Municipality ignores protesters' claims

Gathered outside the Yerevan Municipality, several dozen street vendors were protesting Mayor Karen Karapetyan's recent decision to ban street vending in the capital.

They were calling on the municipal authorities to provide them with pavilions to legalize their trade.

"We pay taxes in time, and yet they cut our income. What would happen if we paid no taxes at all?" the protesters exclaimed.

"I have three children, and should they starve I'll commit a murder," a young vendor said.

Other men participating in the protest complained they had bank loans and might not be able to pay them back if left jobless.
Shouting protesters attempted to intrude into the building but the police prevented them from doing so.

Speaking to Tert.am, some of them said they didn't want to move to markets as that form of trade would not benefit them. They also said the police had been very rude to them, tossing their products and causing material damage.

The head of the trade and services department at Yerevan municipality refused to answer reporters' questions. Chief specialist of the department Hovhannes Ghalechyan made some comments instead. He said street vending was prohibited under the law on trade and services while the administrative code envisaged fines for those engaged in open air retailing.

Ghalechyan said the municipality offered alternative options such as shopping centers or markets.

"The social factor cannot be brought as reasoning to justify something prohibited by the law," he said, adding that attempts to ban street vending had been made under the former mayor as well.

He also denied the protesters' complaints that 12,000 street vendors had been left jobless as a result of the municipality's recent measures. He said about 2,500-3,000 people had been banished from streets.