Viva-MTS: From Earthen Walls to a Newly Built Stone House

The Sukiasyan family from Zovaber village has lived in native village literally on bare ground. The house that the family calls a home is a bottom to top earthen structure built over one hundred years ago and passed on from generation to generation of the family.  Over years the house has become a fourth-degree emergency building deteriorating due to the severe climatic conditions typical to Gegharkunik region. There has been more than one reason as to why it has been impossible to build a new house. The Sukiasyans had to live there, take care of the large family’s needs, and feel happy whenever occasional renovations were possible.

The life of the Sukiasyan family has changed finally. Owing to the support of Viva-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, Gagik, who has lived in the deteriorating building for 63 years, has now completed the construction of the half-built house started 10 years ago. Lack of basic living conditions is no longer a problem for the large family. The new house is made of stone with all necessities.

“There have been ten of us living in our grandfather’s house – my wife and me, our two sons and their families. The earthen house is a fourth-degree emergency. Ten years ago, we undertook the construction of the half-built building, the process of which showed it might take up ten more years to complete. This project has completely changed our lives. My eldest son’s family has already moved into a decent home. I hope that soon we will be able to solve the housing problem for my youngest son, too,” said the family’s grandfather, Gagik.

For ten years now, the housing program has been implemented in the regions of Armenia regardless of any challenges or circumstances. The heads of Viva-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia regularly get acquainted with the work process through visits and video calls.

“It’s been ten years now we have been implementing this program. If we want to make our country prosper we have to unite and work diligently. Our partners and we, strive to keep consistent to reach the set goals, despite every now and then we need to get flexible to overcome arising challenges. We get so much excited at seeing our compatriots’ commitment to cling to the native land and continue living in villages. Every family regaining feet is a major achievement. Those families are the most fundamental index of the success of this project,” Viva-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

The Sukiasyan family is one of the 87 families supported through the 2021 housing project.

“The housing program is aimed at helping all the families who need a home. In this case, we were able to partially solve the problem of this large family. We hope we will be able to support the other part of the family, and the emergency-state building with a history of over a hundred years will stay in the past,” Ashot Yeghiazaryan, Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President said.

The ten-year success of the joint housing project implemented by Viva-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia speaks for itself. Around 400 families received support in different regions of Armenia. For this purpose, Viva-MTS has invested almost AMD 1 billion.

Viva-MTS (MTS Armenia CJSC) is Armenia’s leading telecommunications operator, having the widest network reach and spreading a wide range of Voice and Data services all across Armenia. Having the best of the Armenian people interest at heart since its launch on the 1st of July Y2005, and in a short period of time, Viva-MTS has managed to build a nationwide network and a considerable customer base. Viva-MTS drives innovation and aims at always being at the forefront of any development serving the Armenian mobile communications market. The company follows the guidance provided by ISO 26000 (International Standard of Social Responsibility) and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (Information Security Management System). For more information, visit www.mts.am

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (“MTS”) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 86.8 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Armenia and Belarus. Since June Y2000, MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about the MTS Group can be found at: www.mtsgsm.com

Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is a non-governmental, charitable organization that supports community development in the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh by assisting in building and renovating simple, decent and affordable homes, as well as advocating the right to a decent shelter as a matter of conscience and action. FCHA provides long-term, interest-free loans to low-income families. The monthly repayments flow into a Revolving Fund, which is used to help more families, thereby providing a financial foundation for sustainable development. Since 2008 the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia has assisted over 1140  families. For more information, please visit www.fcharmenia.org or email us at fcarmenia@fcharmenia.org