YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The new building of the penitentiary institution was put into operation in Vanadzor. It is envisaged for keeping 240 convicts and prisoners. 104 similar people are kept there at present. The building was built within the framework of the program on modernization of the penitentiary institutions of Armenia. It is envisaged to completely implement the program during 12 years. The total cost of construction works is 1 bln 254.5 mln drams. The value economy of the designed and factual construction, according to the information of the Public Relations Department of the RA Justice Ministry, made 70 mln 835 thousand drams (about 200 thousand U.S. dollars). The old building of the penitentiary institution was one of the most ancient places of imprisonment built in the 19th century. The ground floor of that building was almost not used because of high dampness, prisoners were maily kept only in cells of the first floor. As RA Justice Minister Davit Haroutiunian mentioned in the interview with journalists, the Artik penitentiary institution was also re-opened recently, within the framework of the program on modernizations of penitentiary institutions. Probably, the Hrazdan institution not functioning at present and the Abovian penitentiary institution will also be reconstructed. In the Minister's words, reconstruction of buildings of the rest of penitentiary institutions is impossible, it is envisaged to build new buildings. In the words of Ashot Martirosian, the Chief of the Penitentiary Department of the RA Justice Ministry, there are vacancies with minimum wage of 70 thousand drams at the Vanadzor penitentiary institution.

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