Mayor of Yerevan “entirely and unilaterally” terminates contracts with Sanitek

Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan has terminated all contracts with Sanitek, the waste management operator which was in charge of sanitation in the Armenian capital.

Marutyan revealed the news in a video address to citizens of Yerevan.

In the address, Marutyan noted that Sanitek’s operations began deteriorating since 2017. He said the company’s deficiencies worsened during 2018 and until September of 2019.

He said the situation prompted the City Hall to study whether or not Sanitek is meeting all requirements of the contracts, and also to check the legality of the signing of these contracts.

The mayor said the City Hall commenced a probe since June and studied the equipment and other conditions of Sanitek. The investigation has been completed recently, he said.

“Proceeding from the abovementioned, taking into account the systematic failure to collect garbage, the factual insufficiency of waste containers and their technical condition, the insufficient number of garbage trucks, which all together make the rendering of services envisaged by the contract insufficient in the defined timeframes, the fact that the services have been completely halted since August 29, 2019, the absence of insurance contracts, the incorrect assessment of specialized expertise and financial resources qualification under the law on procurement at the time of signing the contract, which are noted in the notification issued by me, based on respective clauses of the contract and proceeding from the law on local self governance in Yerevan city I hereby entirely and unilaterally terminate the contracts signed with Sanitek,” the Mayor said.