The fight against unauthorized structures continues

Deputy Minister of Justice Armenuhi Harutyunyan presented in the National Assembly the draft Law "On making amendments to the Code on Administrative Offences", within the scope of which it is proposed to increase the amount of the fine for unauthorised structures and for failing to complete construction within the prescribed time limits. By the Draft, it is recommended to:

• increase the fine from AMD 750000 to AMD 1500000 for realisation of unauthorized structures by a person with land use or ownership right;
• increase the fine for commission of the same acts — on the part of the person not having the right to land use — on the land plots belonging to the State, communities, natural or legal persons by right of ownership, raising it from AMD2000-fold to AMD 2000000-fold.
• increase the fine up to AMD 2500000 for continuing any of the above-mentioned acts after the date of imposition of the administrative penalty.

The Deputy Minister noted that upon adoption of the Draft law in the first reading, additional statistic data on unauthorized structures were gathered. As a result, it became clear that there is still a large number of offences, and the amendments to the legal acts adopted by the Government and the National Assembly in 2021-2022 in combating unauthorized structures, have not yet produced the desired result. What’s more, the amendments have entailed a situation where the duty for obtaining a construction permit is higher than the fine prescribed for unauthorized structures. According to Harutyunyan, this exact picture of the statistical data also substantiate the increase in the amount of the fine proposed by the draft Law.