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A conflict among the villagers arose in the cottage area of Nor Kharberd on issues concerning drinking water which encourages people to act fraudulently.

Getashen resident, Harutyun Chilingaryan, who participated in the liberation battle of Getashen, has been living in Nor Kharberd for 14 years and has been getting his drinking water from his neighbor, Vahagn Mesropyan, for the past 4 years. Mesropyan is legally entitled to use the drinking water; however, his waterline also provides 23 families on 4 streets with a water supply.

Nonetheless, the gradual and arbitrary increase of water bill tariffs and the suspension of a water supply based on unsubstantiated reasons infuriate some of the villagers.

“Yerevan Jur” CSJC tries to stay away from such conflicts by encouraging Vahagn to find a common language between the villagers;  however, claimshave been submitted to the “Yerevan Jur” central office from the co-villager “subscribers”, and now Vahagn Mesropyan’s water bill is mysteriously increasing. The villagers are forced to pay the sum, which is followed by arguments and difficult conflicts. 

After hearing both sides, we arrived at this conclusion. In a discussion with Arayik Zalyan and the author of an article from Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, Harutyun Chilingaryan presented the issue in the following manner, “ … after providing # 4street residents with the water supply, Vahagn Mesropyan charged 280 AMD per 1 m3 water for the first month. We asked him to legalize the water system so that we could have water by law. He demanded 30.000 AMD, so we could legally become the subscribers of “Yerevan Jur” CSJC. We paid the money, but now we are neither a subscriber nor an owner of the waterline. Subsequently, Mesropyan came along with an additional tariff of 380 AMD per 1 m3, so we continued paying the 380 AMD. He then demanded a1000-1200 AMD per capita. This means, our family, which is comprised of 7 persons, (3 grandchildren, their parents and myself and wife), has to pay 6000-7000 AMD. Now when I convert that sum into cubic meter, it comes up to 45 m3 per month, but I don’t grow fish, one person cannot consume 1-2 m3 per month!

According to H. Chilingaryan, Vahagn obliges them to keep the water meter outside and take it to the laboratory for testing once a month and to pay 3000 AMD. Then a new water meter with different factory numbers is returned to the owners however the numbers don’t coincide with those stated in the documents of the previous water meter. Vahagn Mesropyan has submitted a claim to the police to forbid H. Chilingaryan from insulting him.

They understood the matter and convinced him to reconcile and resolve the water issue without conflict; however, the issue remained unresolved. In March of 2011, H. Chilingaryan submitted a claim to “Yerevan Jur” CSJC. Gagik Margaryan, head of customer care department, replied, “Vahagn Mesropyan is registered at “Yerevan Jur” CSJC as a subscriber, who gets water from the company for a fixed amount. As to the sum that the latter got charged from the village, the company is not entitled to intervene”. Nevertheless, a representative from the company visited the village to meet, not with the claimant, but with Vahagn Mesropyan, the water supplier, and left without resolving the issue.

“I don’t understand.  What does he do with the money he collects? He does not provide water on the remaining 5 days, there are only 15 families living on this street that have water, and there are  a total of 4 streets. He is in charge of supplying all of the 4 streets, over 40-50 subscribers”, noted the villager who is deprived of water.

We also visited subscriber Vahagn Mesropyan to hear his explanations. We asked him to show the contract which entitles him to carry out the right to provide the water supply. He replied he had a technical contract but he neither showed it nor the document of water supply provision.  He responding that he had applied to “Yerevan Jur” CSJC, but he didn’t receive it. In the beginning he was told they had the document, but then claimed it was lost and this continued for 4 years. In answer to the question as to the rates that were charged, V. Mesropyan explained the pricing in the following way, “I have told the resident that the Water Plumbing Company does not reimburse the pump price, so it is included in the water bill and they have consented to pay it.”

To Arayik Zalyan’s question “How he deals with the tax system?”Vahagn Mesropyan responded, “The water economy has entitled me and I am serving on the part of “Yerevan Jur” CSJC, which covers the value added tax.   I have become a separate subscriber; I have a separate water meter and checks.”

To the inquiry if he acts as a physical entity he answered, “Yes, because the administration told me that in the case of CSJC, they cannot provide me with either LTD or as a private entrepreneur. They claimed that I could only serve as a physical entity and told me to find a common language with my subscribers.”

“Are you authorized to form a legal act?” “I don’t form legal acts myself, I address it to the heads of the Water Company, and they refuse to perform legal acts. The way I deal with this is that if the subscribers refuse to pay, I simply terminate the water supply”. (This is Mesropyan’s way of punishment.) He collected 30.000 AMD to install the waterline. “Let’s put it this way, I told them they should pay 25.000-30.000 AMD for the waterline installation and warned them in case of violations their water supply would be suspended.  .In the case of one time violations, as in the case of, Harut Chilingaryan, I terminated the water supply and it has been 3 months since I did it. He refused to pay for the water he used, that is why I turned it off.”

As to the contract, Mesropyan says, “I asked the Water Plumbing Company to provide me with a public contract to sign, because they don’t pay for the pump, so I collect more money to pay the value added tax, but it refuses to give.”

We asked if “Yerevan Jur” CSJC charged him additional money. Our interlocutor didn’t deny it and responded, “According to the data in April, I have 23 subscribers, and someone claimed that I refuse to pay money to the Water Plumbing Company. They claim 230.000 AMD and it turns out that I have to collect 10.000 AMD from each subscriber to pay them as well as for pumps, that is why I refuse, I demand corrections.” V. Mesropyan stated that a claim had been submitted by one of the villagers in the past, and the debt ascribed to him exceeded 1 million AMD.

“It is interesting to observe that by creating conflicts among the villagers, whose financial stability increases, why is the villager forced to pay for 45m3, especially when he is not engaged in fish breeding”. 

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