ARMENIAN CHEMICAL GIANT AGAIN HIT BY FIRE
By Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 25 2006

Rescue workers were trying to put out a massive fire at a big chemical
plant in Yerevan that raged for a second consecutive day on Monday,
emitting large amounts of toxic gas.

Some 600 tons of inflammable industrial waste stored in two reservoirs
belonging to the recently privatized Nairit plant caught fire in
still uncertain circumstances on Sunday morning.

Scores of firefighters were immediately rushed to the scene. They said
that although the blaze was under control by next morning, they will
take several more days to extinguish it completely. Massive fireballs
were still billowing skywards from the reservoirs of ethinol varnish,
a by-product of synthetic rubber, as of Monday afternoon.

This is the second incident of its kind registered at Nairit in less
than two months. Some 150 tons of the substance, which is subject to
disposal through combustion, were burned there in a similar fire on
November 12.

Nikolay Grigorian, deputy director of the Armenian government’s Rescue
Service, said he suspects the plant management of deliberately setting
fire to its stockpiles of ethinol in order to avoid extra costs and
time needed for their destruction. "I would like to take the risk
and say that a deliberate intent is evident here," he told RFE/RL.

But the Nairit director, Ruben Saghatelian, strongly denied this.

"This substance is prone to self-immolation, especially if it is
stored for man years," he said.

Under official safety regulations, the ethinol varnish can not be
stored for more than a year for that reason. Nairit has not disposed
of the waste for nearly a decade.

State prosecutors did not immediately launch criminal proceedings in
connection with the latest fire. They are currently investigating
a September gas explosion at Nairit that injured four residents
of a nearby Yerevan suburb and damaged a number of local houses. A
spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General’s Office said three Nairit
employees have already been charged with negligence.

The once thriving chemical giant has gone through difficult times
since the Soviet collapse and is still struggling to remain afloat
despite repeated changes of ownership and management. Its most recent
privatization was announced last August when the Armenian government
approved a complex deal with an obscure British-registered firm.

Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said last week that the new owner,
Rhinoville Property Limited, has pledged to invest $120 million in
Nairit in the next few years.