By Karine Simonian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — The pro-government mayor of Dilijan is seeking court permission to terminate long-term lease agreements with the family of Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian billionaire and philanthropist jailed in Azerbaijan, that has invested millions of dollars in local infrastructure.
The reconstruction of a public park in the resort town about 100 kilometers north of Yerevan has been one of the projects financed by the Dilijan Development Foundation (DDF), a charity set up by Vardanyan and his wife more than a decade ago. As part of that project, the former municipal administration had granted the DDF long-term leases on the then-rundown park and an adjacent football stadium.
The charity has renovated the park since 2016, building modern sports and recreation facilities there and turning it into one of Dilijan’s main tourist attractions. It claims to have spent more than $5 million of its own funds in addition to funding provided by the European Union and a German development agency.
In 2023, the DDF asked the current local council to approve the next stage of the comprehensive reconstruction planned by it. The council controlled by Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has still not discussed the plan. It has given no reasons for the delay.
It emerged recently that the Dilijan municipality has sued the DDF, accusing it of not honoring its contractual obligations and asking an Armenian court to terminate the lease agreements. Dilijan Mayor Davit Sargsyan refused to specify the alleged breach of contract when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday, January 7. Nor did he say why the local council did not greenlight the park’s further reconstruction.
