The Armenian government announces zero compromise in the quality of infrastructure construction. Due to poor quality work, the state not only refuses to pay the contractors, but also forces to rebuild the facilities built with defects from scratch with its own funds.
Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures at the government session on April 9 Davit Khudatyan announced that the construction company will suffer a loss of about 500 million drams due to the violations recorded as a result of the joint inspections of the Urban Development Committee and independent laboratories. According to the minister, the road should be of high quality during the entire period of its operation, and not disintegrate a month after its commissioning.
Accordingly, he pointed out as an example a newly built road, whose 20 km section will be completely demolished, because it does not meet the established quality standards.
Control over imported building materials has also been tightened. In particular, as a result of laboratory checks of bitumen quality, eight out of ten trucks that crossed the border of Armenia recently were returned.
According to the minister, this strict control also has its objective consequences. savings from tender processes have been reduced. If previously about 40% of participants offered a price lower than the estimated value, now that figure has decreased to 20%. In addition, former market leaders, who in previous years carried out up to 50% of road construction works, today are satisfied with only 10-12%. Khudatyan directly conditions this fact with the state’s principled position of not accepting low-quality work.
“We don’t pay for low-quality work. Last year, we demolished and rebuilt about 30 km of roads at the expense of the builders. In 2025, that number will be higher. In the near future, I ordered to demolish a road, which is good even according to the impression of the citizens, but we are dissatisfied with the quality, and we will demolish the entire 20-kilometer road again,” Khudatyan announced.
The executive is also transitioning to a new model of road maintenance, excluding companies with small capacities and insufficient equipment from participating in tenders through enlargements. Unified quality standards are implemented in both state and Yerevan municipal budget funded programs.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in his turn, reaffirmed the policy of excluding compromises in the matter of quality. As a precedent, he mentioned the construction of the sports complex named after Artur Aleksanyan in Gyumri, where complete sections were also demolished due to insufficient quality.
—
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Hambik Zargarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2026/04/09/the-control-over-the-quality-of-bitumen-entering-armenia-has-been-sharply-tightened-he/