RA Prosecutor`s Office: Demolition of illegal structures in Lake  Sevan coastal areas will continue in 2026

ArmInfo.On December 11, 2025, the RA Prosecutor General, Anna Vardapetyan, announced the beginning of the dismantling of illegally constructed buildings and structures on land plots located in the coastal areas of Lake Sevan. The Prosecutor's Office also announced that the demolition of illegal structures will continue in 2026.

According to a press release from the supervisory authority, in March  2026, 16 more buildings on 11 plots were dismantled based on  petitions from the prosecutor's office, including a private house  actually owned by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan (the  prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit in court regarding this  property), as well as a private house actually owned by the son of  former National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan.

Since December 2025, as a result of the prosecutor's office's  petitions, a total of 86 buildings and structures, both primary and  secondary, illegally constructed by various individuals on 34 plots  of land on the shores of Lake Sevan have been dismantled.  Additionally, two contracts with the Sevan National Park State Non-  Profit Organization (SNCO) have been terminated.

Recall, on February 24, 2026, tqo cottage illegally built on Lake  Sevan were demolished. One belonged to Armen Ashotyan's brother ( the  former Minister of Education and Science),  and the other  to Karen  Grigoryan, the son of former Gegharkunik Governor Rafik Grigoryan. It  is noteworthy that these cottages were built on land plots for which  the developers did not have lease rights.

The Prosecutor's Office also reported that on February 2, 2026various  structures  below the absolute elevation of the "Sevan" mansion  illegally built by former RA Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan were  dismantled (in the lawsuit for confiscation of illegally acquired  property, the Prosecutor's Office, among other things, demands the  confiscation of this mansion from Vladimir Gasparyan and his  associates). 

It should be noted that in addition to motions mentioned, the  Prosecutor's Office also filed lawsuits concerning the illegally  constructed mansion of former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan on Lake  Sevan, the administrative complex of the Harsnakar Hotel, the  cottages of the Harsnakar Hotel, and the illegally constructed  mansion of former President of the Armenian Football Federation and  former National Assembly Member Ruben Hayrapetyan on Lake Sevan.

As a result of investigations conducted by the Department for the  Protection of State Interests at the Prosecutor General's Office and  the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor's Office, within their authority  to initiate proceedings for the protection of state interests,  reports of the crime were sent to investigative bodies, and a  criminal case was opened.

In response to public concerns about demolishing the buildings when  they could be given to socially vulnerable families, the Prosecutor's  Office stated that areas below the absolute elevation of 1905 meters  on Lake Sevan are in flood zones. A government decree dated  December  18, 2008, established that the areas susceptible to flooding and  inundation due to rising water levels in Lake Sevan, in accordance  with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, include the areas  from the waterline of the Sevan National Park to an absolute  elevation of 1905.0 meters. Therefore, proposals to relocate the  dismantled structures for other purposes have no legal basis, as they  are at risk of flooding  and may end up underwater, making it  impossible to register property rights to them. Their presence harms  the ecosystem of Lake Sevan, the purity of the lake, and the quality  of its water.