Scientists and government officials tackled the topic of Armenia’s ongoing battle against air pollution during a July 29 forum held at Yerevan’s American University of Armenia.

Despite recent legislative amendments to tighten air pollution regulations, the scientists concluded that the laws are regularly violated, and monitoring mechanisms are lacking.

Representatives of the Ministry of Environment, the Yerevan Municipality’s Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center (HMC), and the National Academy of Sciences’ Ecocenter discussed the problem at the forum entitled “Improving Air Quality in Yerevan: From Awareness to Action.”

Eco-Center Director Lilit Sahakyan stressed that the issue of air pollution has been talked about for years, adding that merely confirming that the problem exists, especially in Yerevan, is just the first step in resolving it.

Arpine Panoyan, who heads the Ministry of Environment’s Atmospheric Policy Department countered that regulations on the books aren’t adhered to and that trye ministry has no supervisory authority.

Panoyan said inspection agencies in Armenia lack the resources to ensure compliance with air pollution norms.

This year, the ministry has developed a five-year program of measures, which envisages modernizing the country’s air monitoring system.

Monitoring stations now operating in Armenia do not provide the necessary information on the content of fine dust particles in the air.

 "If we do not have accurate data in real time, our policy cannot be targeted. The program envisages the acquisition of fourteen stationary and two mobile monitoring stations providing minimum coverage in Armenia that will meet international standards," Panoyan said.

Two such stations, acquired with government funding and installed in Yerevan in March, haven’t begun operating.

Two more observation stations are planned to be purchased as part of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. Three more will be brought to Armenia with funding from the Japanese government. No delivery date has been issued.

The ministry also plans to modernize the HMC's chemical laboratory by expanding the list of monitored pollutants. Today, monitoring determines the content of dust, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ground-level ozone in the air. Organic pollutants, mainly generated because of waste incineration, industrial processes, and agricultural activities, are not monitored. It is planned to develop laboratory capabilities to obtain these indicators.

In addition to the state monitoring network, citizens install air quality monitoring devices at their homes or workplaces. The ministry plans to create a reference laboratory, which will allow for the calibration of not only the observation stations of the state monitoring system, but also measuring devices installed throughout the country by citizens.

According to Panoyan, by 2030, it is planned to increase Yerevan’s green space by at least forty-one hectares to ensure the norm of nine square meters per capita as stipulated by the World Health Organization  

Gorik Avetisyan, Deputy Head of the Department of Environmental Protection of the Yerevan Municipality, also singled out problems with legislative compliance.

In 2023, the Yerevan Municipal Council adopted a resolution establishing standards for the prevention of air pollution at residential housing construction sites. Accordingly, air quality monitoring devices must be installed in construction areas, and the data is available on the municipality’s yerevan.am website.

To shield Armenia’s capital from construction dust, the Yerevan Municipality also requires builders to cover the structures with a net with a density of 180 grams/square meter at a height appropriate to the construction.

Transportation and storage of building materials must be organized with opaque membranes, and storage must be organized in closed areas or with covers.

Compliance with these standards requires significant costs, and those in the construction trade don’t seem to mind being fined for violations. Avetisyan said the city plans to increase the fines, now at 50,000 drams ($130), ten-fold.

During the Yerevan Municipality’s administrative meeting in December of last year, Tigran Avinyan instructed the Environmental Protection Department to develop a four-year comprehensive program within two months, outlining what steps the city should take to improve air quality.

The preliminary draft of the program was presented in February, without details.

According to the municipality, separate action plans with a budget and schedule will be developed for each action. Seven months later, no final plan has been devised. Avetisyan says it will be presented in September, and measures will be implemented starting in 2026.

It turns out that by 2030, the recent programs of the Yerevan Municipality and the Ministry of the Environment to tackle air pollution will be implemented in parallel.  

See: Yerevan’s Air Pollution Problem: City Authorities Contest Disturbing International Data