"It's not for me to judge ex-PM Tigran Sargsyan's decision to reactivate the Nairit Plant," Prime Minister Hjovik Abrahamyan told reporters, Wednesday, when commenting on the situation at the Plant.
"Our task is to find a way out of the situation. We must look ahead, not back," the prime minister said. Earlier, ex-PM Tigran Sargsyan, who serves as Armenia's Ambassador to the United States now, said all the decisions on Nairit Plant were adopted by the Government and not by him personally. He promised to provide media with all the agreements concerning the Plant, but has not done it.
The plant has been idling for a long time already. The areas of wages for the last 15 months totaled nearly 5 billion drams. The total debt of the Nairit plant amounted to 50 billion AMD (about $130 million). In the 1980s Nairit had almost 10-12% of the global rubber market. In 2006 90% of Nairit Plant was sold to Rhinoville Property Limited for $40mln. Now, it ows 89.999% of shares in Nairit Plant, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia holds a 4.496% stake, ArmRusgasprom CJSC - 3.596%, and Yerevan TPP - 1.905%. Since Apr 2010 the plant has been idle, with its shares given as security against the CIS InterStateBank's loan.