Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told reporters today that the government will not compensate business owners at Yerevan’s Surmalu Market for losses incurred in the August 14 explosion.

Kerobyan said business owners must seek compensation from their insurance companies if they had policies covering such contingencies.

“If business owners failed to consider such a risk to be so great, then the government has nothing to offer,” Kerobyan said.

The minister said the government should not be held accountable if business owners fail to adhere to safety regulations and purchase relevant insurance policies.

As to how many business owners at the market had policies covering damage due to explosions is not known.

An official investigation of the August 14 explosion that killed sixteen and injured dozens has yet to specify what caused the blast that damaged large sections of the market.

Kerobyan did not comment on whether the Armenian government could be held liable for not following up on an investigation at the market in the spring of 2021 that revealed scores of safety violations.

On August 18, PM Nikol Pashinyan admitted that the Fire and Technical Safety Inspection Authority (FTSIA) inspected the market and uncovered scores of violations.

The FTSIA has claimed that it never checked to see if the violations were fixed because the agency was “overworked.”