Monday, August 13 2018 16:13

ArmInfo.A regular protest action by Lydian Armenia employees living in communities adjacent to the field was held next to the government building today.  According  to Mkhitar Arshakyan, a specialist in biodiversity monitoring of  Lydian Armenia, the mining project has been idle for 53 days, during  this period 3 letters were sent to the government calling for  measures against lawlessness of a small group of activists who  blocked the roads to the deposit and thereby stopped the work  process.

To note, for almost 2 months the roads leading to the Amulsar gold  mine have been blocked by a group of activists, who are against the  development of the field. The police are not interfering in the  process.

"Despite our appeals to the government, no actions are being taken,"  Arshakyan said in an interview with the press. Consequently, the  employees decided once again to try to get attention of the  authorities. This time the result did not take long. The head of the  office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan - Serzh Varag Siseryan  invited 6 employees of the company for a dialog in the presence of  journalists.

Presenting the situation at the field, Arshakyan voiced the main  issue that worries all Lydian Armenia employees: "We were patient for  53 days, following the Prime Minister's request during his visit to  Jermuk. A similar request was sent to protesting activists, but  nothing changed after that. Our legal right to work has been  violated. We sent a letter to the government three times. Having  received no response, yesterday we decided jointly with the residents  of the adjacent communities who are employees of the company, to  gather near the government building and get an answer to our main  question: why is our right to work violated, and when will we be able  to return to our working place?"

Serzh Varag Siseryan called for patience until the end of the month,  when the conclusions by the working group on the Amulsar project will  be presented. "I know that you have waited long enough, and your  right to work has been violated. But I ask to be patient for another  15 days. I assure you, at the end of the current month the decision  will be made, "he stressed. In this light the Head of the Office of  the Deputy Prime Minister assured that the results of the research  will be objective, as well as the subsequent decisions by the Prime  Minister. "Our representative, assistant to Deputy Prime Minister  Mikael Nahapetyan, is also a member of the working group. We, for our  part, are doing everything possible to ensure the normal functioning  of the research team, "he said.

In turn, the mine surveyor of Lydian Armenia Karen Badalyan addressed  Serzh Varag Siseryan with a counter proposal: "Since we have made  concessions for all these 53 days, why protesters can not do this for  the next 15 days, and let us start work before the end of the month?  In any case we will not manage to open the deposit in this period but  at least people will not lose their jobs. At the same time, the  surveyor raised the issue of migration. In particular, he stressed  that some of employees from Saravan, which is a border community,  have already left abroad in search of earnings. "If the issue is not  resolved, I also intend to migrate from the country," K. Badalyan  stressed. The head of the office of the Deputy Prime Minister assured  that he will talk with the CEO of Lydian Armenia Hayk Aloyan on the  issue of keeping the jobs.  "The results of the discussion will be  known today," he stressed.

In conclusion, Assistant Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs Vahe  Danielyan added that the study of the working group will cover  absolutely all the deposits operating in Armenia. ''Your work has not  been suspended by the state, but only by a few people who hold the  opinion that the Amulsar project contains environmental and health  risks. Now, according to the prime minister's decision, a working  group has been set up that will determine how much the anxiety of  certain social strata corresponds to reality, and if there are risks,  how can they be reduced to zero. This also corresponds to the  government program and its interests, which are aimed at eliminating  all kinds of abuses in the mining sector, "he concluded.

To  recall, Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of British Lydian   International, whose shareholders are also large international   institutional investors from the United States, Great Britain, a   number of European countries, including EBRD. The Amulsar project is   the largest industrial project in Armenia for the development of the   Amulsar gold deposit at a total cost of $ 370 million. In August   2016, a project for the construction and development of the field was   launched.  Preliminary work has been carried out since 2006. The life   of the Amulsar deposit will be 10 years and 4 months, an annual   average of 200,000 ounces of gold (about 10 million tons of ore) is   planned. The company's shares are quoted on the Toronto Stock   Exchange. Amulsar deposit is the second largest in Armenia.