Cover photo: Gorik Avetisyan, Deputy Head of the Environmental Protection Department of Yerevan Municipality. Source: Hetq.
On September 8, we sent Yerevan City Hall a request (in Armenian, in Russian) about its four-year air quality improvement program. We asked for the current version of the program, reports on measures carried out in 2025 and the elapsed part of 2026, spending data, and plans for the coming winter. We are publishing a Russian translation of the response and the Armenian original, then examining what they tell us.
Key points from the response
We did not receive a substantive answer to our request about implementation of the four-year program. City Hall says nine of 14 short-term measures have been completed: five in 2025 and four in 2026. The other five are listed as planned. But these status labels are not backed by supporting documents or indicators showing a reduction in pollution. Instead of a concrete plan for what happens next, with deadlines, budgets and responsible parties, the response offers general statements.
This gives us reason to question whether City Hall has a concrete plan to implement the program and documents confirming its progress. We requested these directly but did not receive them. The response alone does not prove that the documents do not exist; however, City Hall provided nothing that would resolve the question.
| What we asked | What we received | Was the answer sufficient? |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the program has been approved, which version is in force, and when its four years run. | A statement that the program had been developed. | Insufficient. No approval act, complete current version of the program, or calendar dates were provided. |
| Results for each measure in 2025 and 2026, deadlines and supporting evidence. | Status labels for 14 short-term measures and lists of medium- and long-term intentions. | Partial. There is no step-by-step progress report, supporting documentation, or explanation of why measures remain incomplete. |
| Budgets, spending, procurement and the outcome of discussions about the program. | No financial information or documents about discussions were provided. | No substantive answer. |
| The heating study, support measures and preparations for winter 2026/2027. | General intentions. | No substantive answer. |
| Decisions and results concerning transport, construction sites, quarries, landfills and greening. | A list of plans and completion labels without supporting documents. | No substantive answer. No results of enforcement or emissions reductions were provided. |
| The near-term schedule, reporting and coordination with the national program. | Medium- and long-term directions without a schedule. | No substantive answer. No responsible parties, procedure for publishing reports, or coordination between programs were specified. |
Program status and timeline
In an official announcement on February 10, 2025, City Hall described the development of a four-year program. An earlier published response from City Hall listed measures by year and separately mentioned the preparation of budgets and schedules. We therefore asked for the current version of the program, the act approving it, and the start and end dates of each year.
The new response (Russian PDF) says the Environmental Protection Department developed the program. It covers construction, transport, quarries and concrete plants, heating, landfills and greening. But City Hall did not provide the complete current version, the approval act, or the calendar boundaries of the four years. The word “developed” alone does not establish whether the program has been approved or which period corresponds to its first or second year.
Short-term measures
City Hall listed 14 measures, each marked “completed in 2025,” “completed in 2026,” or “planned.” Below are the measures and the status claimed by City Hall. The letter contains no documents with which to verify the introduction of requirements, installation of equipment, or results of enforcement.
| Measure | Status in the response |
|---|---|
| Stricter requirements for emissions at construction sites | Completed in 2025 |
| A soil moisture threshold at construction sites, including site roads | Completed in 2025 |
| Transporting bulk materials only in closed packaging | Completed in 2025 |
| Replacing dirt roads at construction sites with gravel surfaces | Planned |
| Mandatory use of water cannons to suppress dust | Completed in 2025 |
| Linking compliance with requirements to municipal benefits and the issuance of a construction completion certificate | Completed in 2026 |
| Revising fines; the letter says they were increased tenfold | Completed in 2026 |
| Automated traffic flow management and the creation of a traffic control center | Planned |
| Stronger controls on vehicle emissions and the gradual removal of highly polluting vehicles | Planned |
| Traffic restrictions on certain streets during peak hours and weekends | Planned |
| Above-ground and underground parking near the main entrances to the city | Planned |
| Installing dust monitoring devices at quarries and concrete plants | Completed in 2026 |
| Requiring dust suppression and modernized extraction equipment | Completed in 2026 |
| Management of the existing Nubarashen landfill by the municipality with stronger oversight | Completed in 2025 |
The list shows that City Hall reports more than plans: it considers some measures completed. A status label alone, however, does not show how many sites are covered, whether the requirements are followed in practice, or how pollutant concentrations or emissions have changed. We asked for these data too, but they are absent from the response.
Medium- and long-term measures
City Hall also lists six medium-term directions: expanding the air monitoring network; helping socially vulnerable households use solar energy for heating; rooftop gardens and vertical greening; expanding the network of low-emission buses and electric transport; planting forests at disused quarries; and local rules for home heating and controls on fuel types in winter.
The five long-term directions are expanding green spaces in and around the city, green corridors, a new sanitary landfill, a waste processing plant, and closing the existing landfills in Nubarashen and Ajapnyak.
The list has no deadlines, concrete implementation plan, or responsible parties. City Hall writes of hundreds of hectares of new green space, but the scale of the work it cites is much smaller: our examination of the ministry’s response describes work on 2.5 hectares, ongoing work on 8.5 hectares, and another 3 hectares planned. The letter does not explain how the city intends to move from these plots to hundreds of hectares.
Heating and preparations for winter
The publication containing City Hall’s earlier response scheduled a study of household heating for the first year, with support for cleaner heating to be developed in the second and third years. We asked for the study’s findings, the terms, budget and timetable of the support, the number of recipients, and actions planned for the 2026/2027 heating season.
There was no substantive answer. The study’s findings, a support program for residents, and a winter action plan were not provided. The letter merely lists general intentions to support solar heating and establish local rules on fuel use.
Further work and reporting
The letter contains no approved schedule for the next measures, procedure for publishing reports, or division of responsibilities between City Hall and national authorities. It also does not explain how the city’s measures are coordinated with the national air protection program for 2025–2030. The presence of directions in both documents does not, by itself, show who will do specific work or who will pay for it.
Where this leaves us
City Hall says nine of the 14 short-term measures have been completed. It did not provide documents confirming their implementation, a spending report, or measurable results. Measures addressing emissions from private cars remain on the planned list, with no deadlines. Our question about the previously planned heating study went unanswered, and there is no action plan ahead of winter 2026/2027 either.
See also
- Examining the ministry’s response on Armenia’s air protection program — what the Ministry of Environment said about the national program for 2025–2030.
- Winter 25/26: Yerevan air quality report — seasonal pollution and questions about the city’s plan.
- Why complaints about smoke from garages are not enough — heating and measures against winter pollution.
- Clarity sensors and construction dust — observations of dust near construction sites.