Pashinyan gives the green light to the development of the Amulsar field

ArmInfo. The Armenian government will conduct ongoing monitoring during the development of the Amulsar field. On August 19, Prime Minister of Armenia NikolPashinyan stated this on live on Facebook.

“If during monitoring we suddenly record that the Lydian-Armenia company does not comply with the conditions set by us, we will give them 90 days to eliminate the omissions or the field will be closed. That is, the government has all the tools to manage this process, ”he said, adding that under current conditions, the field will be exploited in case unprecedentedly high environmental standards are observed.

The Prime Minister stated that this would give the government the opportunity to gradually make other companies of this kind to raise their operating criteria. According to him, the RA government will be forced to spend tens of millions of dollars to improve the quality of field exploitation. Pashinyan emphasized that the mining industry in Armenia should work under the highest standards.

At the same time, according to him, another important issue is the future of Jermuk as a health resort. The prime minister recalled that mineral springs are the cornerstone in this matter, and they are not at risk. He assured that there are many tourist cities in the world, which have mines in neighborhood, but this in no way affects the popularity of these destinations. As a vivid example, he cited the American city of Salt Lake City.

The head of the Armenian government also noted that the ELARDcompanyprepared a conclusion on the field, providing 16 recommendations for Lydian-Armenia on exploitation, 10 of which were already included in the project of the mining company, and it was ready to add another 6 to the project. However, he also pointed out that many recommendations are provided for implementation after the closure of the field, and this is a completely different process.

He once again assured that if facts suddenly come to light these days that would cast doubt on the feasibility of exploiting the field, the Armenian government will be ready to consider them, since it is not constrained by anything.

“I would like to touch on an important nuance. Today you know that we held meetings with residents of surrounding communities, activists. All the facts cited were voiced a year ago. And the criminal case gave answers to all these facts. And the texts read today by residents at the meeting are the same as a year ago. Because of them, I lost sleep and peace, I didn’t sleep at night, but the criminal case gave answers to them all, ”said Pashinyan, once again assuring that if any threats were revealed, the field would be immediately closed, since they are not constrained by anything, because it is not so easy to put pressure on the legitimate authorities, which are trusted by the people.

“Summing up, I would like to say that the situation is as follows: a year ago we set three conditions - to find out if Amulsarwould harm Sevan, Jermuk and the whole water system. And they have publicly stated that if, as a result of discussions, it turns out that it poses threat, then the field will be closed, regardless of the reaction of a number of states. If it turns out that it does not harm, then it will continue to function. And today, according to our clear data,Amulsar does not harm Sevan. It will be operated according to the highest environmental criteria. If we do not fulfill the conditions set by ourselves, we will not be taken seriously. I am 99.9% sure that the field does not pose a threat to the ecology of the RA. Therefore, we must fulfill the conditions that we set, ”he said, concluding by expressing bewilderment by the acts of disobedience arranged by citizens.

It should be noted that on August 14, the Investigative Committee of Armenia presented an expert opinion on the Amulsar project of the Earthlink& AdvancedResourcesDevelopment (ELARD) consulting company. Based on the conclusion of the examination, the IC of Armenia stated 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. Moreover, as indicated in the IC, during an earthquake, a certain concentration of acid drainage can penetrate into the basin of Lake Sevan through the Spandaryan and Ketchut reservoirs. However, the combination of this concentration will be insignificant on the scale of Lake Sevan. The third important conclusion: the impact on the Arpa, Debit and Darb rivers can be mitigated if LydianArmenia takes 16 environmental risk mitigation measures proposed by experts. As the head of IC HaykGrigoryan pointed out, LydianArmenia representatives have already expressed their readiness to implement 15 of the proposed 16 events: they are already carrying out 10 events, 5 will be ready to conduct in the near future.