ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is concerned about orthodoxy in Amulsar's issue. He said this the day before, September 22, during a press conference in Los Angeles.
According to the prime minister, the greatest misfortune in Amulsar's issue is that everyone already has their own opinion, no matter what. "A part says that Amulsar is a mountain, and even if the world collapses, it must remain a mountain, another part says that no matter what happens, Amulsar should be exploited. I'm saying something else: we must be honest with the Armenian and international community and seek the truth to the very end. Is this an environmental disaster or not, I must get an answer to this question de facto and de jure. Many will now answer: "What are you talking about? Is it not clear? "No. It is not clear," he said, recalling the story of the Teghut field. "Members of the government also came into my office, they said that I would immediately close the Teghout mine that it was being destroyed, thousands would die ... but it turned out that they were telling a lie," he said. As the Prime Minister pointed out, the Amulsar issue is very important from both an economic and environmental point of view. "I did not set the task of opening or not opening the mine. I said that it was necessary to look for the truth. I told the Lidian representatives that if it turns out that we can operate the mine according to the standards that they speak of, I will support them, but if not, it's excluded that I support them, "said Pashinyan.
According to him, in the question of Amulsar he is concerned about orthodoxy, "when they say: it should be so - that's all." "It is necessary to make a decision, being informed," he said. As the head of the Cabinet emphasized, the government will not make a decision under the pressure that will be stronger. "I have never acted under pressure, and I will not act regardless of anything. My problem, my position is clear: we must be honest with the Armenian society and with the international community. And to be honest, we must follow truth to the end, "said Pashinyan.
As the prime minister pointed out, at the moment there is no de jure reason to prohibit the exploitation of the Amulsarskoye field. "Maybe in half an hour it becomes clear that this reason has appeared. If it turns out that we have no interest, we will close the mine. But if there are no reasons, then only because the government is under pressure, we will not close it .
Many say that the government will allow the operation of the mine. The operation of the mine is allowed for a long time, if we have reasons for the ban, we must ban, if we do not have them, on the basis of which we will ban? The decision must be legal, "the prime minister concluded.
Recall that the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on September 9 live Facebook said that at the moment there is no legal basis to prohibit the operation of the Amulsar mine. Nikol Pashinyan also formally 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 Lidian source data was not complete and, in general, the 2016 EIA was insufficient to guarantee the environmentally sound operation of the mine.
As Pashinyan assured, the Lidian 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 UK (under Art. Concealment or intentional misrepresentation of information on environmental pollution), previously entrusted to Yura Ivanian, a relative of the former Minister of Ecology Aramais Grigoryan, who approved the assessment of the impact of the development Amulsar to the environment, transferred to the deputy head of the Investigative Committee to 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 Lidian's honest word for 100% safe its operation, "said the residents of Jermuk, stressing that they would negotiate exclusively around the closure of the mine.