ArmInfo. A protest rally in protection of Amulsar is taking place in Yerevan.
Activists, environmentalists, ordinary citizens began the march from the park adjacent to the National Assembly, where they were already met by an enhanced police cordon.
From the National Assembly, the procession marched along Baghramyan Avenue to Mashtots Avenue and further to Republic Square.
Activists made a short stop in France's square, and ecologist Ani Khachatryan made a statement on behalf of many attendees, who accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of abusing power, betraying the values of the revolution and continuing the policies of the previous authorities. Khachatryan emphasized that the Lydian company, which was entrusted with the development of Amulsar, misinformed the authorities, the public and its own creditors. "However, the prime minister does not want to see this. Pashinyan provides the highest level of protection for the company. This is a blatant fact of abuse. Pashinyan and his government are responsible for the fact that at the expense of the entire population of the country, some corporation will profit by blackmail, and Pashinyan's statements create fertile ground for Lydian's actions. Most of the population does not believe the arguments about the safety of the mine, while the government's legitimacy is threatened. Amulsar's defenders will make every effort to protect the rights and AIAM citizens ", Khachatryan said.
Then the procession continued its movement, activists moving along Mashtots Avenue to Republic Square chanting: "Amulsar will remain a mountain", "Amulsar is only a mountain", "We are the masters of our country", "Amulsar without a mine". The procession is accompanied by law enforcement. Several hundred people participate in the protest.
To recall the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on September 9 live Facebook said that at the moment there is no legal basis to prohibit the operation of the Amulsar mine. Nikol Pashinyan also formally asked Jermuk residents to unlock all roads leading to the Amulsar mine.
As Pashinyan assured, the Lydian leadership committed themselves to 100% safe operation. In addition, he said that he ordered the inspection body to study the project in detail, and the criminal case in the IC (under Art. Concealment or intentional misrepresentation of information on environmental pollution), previously entrusted to Yura Ivanian, a relative of the former Minister of Ecology Aramayis Grigoryan, who approved the assessment of the impact of the development Amulsar to the environment, transferred to the deputy head of the Investigative Committee to Arsen Ayvazyan. "A new investigation team will be formed, which will consider the facts, give answers to questions in the framework of the criminal case," Pashinyan said.
In response, environmentalists, activists and residents of the resort town of Jermuk said they were not going to openthe roads leading to the Amulsar mine. "We do not understand the position of the Prime Minister, who agreed to open the mine solely on Lydian's" honest Injun "on 100% safe its operation, "said the residents of Jermuk, stressing that they would negotiate exclusively around the closure of the mine.
It should be noted that despite Lydian's assurances that about $ 400 million of the authorities have already been invested in the project and another $ 450-500 million will go to the state treasury within 10 years of the mine's operation, local ecologists do not share the government's enthusiasm about the attractiveness of the plan mine exploitation. Environmentalists fear that the exploitation of the mine,, during which sodium cyanide will be used, could lead to the oxidation of water in rivers. Contaminated waters will become unsuitable for drinking and irrigation and may cause irreparable harm to the mineral springs of Jermuk and the ecosystem of Sevan. In addition to the water basin, the public is also concerned about the possible presence of uranium reserves in the mine. .367 в® бҐаҐЎа б® б।Ё¬ ᮤҐа¦ ЁҐ¬ 9.29 Ј в®г. ЏаЁ н⮬, ® б ¬®¬ га Ґ – Ё б«®ў . -0- So, in his work "Uranium bearing of geological formations in Armenia", the famous scientist, Doctor of Geological Sciences Petros Aloyan noted that the Amulsar manifestation of uranium is located 4 km south- east of the village of Ketchut and 5 km north-west of the top of the mountain of the same name. Approximately 76 tons of uranium were calculated for five sites of the Amulsar occurrence, and taking into account uranium in the thorium site, its total reserves can be estimated at 100 tons. Moreover, according to the research of another scientist, Professor G.S. Avagyan, according to 40 samples of Amulsar ore, there are 195 tons of uranium and thorium there. Meanwhile, the development of uranium deposits requires special permission from the government, which Lydian does not have. According to the company, the mine contains about 73733 kg of gold with an average grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294.367 tons of silver with an average grade of 9.29 g per ton, at the same time, not any word about uranium itself.