ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan paid a working visit to the Gegharkunik region of the country.
The RA leader's press office told ArmInfo that in the communities of Lchap and Karchaghbyur Sargsyan got acquainted with the progress of works within the framework of the comprehensive program for the restoration of Ishkhan stocks (Salmo ischchan - a kind of fish of the salmon family, endemic of Armenia) in Lake Sevan and the development of fish culture.
The program is aimed at restoring fish species, natural resources and the ecosystem of Lake Sevan, with the aim of restoring Ishkhan's reserves in Lake Sevan, creating funds to solve the environmental problems of Lake Sevan, and creating new jobs. Within the framework of the program, it is planned to form an environmentally sustainable value chain for the production of Sevan Ishkhan over the coming years.
The process of production and sale will be carried out by the closed joint-stock companies "Sevani Ishkhan" and "Sevan Aqua", which are created by the fund for the restoration of the stocks of the Sevan Ishkhan and the development of fish farming. " The President of Armenia visited the Sevan Aqua Sequoia in the Lchap community.
Accompanied by the Vice Prime Minister, the Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms, the Minister of Nature Protection, the head of the regional administration of Gegharkunik, the director of the Institute of Hydroecology and Fish Culture of the National Academy of Sciences, the heads of the above companies and other officials, the president got acquainted with the work done and the infrastructures created.
Sargsyan then visited the fish farm of Sevani Ishkhan, located in the community of Karchakhbyr, where he got acquainted with the works performed in the complex and attended the opening of the fry breeding plant.
The new plant will provide a full cycle of breeding two endemic subspecies (Gegharkuni and summer bahtak). Creation of a full-fledged life-cycle system, according to the management's assurance, makes it possible to control all stages of production.
At the end of the visit to Gegharkunik region, the president held a meeting on the problems of Lake Sevan with the participation of officials responsible for the sphere and other interested persons. During the meeting, reports were reported on the work carried out in accordance with the comprehensive program for the restoration of fish stocks in Lake Sevan and the development of fish culture, as well as the activities of the Lake Sevan Commission, environmental objectives and development programs in the Sevan National Park. The president was also presented with a digital model of the terrain and relief that was developed by the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre under the Government of the Republic of Armenia at an altitude of 1,900-1,905 meters in the territory of the Sevan National Park, as well as the geodetic material included in it, the joint implementation of the state non- park "Sevan" "works on specification.
Following the meeting, a number of assignments were given to the relevant industry leaders. In particular, it was entrusted during 2019 to fully complete the work of the current stage of restoration of the emergency sections of the Arpa-Sevan tunnel, providing for this a commensurate amount of financing. Upon completion of these works, it is expected that the volumes of water moving through the tunnel to Lake Sevan will almost double in comparison with current volumes, amounting to 200-250 million kb.m.
In order to continuously improve the water quality of the rivers flowing into Lake Sevan, the Ministry of Nature Protection and the State Water Committee of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources were instructed to develop measures to increase the efficiency of the use of wastewater treatment plants built on the territory of large settlements in the Lake Sevan basin and take measures in the direction of stimulating work on the location of local sewage treatment plants on the part of tenants who conduct economic activities on the territory of the state non-profit organization "National Park" Sevan "".
The Ministry of Nature Protection has also been instructed to continue work to increase the number of public beaches and to organize an accelerated rate of clearing operations on flooded areas resulting from water level increase, by submitting proposals for financing planning for government discussion.