Parliament of Armenia has rejected ARFD's motion for establishment of an ad hoc committee to study the situation with Nairit chemical giant.
Earlier on Tuesday, Armenian Minister of Energy and Nature Protection Armen Movsisyan said at parliamentary debates that ARF Dashnaktsutyun's proposal to set up an interim parliamentary commission to study the situation around Nairit is early because the Armenian Government is negotiating with Rosneft on implementation of a large- scale project on rehabilitation of Nairit Plant.
"The creation of the interim parliamentary committee will hinder this process", the minister said. On the contrary, Speaker of Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan supported the idea of creation of the committee. Nevertheless, the minister's argument proved for convincing for the parliamentarians.
To recall, on 23 December, Igor Sechn, President of Rosneft OJSC, who was in Armenia on a working visit, met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. A number of agreements were signed to foster cooperation with Armenia. Rosneft OJSC, Pirelli Tyre Russia S.p.A and Oil Techno CJSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a joint venture to produce styrene-butadiene-rubber in Armenia, which is highly in demand in the world market and is used in the manufacture of eco-tires. Rosneft pledges to become the leading investor and shareholder of the plant, while Pirelli Tyre Russia S.p.A pledges to purchase final products.
Nairit is the only producer of chloroprene rubber in the CIS. However, it has been idling since April 2010 for financial problems. The Plant's current debt is $130 mln. The staff of the plant regularly rallies demanding their wages.