Armenia: Beloved Indoor Market, Now Shuttered, Faces Demolition

ARMENIA: BELOVED INDOOR MARKET, NOW SHUTTERED, FACES DEMOLITION

EurasiaNet.org
Sept 13 2012
NY

September 13, 2012 – 3:45pm, by Yigal Schleifer

Are elected officials in Yerevan trying to take any local color out of
the city’s food scene? That certainly seems to be the case. Last year,
the city’s mayor issued a ban on street vendors — many of them fruit
and vegetable sellers — in an effort to “clean up” Yerevan. More
worrisome for Yerevan residents, it now looks like local leaders are
turning a blind eye while the city’s well-known indoor market, the now
shuttered Pak Shuka, is in danger of being demolished by a businessman
cum politician who reportedly wants to turn it into a supermarket.

In a detail-rich report, The Armenian Weekly lays out the whole
sordid tale:

On Jan. 7, Tiv 1 Shuka CSJC, the company in charge of the renovation,
began demolishing the inside of the landmark, which held ornate
stone carvings considered by some as architectural jewels and
massive intricate iron gates considered as the “gateway to the
capital.” For the average Yerevantsi, to shop there was an expensive
proposition, compared to the regular markets. In its heyday, once
inside, tourists entered another universe, where they experienced
true Armenian culture and hospitality, and were greeted by a myriad
of proud and friendly vendors offering them samples-from the latest
fresh harvest of organic fruits and vegetables, intricate displays
of dried fruits and nuts, spices and herbs, an assortment of meats,
seafood, and poultry, fresh lavash bread, sheets of dried fruit syrup
(ttu lavash, or sour lavash) or roll-ups, and the ever-present fruit
sujukh (shelled walnuts threaded on a string, dipped in grape molasses,
then hung to dry until a thick and tender coat covers it in the form of
a sausage). Pak Shuka offered an amazing range of goods and souvenirs,
something to satisfy every appetite, all displayed on attractive
stalls and decorated booths. Experiencing the atmosphere, color, and
aroma was described as visiting a veritable “colorful museum of food.”

The current owner of the building, Samvel Aleksanyan (b. 1968 in
Yerevan), a businessman (he owns the Yerevan City supermarket chain)
and parliamentarian representing the Republican Party of Armenia,
has tried to reassure Yerevantsis that he only plans to renovate
the building and construct an underground parking area. Yet, despite
his persistent denials, rumors abound that he plans to relocate his
largest four-story supermarket to the site of the Pak Shuka building.

Aleksanyan’s company, Fleetfood, Armenia’s largest food import
conglomerate, enjoys a de facto monopoly on the highly lucrative
imports of wheat, sugar, alcohol, and cooking oil to Armenia. He’s
one of the country’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, widely known as “Lfik
Samo” (a nickname where “Lfik” comes from the Russian word for bra,
as Samvel’s father owned a bra shop in Soviet times).