Lydian Armenia company sues MP Arman Babajanyan

ArmInfo "Lydian Armenia" company informs that it has filed a lawsuit against independent MP Arman Babajanyan for libel. This is stated in the statement of the company received by ArmInfo. 

According to the source, in his last interview, Babajanyan, referring to the issue related to the Amulsar mine, which is being developed by Lydian, made statements that "the permits for the development of the  mine were acquired by criminal means", as well as that <it was a  criminal transaction carried out with representatives of the former corrupt government>.

"According to the company, these statements are slander, have nothing  to do with reality, they are aimed at denigrating the company's  business reputation. In fact, we can state that a number of persons  representing various political forces, in order to discredit the  business reputation of the "Lydian Armenia" company, spread  misinformation about the Amulsar project. The latter tried to create  negative sentiments or to please certain groups in order to receive  political dividends through slander. Such statements have not only  not been proven over the past two years, but in some cases the court  as libel has already qualified them.

In the case of Arman Babajanyan, this fact of voicing irresponsible  statements is more worrisome, since we are not talking about an  activist or a protester, but about a MP representing the legislative  power of the Republic of Armenia," the company said in a statement.

To note, Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British offshore  Lydian International. The total cost of the Amulsar project is $ 370  million. The life of the mine is 10 years and 4 months, with an  average annual production of 200 thousand ounces of gold planned. The  Amulsar mine is the second largest in Armenia. 

According to the company, the mine contains about 73,733 kg of gold  with an average grade of 0.78 g per tonne, as well as 294,367 tons of  silver with an average grade of 9.29 g per tonne. It is located in  the southeast of the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk,  between the rivers Arpa and Vorotan.  Environmentalists and ordinary  citizens are concerned that the development of the mine may lead to  the pollution of the mineral underground waters of Jermuk and Lake  Sevan. Taking this into account, since the year before last, the  approaches to the mine have been closed by local residents and  environmental activists.