Armenian government to no longer give gratuitous ownership land to Holy Etchmiadzin

The government proposes to amend the Land Code of Armenia, from now on providing community and state lands to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for the construction and maintenance of churches not with the right of gratuitous ownership, but only with the right of gratuitous use. The respective bill has been added on the agenda of the government’s Cabinet session on Thursday.

The explanations of this draft law, however, do not indicate why this change will be implemented. This was noted also by the Ministry of Justice during interdepartmental discussions.

The bill’s author, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, had based this regulation on the recommendation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a consultation held in Tavush Province in April 2023, according to which the issue of the expediency of restrictions on the transfer of ownership of land plots occupied by shared pastures should be discussed.

According to the Ministry of Justice, this bill does not in any way address the above-mentioned regulations. After the observations of the Ministry of Justice, this part was removed from the explanations of this law proposal.

The regulations brought by the Armenian government cannot apply to the lands transferred to the Mother See until now. In essence, the government will no longer provide the Armenian Apostolic Church with ownership rights and gratuitous land, but will sign a gratuitous use agreement with the rights, obligations, and terms of its parties.