – a big one (with 250 seats) and a small one (with 50 seats) provided with modern digital equipment.

Martun Adoyan, General Manager of ‘Moscow Cinema’ LLC, says that the crisis upset everything. “We should have already started the works connected with the land, but we can probably start them only in autumn,” says Adoyan.

He adds that even if they do not manage to lay down the foundation of the cinema in autumn, then next spring they will do everything possible to carry out works connected with the land.

Construction stopped also in the territory not far from the park. Workers were last time seen in the construction site of the medical-rehabilitation center at the end of last year.

Papanyan connects this with the crisis, too; whereas the owner of the center and the land, a businessman from Yerevan, Rafael Manucharyan, stopped the construction for reasons other than the crisis.

He says that the construction of the center is not his only business, and that he will manage to finish the construction works till the end of this year. Under the construction permit, Manucharyan was supposed to finish it this month. But taking into consideration the fact that the construction works started almost six months later, the deadline was also postponed by half a year.

Though it is already a year since the construction works of the center in the 600 sq. meter territory started, even the roof of the three-storied building isn’t ready yet. Papanyan, referring to the ‘Armenian Law on Urban Development’ says that a constructor has a right to finish the work even two years after the fixed deadline.

People in Vanadzor, however, hope that the incomplete construction projects in their town, whose suspension is mainly blamed on the world crisis, one day, will eventually be finished.

Owners of elite construction projects in the center of the town are also optimistic.

Arthur Vardanyan, Head of ‘Vipmerg’ LLC, suspended construction indefinitely. However, he does not lose hope to resume work soon.

“The crisis has affected construction,” say Vanadzor Municipality representatives, citing the auction statistics.

Papanyan brings as an example the recent auction announced by the Municipality. Only two of the 17 auctioned lots were sold.

“There was no one wishing to participate in the auctions for those 15 lots,” says Papanyan and adds that previously there were only one or two lots left without bidders. Now the situation is completely different, even though the auction prices are rather low.

Though looking for ways to end the crisis, the Vanadzor municipality has decided to increase tenfold the price of land of up to 100 square meters in order to fill the local budget. Otherwise, the economic crisis would hit hard the town’s budget as well.