ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers it improper to demonize the mining industry. He stated this at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of New York, answering the question why the new government does not consider revising the legislation in this area so as not to face possible blackmail of mining investors in the future.
According to Pashinyan, the Armenian government must be completely honest, both with the Armenian and international public. As the prime minister pointed out, the new government inherited the problem from the previous one, and its solution in one way or another can affect the rating of modern Armenia. "We should go into the details of the problem to the utmost to find the solution based on facts and risk studies is," he noted.
As the head of the Armenian cabinet indicated, whether it is good or bad, but the fact is that at the moment the Armenian government has no reason to ban the operation of the Amulsar mine. Perhaps such a basis will appear tomorrow, in a month, but it is possible that it will not. "Today's United States was created on the basis of the mining industry. One should not be afraid of it as well as the technology sector. It's another matter if we can provide a way in the modern world to operate mines that will not cause at least tangible substantial harm to life and human health. Any manifestation of civilization can be risky from an environmental point of view, "said Nikol Pashinyan, urging to get rid of such phobias. "My position is as follows – we must use our resources for the full development of Armenia," the head of the Armenian government concluded.
To recall, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on September 9 live on Facebook said that at the moment there is no legal basis to prohibit the operation of the Amulsar mine. Nikol Pashinyan also officially called on the residents of Jermuk to unblock all roads leading to the Amulsar mine. Meanwhile, on August 19, experts at Earthlink & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) said during a video conference that the Lydian source data was not complete and, in general, the EIAof 2016was insufficient to guarantee the environmentally sound operation of the 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 Investigative Committee (under Art. Concealment or intentional misrepresentation of information on environmental pollution), previously entrusted to Yura Ivanyan, a relative of the former Minister of Nature Protection Aramais Grigoryan, who approved the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Amulsar development, has been transferred to the deputy head of the Investigative Committee 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 unblock the roads leading to the Amulsar field. "We do not understand the position of the prime minister, who agreed to open the mine solely on Lydian's" honest word "about its 100% safe operation," said Jermuk residents, stressing that they would negotiate exclusively around the closure of the mine.