After months of dilly-dallying, the RA Ministry of Culture has called on the Yerevan Municipality to take all necessary steps to halt on-going construction at the city Pak Shouka (Closed Market).

The ministry says that after numerous press reports and complaints by residents in the area, it sent a team to investigate construction at the site that started up again after the May municipal elections.

The ministry team concluded that what is now taking place at the site violates the conditions as set forth in the construction document it had earlier certified.

The ministry says that the construction had been halted by the municipality prior to the elections and that similar steps must be again launched.

It appears that the new owners, a company called “Yerevan No. 1 Market”, owned by MP Samvel Aleksanyan, has violated the original architectural blueprint outline.

For one thing, the market’s interior arches have been demolished.