It’s past midnight at the Armavir Municipal Bus Station and some 150 drivers have gathered to demand police protection.

The drivers ply the #207 route in their minivans from Armavir to Yerevan.

Photo-journalist Gagik Shamshyan, who visited the scene, relates that drivers told him that a few hours earlier a group of young men showed up and blocked their egress and told them to stop servicing the route, or else.

For the past ten years, the route has been operated by the Galaktika TransService Company.

The minivan drivers claim that the men who threatened them have links with Republican Party MP Nahapet Gevorgyan, nicknamed “Novo”.

The drivers say that MP Gevorgyan wants to take over the lucrative route and has brought in some unlicensed vans to ply passengers between Armavir and Yerevan.

The local police appear to have been apprised of the situation and are conducting spot checks of vans leaving Armavir.

Meanwhile the drivers are afraid that a similar encounter awaits them tomorrow morning as well.

They say that the cops are powerless when it comes to stopping the man called “Novo”.

Photos: Gagik Shamshyan