Nearly ten years ago, a new wastewater treatment plant called Aeration was built in Yerevan with a loan of 10.4 million euros, which has never been put into operation. It was designed for the mechanical treatment of 400,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day, sufficient for the volume of wastewater discharged from the city of Yerevan. We tried to find out why the new plant, built with loan funds, is not operational and what the reasons for the government's failure are.
When and how was the new wastewater treatment plant handed over
Hetq began investigating the history of the Aeration wastewater treatment plant in 2022 and found that although construction was completed in December 2016, it was never commissioned due to the lack of a completion certificate.
The construction of the new plant began in 2015 with loan funds provided by the French government. A contract worth 10.4 million euros was signed with the French company SADE. The new plant was built on the site of the old Aeration wastewater treatment plant in Yerevan.
The construction was completed in December 2016. The plant was never put into operation. The reason was minor defects discovered during the final phase of construction that were not corrected, and the structure did not receive a completion certificate, state registration, and therefore was never put into operation.
Who built the plant, who was it transferred to, and what do we have today
The initial client for the construction of the plant was the state institution "Office for the Implementation of Community Development Programs." At the end of 2017, it was dissolved, and the successor to the program became the "Water Economy State Committee." At the end of 2019, this institution was also dissolved, and the contracts were transferred to the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia. In response to our inquiry, the fund stated that there were no contracts related to the Aeration plant in the transferred agreements.
In 2017, a lease agreement was signed with the company "Veolia Water." As a result, 64 hectares of land, where both the old and new non-operational plants are located, were leased to "Veolia Water," but the new plant was not included in the list of leased properties.
According to Edward Mesropyan, the founder and CEO of the company "Jinj," the construction of the new plant was carried out with good quality, but the maintenance of the plant was not included in the contract with the new operator: "The new operator was supposed to start working on January 1, 2017. There was no mandatory condition about the plant in the contract for the new operator. 'Veolia Water' started work under new conditions, with a new contract, and had no such obligation. If the government had said on January 1, 2017, that we are revising the contract and adding this condition as mandatory, it would have been responsible."
We sent inquiries to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the Water Committee, and "Veolia Water" to find out if any measures had been taken to launch the plant built ten years ago. Veolia Water stated that the plant was not handed over to them for lease and asked to direct questions to the Water Committee. The Water Committee stated that it is not a party to the contract. The committee developed a draft government decision to finalize the Aeration plant contract, which was not accepted. The Territorial Development Fund also stated that there was nothing about Aeration in the contracts. The Ministry of Territorial Administration also stated that it is negotiating. At the end of the response, it was also noted that the operation of the plant would only be possible after revising the contract and clarifying its parties, which are currently under discussion. Meanwhile, we, the taxpayers, are paying off the 10.4 million euro loan taken for the construction of the plant.
In May 2020, a criminal case was initiated due to the misuse of allocated funds and the serious consequences caused by it, particularly the pollution of the Hrazdan River. In response to our inquiry, the prosecutor's office stated that the article from Hetq in 2022 has become the subject of investigation. The preliminary investigation is ongoing, but currently, there are no individuals with the status of accused in the criminal proceedings.
Currently, only part of Yerevan's wastewater is being treated through the screens of the old plant. This is the only functioning part remaining from the old Aeration plant. The screens catch large debris. Finer and dissolved particles remain in the water and flow into the Hrazdan River.
This mechanical treatment plant was built specifically to solve this problem. If it had been launched, it would have fully met the daily volume of wastewater treatment discharged from Yerevan. The second phase also planned to launch a biological station that would provide a higher level of treatment. Additionally, the launch of the new plant would have preserved the trust of international donors. According to Edward Mesropyan, the failure of the Aeration plant became a negative precedent for international donors, which also halted the construction of treatment plants in Sevan and Armavir: "This is a very bad, negative lesson for us, for which we have become a laughingstock worldwide. As a result, international donors and banks are now wary of financing new plants. Their logic is simple: if you cannot operate an already built plant, where is the guarantee that you will be able to operate the next one? This also became a precedent for halting other projects: it was planned to build two more treatment plants in the cities of Sevan and Armavir. The projects were developed, but construction did not take place because the donor simply refused to finance, not wanting to be part of such a failure."
Armenia and the Environment
Today, at the entrance to the Aeration wastewater treatment plant, the Soviet-era slogan still remains: "Let the water of Hrazdan be clean."
According to monitoring data conducted in recent years, the quality of water in the Hrazdan River has been classified as the worst - 5th class.
In October 2026, Armenia is preparing to host one of the largest international events in the environmental sector - the UN World Biodiversity Conference (COP-17). Thousands of delegates, environmentalists, and heads of state from more than 190 countries will arrive in the country.
The main part of the event will be held at the Meridian Expo Center in Yerevan, which is located just 50 meters from the Hrazdan River. This is the same river into which the capital's wastewater is discharged every day.
This is a great opportunity to attract environmental investments and grants. If the government and civil society organizations cannot use this opportunity for practical changes, the scale of wastewater flowing into Hrazdan will only increase during the days of this large-scale event.
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