YEREVAN, Dec. 29 (ArmenPress) - The fire that broke out at Yerevan Opera House on December 26 destroying 1,700 meters of its roof has practically reduced to zero the repair work on the roof that had began November 18.

Nearly 80 percent of the planned work was done. It had been planned to suspend the repairs until the spring.

The head of the Opera's technical staff told Armenpress that 85 million Armenian drams had been allocated from the budget for the roof repair, of which 26 million had been spent.

Aghababian, the head, said that while the firefighters were extinguishing the blaze, water was seeping through the roof and onto the stage. Aghababian said he was concerned that the fire left the roof unprotected from possible precipitation. He said that a concert that was to be held at the Opera House on December 29 was cancelled.

Speaking about what might have caused the fire, Aghababian said it was still "a puzzle." He said the real cause would be determined once the investigation was finished.

The Yerevan Opera House was last repaired in 1979 and today its technical, sound, heating, anti-fire and other viable systems are in a lamentable state. The Lincy Foundation has earmarked $800,000 for major repair of the Opera House in 2001. It should also be noted that the opera has been deprived of phone connection for already a month, because of a 700,000-dram debt to Armentel.