Nikol Pashinyan on Amulsar program: We need to use our resources for  Armenia`s full development 

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers it improper to demonize the mining  industry. He stated this at a meeting with representatives of the  Armenian community of New York, answering the question why the new  government does not consider revising the legislation in this area so  as not to face possible blackmail of mining investors in the future.

According to Pashinyan, the Armenian government must be completely  honest, both with the Armenian and international public. As the prime  minister pointed out, the new government inherited the problem from  the previous one, and its solution in one way or another can affect  the rating of modern Armenia. "We should go into the details of the  problem to the utmost to find the solution based on facts and risk  studies is," he noted.

As the head of the Armenian cabinet indicated, whether it is good or  bad, but the fact is that at the moment the Armenian government has  no reason to ban the operation of the Amulsar mine. Perhaps such a  basis will appear tomorrow, in a month, but it is possible that it  will not. "Today's United States was created on the basis of the  mining industry. One should not be afraid of it as well as the  technology sector. It's another matter if we can provide a way in the  modern world to operate mines that will not cause at least tangible  substantial harm to life and human health. Any manifestation of  civilization can be risky from an environmental point of view, "said  Nikol Pashinyan, urging to get rid of such phobias. "My position is  as follows - we must use our resources for the full development of  Armenia," the head of the Armenian government concluded.

To recall, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on September  9 live on Facebook said that at the moment there is no legal basis to  prohibit the operation of the Amulsar mine. Nikol Pashinyan also  officially called on the residents of Jermuk to unblock all roads  leading to the Amulsar mine. Meanwhile, on August 19, experts at  Earthlink & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) said during a  video conference that the Lydian source data was not complete and, in  general, the  EIAof  2016was insufficient to guarantee the  environmentally sound operation of the mine.

As Pashinyan assured, the Lydian leadership committed themselves to  100% safe operation. In addition, he said that he ordered the  inspection body to study the project in detail, and the criminal case  in the Investigative Committee (under Art. Concealment or intentional  misrepresentation of information on environmental pollution),  previously entrusted to Yura Ivanyan, a relative of the former  Minister of Nature Protection Aramais Grigoryan, who approved the  Environmental Impact Assessment of  the Amulsar development, has been  transferred to the deputy head of the Investigative Committee Arsen  Ayvazyan. "A new investigation team will be formed, which will  consider the facts, give answers to questions in the framework of the  criminal case," Pashinyan said.

In response, environmentalists, activists and residents of the resort  town of Jermuk said they were not going to unblock the roads leading  to the Amulsar field. "We do not understand the position of the prime  minister, who agreed to open the mine solely on Lydian's" honest word  "about its 100% safe operation," said Jermuk residents, stressing  that they would negotiate exclusively around the closure of the mine.