Wednesday, April 16 2014

 

What is
the key problem you have been resolving since you were appointed Governor of
Syunik region in May 2013? 

 

Our key
problem is unemployment that makes up 14.9%. Since the very first day our team
have concentrated efforts on reducing the social tension in the region. This
policy completely meets the strategy of the Armenian Government. In this light,
we started elaborating the concept of the region’s socio-economic development
for 2014-2017. We involved foreign experts to borrow their experience and apply
it with due regard for Syunik’s potential and advantages. The OSCE Office in
Yerevan and 16 foreign embassies in Armenia, which are implementing various
investment projects in Syunik and Armenia in general, were the first to respond
to our proposal. We held a quite successful forum and revealed the important
economy sectors for our region. So, we started paying more attention to them.
The concept in not yet ready and it is being discussed with international consultants.
I am convinced that the
document will be ready pretty soon and we hope that implementation of the
projects included in the concept will considerably reduce unemployment and social
tension, and at the same time it will develop the priority directions of
Synik’s economy.

 

Would
you speak of the development priorities in detail? 

 

Naturally,
the matter concerns the mining industry, which traditionally plays an important
role in development of not only Syunik but also Armenia in general. I should
say that today this industry is at a qualitatively new level. If we compare the
current mining sector with the mining sector of the last period of the USSR in
terms of output, quality of production, social responsibility and ecology, we
will see a great difference. For instance, in the early 1990s, the Kajaran
Copper Molybdenum Combine operated at full power and extracted nearly 8.6 mln
tons of ore per annum. Now it annually extracts 18 mln tons of ore. We were
able to achieve such results due to the up-to-date flotation and other
technologies. In this light, serious funds have been invested in Kajaran and
Agarak Copper Molybdenum Combines, as well as in Kapan Mining and Processing
Plant. Therefore, today all the three enterprises are developing and creating
new jobs. Earlier the number of employees in Kajaran was no more than 2200
people with low wages, but today the enterprise has 3500 employees with an
average salary of 400 thsd AMD, needless to say about the satellite enterprises
and the multiplier effect provided to the sector. Certainly, exploration is
also being conducted to find new deposits.

 

Is it
possible to combine the need for mining industry development and creation of
jobs with observance of the environmental standards?    

 

First of
all, I would say that the mining industry contains no air emissions, generally
speaking. The industrial waste accumulates in the tailing dumps. This is a traditional method, which is popular
all over the world. Of course, the process of reclamation should be carried out
correctly, and it is being done. For instance, earlier the ore reached the
tailing dump trough one pipeline, whereas now we are using two pipelines. In
case the main pipeline gets out of order, the other one will be used and this
will allow avoiding environmental pollution. In other words, the projects aimed
at protecting the environment are constantly being implemented. We realize our
responsibility and try to reduce the environmental damage to the extent
possible. I can assure you that all our mining enterprises first of all take
into the account the need to resolve the environmental problems and social
responsibility problems. The mining sector has passed a long path and raised production
to a qualitatively new level. Certainly, there are some problems, but what is
being done in this field is of more importance than what is being presented to
the public by some people. I think speculations on environmental issues are
needless. I confess that I try to understand their motivation and sources but
it is very hard to do even amateurishly. The people are trying to restrict
serious discussions of serious problems to shows, creating an unhealthy
atmosphere, insulting one another and hindering the constructive dialogue.

 

Let’s talk of the mining industry development
prospects…      

 

The
prospects are quite optimistic. The three key mining enterprises have good
opportunities to increase the output even more and create new jobs. If we also
take into account 80 Syunik-based small and medium-sized enterprises directly
related to the mining industry, the prospects for creation of new jobs will
increase. Of course, the global financial and economic crisis has made
adjustments to development of our region, whose gross product’s 85% falls on
mining industry. It was over the crisis-affected years that it became finally
clear that the region needed full diversification in economy. Fortunately, we
have already overcome that hard period and now we are outlining new scenarios
and opportunities for further dynamic development of this sector of Syunik’s
economy. Having studied the cyclicality of mining products’ price formation on
the world markets over the past 50 years, we have come to some conclusions and
the main conclusion is that it is necessary to diversify the economy of our
region. The matter concerns first of all the sectors in which Syunik region
will have certain advantages. These are the sectors of energy, agriculture and
tourism.

 

How is
the region planning to continue the cooperation with Ruben Vardanyan,
particularly, to continue the Tatev project?

 

Our
relations are at a quite high level, and the activity of the interdepartmental
commission engaged in the program of development of the ancient historical
monument of Tatev and its surroundings is direct evidence of that. We stress
the need to involve the villagers in this program. The villagers of the region
are a big resource, which should be used. Certainly, we consider all the
proposals and ideas of our partners. After all, they are directly engaged in
implementation of this project. I’d like to mention that the foundation of
Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend is also implementing socially oriented
projects in the region. In particular, it has financed the renovation of a
school in Halidzor. The Wings of Tatev Project will not be restricted to the
cableway only. It is envisaged to create hotels, leisure and recreation zones.
It is also planned to renovate the University of Tatev and the Monastery of
Tatev. Now we are trying to choose between a single zone of modern hotels and
creation of guesthouses in the villages of the gorge. We still have to do much,
however, I am convinced that this successful program will be completed and will
serve Syunik’s development. Nearly 10 thsd tourists used to visit our region
annually before the launch of the program, but the number of the travelers has
increased to over 80 thsd since the cableway was launched. If we add the
multiplier effect and the hotel business development, I think it will be hard
to overestimate the significance of the project for our region and for the
country in general. Therefore, we are going to contribute to its further
development in every possible way.

 

How much have you already invested and how much
are you planning to invest in this project?

 

I think Ruben Vardanyan will give a more
detailed answer to your question. As far as we know, over 16mln AMD was spent
in 2013 to improve the areas near Tatev Monastery. Some 584mln AMD will be
spent to develop the ropeway and the village of Galidzor, 206.5mln AMD to
restore Tatev Monastery, 212mln AMD to develop local rural communities. In 2014
the project will receive over 1bln AMD.

 

How are things with gold production?

 

In Lichk we have a gold-mining plant, but it is
idle. However, on the border with Vayots Dzor region, at Amulsar, Geoteam is
planning a new large-scale program. Now they prospecting the area and are
holding discussions with environmentalists. Geoteam is planning to process as
much as 10mln tons of gold-bearing ore, which is quite a serious figure. This
will require no less serious investments – more than $100mln. But our
communities are actively supporting this project by providing it with lands.

 

Is agriculture also a priority in your
plans? 

 

Of course, it is. We have certain achievements
in this sector, especially in food processing. In view of Iran’s high demand
for meat, we have built a modern German-technology-based slaughterhouse in
Syunik community. In the soviet times we had over 700,000 sheep, today, we have
just 105,000. This is a big problem, especially as we have large pastures near
Sisian and Goris. We are also building a pig-breeding farm near Kapan. It is
also based on German technologies and is supposed to give products of
absolutely new quality. The farm will be launched in some three months. We have
invested $3.2mln in this project. The farm will have some 4,000 pigs and will
produce almost 300 tons of pork. We are investing more and more money in agriculture.
As a result, we already cultivate almost 35,000 of existing 44,000 h of arable
lands. We also have long-term programs to build irrigation systems and to buy
agricultural equipment.

 

Could you specify you plans in figures?

 

In 2013 we invested in the region over 38bln
AMD, of which over 23bln AMD was invested in ore mining. Today we are taking
certain steps to invest more in SMEs, agriculture, tourism. So, in 2014 ore
mining will receive just 10bln AMD of total 33bln AMD. The rest will be spent
on education, health care, social security, urban development, road building,
gas supply, agriculture, environment protection, tourism and, most importantly,
SMEs. Each new SME will give us 50-100 new jobs. So, this is our priority. I
believe that an investment should be aimed at creating jobs, otherwise, it is
just waste of money.