In sports & concert complex after K. Demirchyan has opened 8th international specialized exhibition CAUCASUS BUILDING & RECONSTRUCTION EXPO 2011 that lasted three days, from 8-10 of April 2011. Welcome speech was delivered by Prime Minister of RA Tigran Sargsyan, Minister of Urban Development Vardan Vardanyan and others. According to Tigran Sargsyan, this exhibition will definitely contribute to the development of the industry. : Certainly, we all wish that such events serve for strengthening business relationship between organizations, raising reputation, business development, as well as for information enrichment in construction market. : Despite the wide geography of the exhibition, where besides Armenian companies were also represented organizations from Turkey, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine and Iran, we should be realistic and accept that the interest in exhibitions has somehow decreased. : According to the organizer, LOGOS EXPO Center, instead of last year's nearly 100 participants the number of companies taking park in exhibition this year hardly topped 60. The reason for participants decrease may be ongoing crisis in construction sector, or perhaps interest decrease in such kind of exhibitions when internet communication is widely spreading. Participation in exhibitions requires significant expenses, when internet is almost free and has unlimited business opportunities.

After five months of construction, the auto traffic on Tsitsernakaberd highway was reopened. That's how long the first phase of construction works lasted. Works, that were carried out by Shinforum construction company, began on June 12 and were scheduled for completion until October 15. As a result of reconstruction a two-way single-lane traffic was replaced with a two-way two-lane, the road was widened by about five meters, new drainage and lighting systems were installed, the lack of which caused serious problems before. Pavements have also been renovated and expanded; now pedestrians can enjoy the 1.5-meter sidewalks. In parallel with the first stage of reconstruction, the second phase of works are also being carried out and new overpass is being built in the center of the highway. It will allow drivers to make a turning without help of traffic lights. That is why the middle section of the road isn't repaired and there is no pavements and new asphalt. Also note that as a basis for the new asphalt was mainly used the old road surface, which may lead to the deformation problems of the coating in the future. For the reconstruction of Tsitsernakaberd highway Yerevan municipality allocated about 1 billion 500 million drams, of which 866 million drams will be used for the second phase of construction works. We also note that recently the overpass in Garekin Nzhdeh street was opened (popularly known as "Meeting bridge"), and the construction works were undertaken by Griar CJSC. Work was delayed because of improper pre-assessment of the bridge condition and the corresponding changes in the construction documents and in the amount of work.

A first-ever dolphinarium, named "Nemo" will be soon opened in Yerevan, in Pantheon named after Komitas. The construction works are implemented by Ukrainian "Nerum" company. As company director, Alexander Merlyan mentioned, the whole building will be made of metal, which allows building the dolphinarium in a short period of time. He also assured that it will be open to public in two months. Four lively dolphins, two sea bears and one fur seal will soon inhabit the dolphinarium in Yerevan and it will be able to accept about 900 visitors. The construction of dolphinarium is a part of park restoration project which was initiated by Yerevan Municipality. The project scope also includes a large-scale tree planting in spring, with the maximum preservation of functional significance and architectural harmony of the Pantheon. Dolphinarium has already opened Yerevan Dolphinarium was opened on 24 December. In addition to watch dolphins and fur seals, fur seals, you can also take advantage of additional services of the Dolphinarium: take a picture and swim with the sea inhabitants, as well as treatment called "Dolphin therapy". New Dolphinarium also has its own Internet site, by which you can get full information about performances and additional services. 25.12.2010

The construction of Piazza Grande complex, located on Vazgen Manukyan street, was completed. The complex is adjacent to the main square of Yerevan- Republic Square and that is probably gave rise to building name (Piazza Grande means Large Square in Italian). Today, on September 20 Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan and CEO "Renco" holding (www.renco.it) Giovanni Rubini held ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate an official opening of the complex. Piazza Grande consists of 2 level parking garage, 3-storey business center with a glass roofed patio with (atrium) and the top 7 floors designed for residential area. The construction lasted 2.5 years and cost $50 million. The building was constructed on-site of demolished historic-cultural monument of 1842, what was purchased by "Renco" from Ministry of Defense in 2007. We would like to highlight the high quality of work performed during the construction of "Piazza Grande", which has undertaken "RencoArmestate" LLC construction company One should admire the high culture of the construction work done by this company during the entire construction process that is naturally due to increase in the cost of the final product. After 2009 "RencoArmestate" LLC led in the ranking of the largest construction companies of Armenia.

Of course, you are afraid; otherwise, you are poorly informed about the problem. Do you know that in the report of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery organization (2009) Armenia was ranked to be the first among all countries on vulnerability to earthquakes? The consequences from a possible earthquake may be particularly dire in Yerevan, where, by some expert estimates, in case of earthquake magnitude as in Haiti (2010) or in Spitak (1988), about 80% of all buildings will collapse. A possible strong earthquake in Yerevan will have destructive consequences for our State, forcing many people to leave Armenia and making almost impossible the future restoration of the country and the Capital. We have seen the "rebuilding" after earthquake in Spitak that is already lasting for 21years, and follow the reconstruction process after earthquake in Haiti. The conclusion is the one- despite the huge funds allocated, it is almost impossible to organize recovery work in the chaos resulting from the earthquake. Even in the Rosy Scenario of the reconstruction, anyway, we can not refund hundreds of thousands of lives lost. What are we waiting for? Especially today, we need to restructure almost all of our hospitals and schools, governmental and residential buildings. They were all built without observing new earthquake resistance standards. In case the government has no enough financial resources for large-scale nation-wide restructuring program, it is essential to start with at least one earthquake-proof hospital!!! Natural disasters are raging in the world much more frequently, making it harder and harder to confront them, while the assistance of states is not unlimited. All interested persons are welcome to leave comments and share thoughts on this issue, and be conscious of the problem and do everything possible to resolve it.