Protests and Tensions Escalate Around Amulsar Gold Project in Armenia

What has been the reaction?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Government by and large have been silent about the events of the recent weeks. Pashinyan has not commented on the violent police actions against the protesters either. The only comment thus far was given by the PM’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan, who insisted that “we are all following the developments.” Gevorgyan added that she could not comment at the time whether Pashinyan intended to meet with the opponents of the mine construction in Amulsar.

As noted at the beginning of this article, the large scale protests of early August were the culmination of more than a month-long steady escalation of the situation at the Amulsar protest posts. In late June, Lydian Armenia said it had ramped up the security around the mine and deployed a group of armed guards to “protect their territory and millions dollars’ worth of equipment” from the Amulsar defenders camping in the area. In the early hours of July 1, these guards drove into the defenders’ camp unannounced, ran over their checkpoint and three puppies, as reported by local investigative outlet Hetq.am. The same day, the head of the new security service was reported to have come to meet with the locals and promised he would withdraw the guards from their area.

According to the Amulsar defenders, however, this promise was not kept and Lydian guards and contractors have resorted to provocations to incite clashes and fights with the activists in the time since. Several clashes with detentions of protesters were also reported by the EcoLur agency throughout July. 

What’s happening now?

Lydian Armenia was a subsidiary of Jersey-based parent company, Lydian International, which was recently restructured and relocated to Canada after lengthy bankruptcy proceedings with its creditors. 

Shortly after the August protests, Open Democracy reported that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which had carried out exploration and feasibility studies at the mine, would withdraw its investment from the project. Open Democracy pointed to an EBRD internal assessment that stated the withdrawal was due to Lydian’s corporate restructuring process.

Yet environmentalists were quick to point to recent confrontations as being damaging to those involved in the project.

Fidanka McGrath, policy officer at environmental and human rights group CEE Bankwatch Network, was reported by Open Democracy as stating that “the recent despicable provocation by Lydian’s security company [at Amulsar] is only a sign of the reputational damage that this investment will continue to inflict on the EBRD, even after its shareholdings in Lydian International are wound up,”

However, Lydian Armenia wrote on Facebook that the EBRD and other shareholders “ceased to be part of the Amulsar project solely due to domestic lawlessness in Armenia” and that they could not comprehend the excitement over the news of those opposing the mine operation. “The Amulsar project will be implemented regardless of this circumstance, but this stain will haunt Armenia’s investment reputation for years to come. Rejoicing over this is, to put it mildly, anti-state behaviour.”

Narine Khachatryan

Narine is a Yerevan-based journalist/translator who focuses on social, economic, human rights and political issues in Armenia and the South Caucasus. Prior to joining Bellingcat, she worked with a group of independent journalists, seeking to provide reliable and unbiased information to the public.