ArmInfo. The RA General Prosecutor's Office made the subject of study the process of allocating special purpose lands in the "Arevik" National Park of the Syunik Region of Armenia with the aim of exploiting the Meghrasar gold opencast mining, as well as information about the destruction of forests under the guise of changing forest categories.
During the preparation of materials, it turned out that in December 24, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia granted LLC a mining permit for a period of 7.5 years, as well as an act of mining allotment for the open-pit operation of the Meghrasar gold opencast mining in an area of 133.6 hectares.
According to the Cadastre and Real Estate Committee of the Republic of Armenia, however, it turned out that the 33,0002 hectare site provided by the company is located on the territory of "Arevik" National Park and is included in the specially protected areas.
In 2017, LLC, bypassing the rules for the use of subsoil, without the relevant permission of the owners of the specified land plot, conducted gold mining operations there. In particular, 10 thousand tons of ore was mined, as a result of which significant damage was caused to the environment, the subsoil and mineral resources contained in it. During the preparation of the materials, it turned out that the competent officials of the Arevik National Park, based on mercenary and personal interest or group interests, did not fulfill their official duties, allowing the specified LLC in the park, in violation of the rules of nature protection and subsoil use, to gold mining. As a result, substantial damage was caused to the legitimate interests of societies and the state. Taking into account that there are data in the materials containing indications of obvious crimes by officials of the Arevik National Park, a criminal case has been initiated under section 2 of article 291 and part 1 of section 308 of the RA Criminal Code.