The Tbilisi Municipal Court today refused to hear a suit filed by residents of the Armenian populated village of Tabatzghour (in the Samtskhe-Javakhk region of Georgia) in their long-going dispute with Vardan Ayvazyan regarding fishing rights in a lake located in the community.

Residents took Ayvazyan to court, seeking that the Georgian government’s lease agreement signed with Ayvazyan’s company be invalidated and for the lake to be handed over to the state.

The dispute dates to 2010 when Vardan Ayvazyan’s company Ldjer Ltd. obtained the right to use a lake in the village to farm fish. He banned locals from catching fish in the lake.

Ayvazyan is an MP in Armenia’s National Assembly who was born in Tabatzghour

Infuriated residents have told Hetq that they will appeal today’s ruling.