Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office said 201 illegally constructed buildings have been dismantled in protected coastal areas below the 1,905-meter elevation around Lake Sevan.
The demolished structures include villas, cottages and other buildings linked to former senior officials and their relatives. Among them were facilities associated with former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan, the son of former National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan, and others.
The prosecution said demolition work will continue after the end of the beach season.
The Prosecutor General's Office announced on December 11, 2025, that it had begun dismantling illegally constructed buildings located below the 1,905-meter elevation along Lake Sevan's shoreline. At the time, it said the work would continue throughout 2026.
Based on prosecutorial motions, authorities dismantled, among other structures, the walls and access ramp located below the protected elevation at a villa, in fact owned by Seyran Ohanyan. The Prosecutor General's Office has also filed a lawsuit seeking the property. Authorities also demolished an illegally built villa belonging to the son of former National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan, a cottage built illegally by the brother of former Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, a cottage built by Karen Grigoryan, son of former Gegharkunik governor Rafik Grigoryan, and the wall, concrete retaining structures, access ramp and other facilities below the protected elevation at a Sevan villa linked to former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan. In a separate illicit assets forfeiture case, prosecutors are seeking confiscation of that property from Gasparyan and related individuals.
In addition to those motions, the Prosecutor General's Office has filed lawsuits concerning several other properties, including a Sevan villa linked to Vladimir Gasparyan, the administrative complex of the Harsnaqar hotel, Harsnaqar hotel cottages, a Sevan villa linked to former Football Federation of Armenia president and former lawmaker Ruben Hayrapetyan, a Sevan villa linked to Seyran Ohanyan, and a Sevan villa linked to Arman Hakobjanyan, chairman of the board of Kapavor LLC.
Following reviews conducted by the Prosecutor General's Office's Department for the Protection of State Interests and the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor's Office, crime reports were submitted to investigative authorities, which opened criminal proceedings.
The Prosecutor General's Office also reported on May 12 and July 6-7, 2026, that it had sent motions to the director of Sevan National Park and the secretary-general of the Ministry of Environment, requesting measures to terminate lease or development rights agreements for lakeside plots concluded between the park and several individuals and companies, including Nazik Amiryan, Varsham Gharibyan, Arayik Hayrapetyan, Rafik and Gor Gasparyans LLC, Sedrakyan Husik and Friends LLC, and Khosrov Avetisyan.
Responding to public questions about why the buildings were being demolished instead of being transferred to socially vulnerable families, the Prosecutor General's Office said the territory below the 1,905-meter elevation is designated as a flood-prone and protected coastal zone.
It recalled that under a government decision adopted on December 18, 2008, areas expected to be flooded due to the rising level of Lake Sevan extend from the lake's water boundary within Sevan National Park up to the 1,905-meter elevation.
According to prosecutors, there are no legal grounds for transferring the dismantled structures for other uses because they are located in a flood-risk zone, ownership rights cannot legally be registered for them, and their continued existence harms Lake Sevan's ecosystem, cleanliness and water quality.
