President attended opening ceremonies of a number of institutions in Yerevan

President Serzh Sargsyan was present today at the opening of the new government administrative offices at Vazgen Sarkissian 3. Construction works of the building started in April 2013, and the President was visiting the site and observing the construction works there regularly.

The complex comprises the main administrative building, which will host the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Diplomatic Academy, Ministries of Education and Science, Culture and Diaspora Affairs, as well as a detached unit of the Ministry of Justice. The complex has also a technical unit, where facilities for energy and water supply are located. The President of Armenia accompanied by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and Vice Prime Minister of Armenia, Minister for Economic Integration and Reform, Mayor of Yerevan, Minister-Chief of Staff of the Government of Armenia, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Urban Development, Education and Science, Diaspora Affairs, Culture, and Justice toured the newly constructed compound, familiarized with the working conditions created for the mentioned state structures, observed development and beautification works conducted on its territory.

The architectural design of the state administrative complex was developed in keeping with the urban and national traditions, endowing the structure with a monumental appearance. The draft was authored by a distinguished architect Narek Sarkissian. The new administrative building, whose total area is 334602 meters, was built on the site of the demolished by the fire building of the Ministry of Justice on the territory of the nonrepairable central boiler house which was idle for over 25 years. The two administrative units of the complex are linked through the underground parking space. In order to organize the flow of traffic and pedestrians in the most efficient way, the blueprint of the complex included construction of two new streets.

In accordance with the design, the external illumination of the complex was done with high quality, energy-efficient lights, which will allow at night to accentuate the external texture of the building. The entire structure blends beautifully into the complex of administrative buildings stretching for the Yerevan City Hall up to Republic Square.

President Serzh Sargsyan attended also opening of the newly constructed school of figure skating in Yerevan named after Irina Rodnina. The President took place in the groundbreaking ceremony of the school back in June, 2014. The official ceremony was attended also by the Mayor of Yerevan Taron Markarian, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Gabriel Ghazarian, special representative of the President of RF on international cultural cooperation, special envoy Mikhail Shvidkoy, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in Armenia Ivan Volinkin, founder and executive director of the MonArch group Sergei Hambardzumian, member of the RF Federal Council, three times Olympian champion, repeated world and Europe champion, civil and state figure of the RF, member of the State Duma Irina Rodnina, and two times world champion in figure skating and seven times Europe champion Irina Slytskaya.
The President of Armenia toured the school of figure skating, familiarized with the existing conditions and observed an artistic program specially prepared for the opening of the school.

The Yerevan juniors’ school for figure skating and ice hockey, which was established in 1971 and was functioning at the Bagratuniants 48/1 in Yerevan, in recent years was in the extremely poor condition, while the skating-rink was inoperative for a long time. By the initiative of President Sargsyan, the school was constructed in a short period of time through the means provided by the executive director of the MonArch group, the Russian benefactor of Armenian descent Sergei Hambardzumian who presented the school to the city of Yerevan. The total cost of the project is close to 7.55 million USD. The premise of the three-story school occupies a territory of 1 hectare, 4,360 2 meters of which is developed, while the skating-rink for 538 spectators sits on 1,8002 meters. The school has all necessary facilities – a hall for choreography lessons, modern European equipment for engineering and cooling systems, furnishings for hockey players and figure skaters, and locker rooms built in accordance with international standards.

The newly constructed school for figure skating, which is located at Admiral Isakov 27/10 (next to the cycle track), by the November 25, 2015 decision of the Yerevan Council of Elders was named “Sport School for Figure Skating after Irina Rodnina” NGO, and will be functioning under the leadership of the renowned figure skater Irina Rodnina.

Next, the President of Armenia visited the Yerevan Mall multifunctional complex, where he attended the ceremony of opening a modern movie theater. Serzh Sargsyan toured the Kinopark movie center and familiarized with the capabilities of the cinema halls.

Construction works of Kinopark commenced in February, 2015 and were concluded in November, 2015. The cinema center comprised 5 halls, two of which can accommodate 109 spectators, another two have 119 seats, and the premium hall has 30 seats (total number of seats 486). Movies in all halls of the Kinopark are presented in 3D format. Tickets to the Kinopark can be also purchased online. The newly constructed center employs personnel of 30, with the average salary of 200,000 drams.

After that, President Sargsyan visited the newly constructed expert center of the RA Ministry of Finance for the detection of narcotics, smuggled cash assets, arms and explosives. The center is located at the Erebuni administrative community of Yerevan. The center was established in 2010 to improve the control systems at the customs stations and for the efficient organization of the fight against delinquencies. In August, 2015 the center moved to a newly constructed building. The construction works here started in October of 2013 and have been completed in December, 2015. The specialized center covers a territory of 6,860 2 meters. The center will execute its activities at the Bavra, Bagratashen and Gogavan newly constructed customs stations, and in the airport. According to the responsible officials, a branch of the center will be also constructed at the territory of Meghri customs station. Construction there is carried out around the clock. It is planned to organize at the center, which corresponds to all international standards, international events and seminars with the participation of the representative of customs services of the Eurasian Economic Union, CIS and Customs Union countries.