Monday, August 19 2019 13:16

ArmInfo.A meeting on the issue of exploiting the Amulsar gold deposit, convened by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, started at the presidential  residence at 26 Baghramyan.

Although the meeting is being held behind closed doors, it became  known that among the invited were activists opposing the exploitation  of the Amulsar field, environmentalists, members of the Council of  Elders and the mayor of Jermuk, Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, and  other stakeholders.  At the same time, on Baghramyan Avenue, opposite  the presidential residence, a protest against the implementation of  the Amulsar project is taking place at this moment. 

Earlier, Jermuk residents spread the message that a "protest" rally  from Jermuk to Yerevan will take place on August 19 in the morning,  and a walking procession started from Yerevan Freedom Square to  Baghramyan 26. In the center of Yerevan there was also an action of  women with baby strollers under the motto: "I want my children to  leave in clean Armenia, ""Future without mines. " To recall, on  August 14, the Investigative Committee of Armenia submitted an expert  opinion on the Amulsar project of the Lebanese consulting company  Earthlink & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD). As the head of  the Committee Hayk Grigoryan stated at a government meeting on August  15, 3 important conclusions can be made on the basis of the expert  opinion. First of all, as Grigoryan noted, this refers to the fact  that there is no direct connection between the underground waters  located on the territory of the Amulsar project and the thermal hot  springs of Jermuk. There is also no connection with the waters of the  Sevan basin. "At the same time, during an earthquake, a certain  concentration of acid drainage can penetrate into the basin of Lake  Sevan through the reservoirs of Spandaryan and Ketchut. However, the  combination of this concentration will be insignificant on the scale  of Lake Sevan," the head of the investigating body said. The third  important conclusion that can be drawn based on the expert's  conclusion is that the possible impact of groundwater from the  Amulsar field on the Arpa, Debet and Darb rivers can be mitigated if  Lydian Armenia takes 16 environmental mitigation measures proposed by  experts.  As Grigoryan pointed out, representatives of Lydian Armenia  have already expressed their readiness to implement 15 of the  proposed 16 events: they are already carrying out 10 events, and they  will be ready to conduct another 5 measures in the near future. The  head of the Committee noted that at present there are grounds for  terminating the criminal case instituted under Art. 282 of the  Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (Concealment or willful  misrepresentation of information on environmental pollution).  In  response, environmental activists opposing the exploitation of the  Amulsar gold deposit said the investigating authority is manipulating  the data. According to them, the results of the examination do not  reflect the real situation and the document itself is inferior.  Activists believe, that  the socio-economic impact on the Jermuk  resort, as well as the opinion of city residents is not taken into  account.

To recall, Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of British Lydian  International. The Amulsar project is the largest industrial project  in Armenia today for the development of the Amulsar gold ore deposit  with a total value of $ 370 million. In August 2016, the start of the  project involving the construction and development of the deposit  took place.