The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia received a statement on the results of monitoring carried out by the State Supervision Service of the Republic of Armenia regarding cases of leasing land plots owned by the state or communities and then subleasing them to telecom operators. According to the statement, as a result of monitoring, cases were found out regarding giving land plots owned by the state or communities on a lease for a low price by the community leaders, and then (almost immediately after that), subleasing the property or part of the property to the telecom operators for a price of several, even ten times more expensive.

By the instruction of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia within the framework of the function of state interests protection, the results of monitoring have become subject for study. Considering that the application of this scheme can include the entire territory of the republic, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia instructed the prosecutors of the regions to initiate a thorough study for each region to identify (with the exception of cases presented by the monitoring of the State Supervision Service of the Republic of Armenia) the possibility of conducting transactions according to the same scheme in other communities, the circumstances of leasing land plots owned by the state or communities in compliance with the requirements established by the legislation, granting the right to sublet by the owner land plots, installation and operation permits of telecommunication stations in the territory of subleased land plots, installation and operation of these stations in the presence of a positive conclusion of the bodies of the State Hygienic and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate.

Based on the results of the studies, measures were taken to terminate sublease contracts concluded in violation of the requirements of the legislation and conclude new contracts between communities and tenants in compliance with established legal procedures.

To ensure the completeness and comprehensiveness of the studies, the Department of State Interests Protection of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia carried out relevant requests and requested documents from the RA Ministry of Environment, the RA Ministry of Health, the RA Urban Development Committee, the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission  and the RA Cadastre Committee.

Pursuant to the instruction of the RA Prosecutor General in 8 regions of the republic (Kotayk, Shirak, Syunik, Tavush, Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn, Ararat, Lori), the Prosecutor's Offices have already begun active, large-scale studies in the context of which the inquiry bodies were given instructions to prepare materials on many cases.

As a result, criminal cases were initiated on the grounds of abuse of powers, falsification and use of documents on the basis of the prepared materials, and measures are being taken to restore damage caused to the state or communities with the use of criminal schemes.

In the near future, information on their results will be regularly provided.