A squabble has broken out in the small hamlet of Sizavet, located in the Ashotsk district in the northern reaches of Shirak Marz. The man who started all the trouble was Gagik Kotanjyan, the former village mayor. On October 23, the residents of Sizavet made the trek from their mountain repose all the way to the regional center of Gyumri to voice their complaints to Regional Governor Lida Nanyan.

The village men folk told Mrs. Nanyan that the former mayor had set his sights on the only building in the village not yet privatized, the events center, and had made no bones about owning it. They said that he even had illegally erected a structure alongside, arguing that it was to be a store. Regional Governor Nanyan calmed their fears and promised to look into the matter for as she claimed, there would be no illegal activity in her backyard. It was early in the morning when I reached Sizavet. The village was surprisingly abuzz with action for the hour. It turned out that two of the village lads were leaving for the army and residents had turned out to send them on their way, replete with the traditional merry-making and toasting of spirits. When they got wind of why I had shown up, one of the men from the crows approached and said, “This is the wedding building that you seek, dear sister. Now we are celebrating an army send-off. Please come and join us.” I declined the invitation, arguing that I had to go look for the village mayor. I found Mayor Ararat Poghosyan in the village square. He was rushing to meet the journalist who had come to see him. Since I had heard during various regional council sessions that Sizavet was way down on the list in terms of tax collection, I started off my asking the mayor if anything had changed during the past few months. Sizavet Burdened by Tax Debts “As of today, November 15, I’ve been able to collect 3.8 million AMD out of some 15 million owed. I’ve given my word to the Regional Governor that another 1 million will be collected by the year’s end,” Mayor Poghosyan said. He told me that residents stopped paying taxes back in 1994 and still find it hard to pay anything today, But, he said, they know that they must. “On October 29, I was forced to file two lawsuits with the courts in order to seize some land taxes owed,” said the mayor. Mayor Poghosyan informed me that in 2005, former Mayor Gagik Kotanjyan, had authorized the municipality to take out a 35 million AMD loan. The municipality’s inventory was frozen for the next three years. He was able to pay off 20 million of the debt. In 2006-2007, he was forced to file six lawsuits against former Sizavet residents for unpaid land taxes. “Rather than taking care of the village’s needs, we’re walking the halls of the courts. There are two cases currently underway. I’ve warned people that if they don’t pay what’s owed I’ll send the matter to the courts. Let the Compulsory Enforcement Service seize their assets,” he said. On October 10, two officials from the Regional Administration paid a visit to Sizavet – Karlen Abrahamyan, Chief of the Department of Territorial Administration, and Hovsep Simonyan, Chief of the Department of Finance. They convened an informational meeting in the village. “Their visit was quite helpful,” said the mayor, “A lot was accomplished. After they left, the number of payments to the municipality rose substantially.” Presently, only twenty of the sixty-eight families in the village pay all their taxes It would appear that the fact that 60% of local residents are in debt only is of concern to Mayor Poghosyan. The villagers had other concerns on their mind. “We’ll find some way to pay the taxes we owe. We’ll sell off the livestock if we have to. Right now, our major concern is the former mayor and the way he is terrorizing us and the village,” residents told me. “The former mayor is terrorizing the village and its residents” “We live here basically as prisoners of the former mayor, Gagik Kotanjyan,” declared Rudik Bernetsyan, “He sold the farm building the Ashtarak Milk Company and is now employed as one of their managers. He was mayor of the village for nine years; nine years of ruination. No one stopped his destructive ways. Now he terrorizes the current mayor in his own home, demanding documentation that will allow him to privatize the wedding hall. If he’s confronted with an intelligent adversary, the former mayor will resort to picking a fight and verbal abuse. The whole village couldn’t stand up to him so we were forced to take the matter to the Regional Governor in Gyumri. Let’s see how this will all end up.” Also protesting is Rudik Kotanjyan, the son of the former mayor’s uncle. Mr. Kotanjyan told me that people have told him how his relative got the money for the two buildings in the village and how he scavenged around for building materials by picking apart stables in the village. The building at the center of contention, which residents call the ‘wedding center’, was built in 2003 by the United Nations sponsored International Food Program. “Gago is a Dashnak. During the elections he told us all to vote for the ARF. I didn’t so he had me fired from my job. I used to work as an inspector for the Ashtarak Milk branch in the village. There’s just the one building left in the village where we can go and gather and celebrate the good times and the bad, without paying any rent. Now, the former mayor, not satisfied with all that he has, wants to take away from us as well.” United Nations financed kindergarten never completed The building Rudik refers to was designed to serve as a village nursery and kindergarten. For reasons unknown, the building was never fully completed and project coordinators refused to accept the partially built structure. Materials taken from village stables have been used on the building and the old doors and windows from the newly renovated school have been used as well. This year, the former mayor has made some additional repairs to the former kindergarten and has declared that the building now belongs to him. He now tells residents that they must pay to use the space – 30,000 AMD for a wake and 50,000 for a wedding. I decided against arranging a sit-down meeting with former Mayor Gagik Kotanjyan when I  noticed a man of about 60-70 eyeing me suspiciously as I conversed with Rudik Kotanjyan. He came up to me and inquired, in a rather aggressive tone of voice, what his nephew had been telling me. He then said he’d settle matters with the boy later and left, cursing under his breath. Current village Mayor Poghosyan has sought the assistance of the police regarding the illegal construction next to the receptions hall. The next step will be to contact the United Nations and see how much was actually spent towards the construction of the former kindergarten now used for events and parties. Mayor Poghosyan has sent an inquiry to the State Property Department to see if the building is actually registered as having an owner or not. “They have forty days in which to answer. I have no idea why it would take that long. They did write to say that the reply would have to wait until they finished taking inventory of the properties involved,” complained the mayor, “I’m doing everything by the book. Once I get their answer, I’ll take the matter to the courts.”