YEREVAN—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced his government's intention to approve the resumption of excavation activities at the controversial Amulsar mine. In a late-night Facebook-live session on Monday, the Prime Minister explained that the decision resulted from carefully analyzing the results of the latest independent environmental impact assessment published last week.
Or, subscribe now for unlimited access
By submitting your email address you agree for Hairenik Association, Inc. to send you communication by email.
Already a subscriber?Log in here
This story is FREE for you...
Create a free account to access this and four more articles, and get more sent to you with our e-newsletter.By submitting your email address you agree for Hairenik Association, Inc. to send you communication by email.
With this decision, the PM has lost all legitimacy.
if areas which would be directly affected by the mining operation will not be impacted then how does this translate into inconclusive effects outside the mine operation yet unavailable and needing further study?
environmental impact studies beyond the mine sites as determined by a nucleus of experts in their related field of expertise must be consulted before a decision to move forward is made despite any economic benefits made from such an arrangement. with 400 mines currently in operation and possibly far removed from the proposed amular site that is the question i would hope that the same standards and safeguards were used.
So there are 400 mines currently operating in Armenia, but only the Amulsar project, which applies the highest environmental protection measures known to-date is being the object of protests !!!!
Isn’t Mrs. Lena Nazaryan the young woman who in Feb 2013 had the audacity and effrontery to interrupt the OSCE Observation Mission’s reporting telling them that they were blind and naïve and that she knew better than them about the election results? No wonder she “read the same report as the Investigative Committee” and came to a different conclusion.
Thank you for this informative piece, Raffi. I do, however, take issue with your characterization of the Armenian Environmental Front’s framing of the standoff between the local Amulsar water protectors and “greedy foreign multinationals” as “romanticize[d].” The David and Goliath standoff between the Amulsar activists and the Anglo-Canadian Lydian corporation is very real precisely for, as you say, “historical reasons.” From its very beginning successive Armenian governments have made backroom deals at the expense of the Armenian people and homeland. The Amulsar protesters and people of Jermuk know exactly what they’re doing: taking a principled stand in the face of the predations of foreign investment and so-called development. The only reason that Pashinyan gave the green light to Lydian is their odious ISDS (investor state disputes settlement) lawsuit against the Armenian government. Between the threat of what should be an illegal lawsuit and a concern for optics (i.e. Armenia as a place that’s open to foreign investment), it’s understandable how Pashinyan found himself between a rock and a hard place. Making a decision under such circumstances only underscores the fraudulence and hypocrisy on both sides: environmental degradation and catastrophe can’t be mitigated away. There’s no such thing as safe mining, especially on seismic fault lines. Diasporan Armenians need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Amulsar land and water protectors and not be seduced by the shiny lure of predatory capital investment. For those of you who continue to belief that the Lydian mining project will benefit Armenia and Armenians, with minimal impact to the air and water of the region, you need to think again: the Amulsar mine is “100% Lydian owned” and all profits will leave Armenia, like so many investment schemes before, and leave the people, air and water in the Jermuk region… in the gold dust. See:
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/05/15/1825682/0/en/Lydian-Announces-First-Quarter-2019-Results-and-Corporate-Update.html
Well said Nazelli. Thanks
They won the rights. They paid the money. They invested heavily in construction on the land they paid for and continue paying taxes on. They filed all required permits. They submitted to the ELARD audit. ELARD cleared them. They met Pashinyan’s demands at the outset. You have the audacity to frame this as Armenia versus the Anglo-Canadian Lydian? All that does is show your lack of understanding of economics and it highlights your obvious communist political leanings as you want to nationalize land and industry. I suspect you have a political corruption problem but you also have a communist traitor for hire problem too.
The question is will the protesters and their foreign supporters pay the compensation, in case Lydian takes this to court? Obviously, the answer is a big no. If this was a new contract being singed by Pashinian, then at least the protests would have been understandable. You can argue that mining is too damaging to the environment and the new government should come up with better plans to attract investment. The problem is that Lydian has already invested millions and the contract was signed years ago. It is extremely unlikely that any international court will side with Armenia if this ends up in court. No matter what you say, Serjik was the internationally recognized president of Armenia and any document signed by his government is valid. If Armenia refuses to pay compensations, it will become a pariah and no one will do business with it, not even WB or IMF. I think the government has done a lousy job explaining these things to people. Millions of dollars of investment and jobs with minimal environmental damage vs millions paid in compensation and no damage to environment.
Thank you for the report, Elliott, and thanks, everyone, for your comments. I had the benefit of skimming through the 145-page long version of ELARD’s report. My reading of it is that ELARD is highlighting some important deficiencies in Lydian’s own assessments. If these deficiencies are addressed, the mine will comply with international (not only Armenian) minimal standards and so it will not put the environment at risk. As a lawyer with passion for environmental protection, I understand the fear of the pollution, but I understand Mr Pashinyan’s position more. If the deal should not have been made in the first place, that’s too bad. But I don’t see what more can Mr Pashinyan do than insist on due diligence and give the project green light under governmental control.
I’ll be very happy to discuss the issue with you further. Here’s my e-mail address: martin.madej@law.ox.ac.uk.
Time for every Armenian to put their money where their mouths are and protest and make a point: no more $$ if you don’t close all these awful mines. Go solar, for Jesus sake and invest in clean energies instead before you destroy what is left of our small homeland..between that and Metsamor, ay.
@ ritooli,
FYI, Serj did not hand over the power to your top man, Nikolick, it was more like power grab by the latter. Therefore, your top man, Nicki, shoulders the responsibility of anything and everything problematic to Armenia. Nikole, should yield his position and let Mr. Kocharyan, run the country before It’s too late.
@Jay
Your comment makes it seem as if your 11 years old. Robert, his predecessor and successor were/are garbage leaders. No same Armenian wants them back. Nikol hasn’t been in office long enough to lump in the same category but at least he still has a popular mandate. Same can’t be said about many western politicians.
Armenia seems like the ideal place for solar energy.
Pashinyan has not accomplished anything so far.
He is very kin of social media and he has placed high value on appearances. This is not what Armenian people need. Unfortunately, he is a social media President.
“But Lydian insists that it’s different. The mining giant routinely presents itself as an example of environmentally safe, socially responsible and economically beneficial mining practices.“ LYDIAN, the MINING GIANT? Give me a break! Have you checked out Lydian’s assets and market cap? BHP or Rio Tinto are mining giants, not puny Lydian!
The residents of Jermuk knew very well that the PM was working with Lydian to start the drilling soon. Scores of families have bought apartments far from Vayots tsor and making arrangements to move. It will be such a pity to lose Jermuk’s health resort industry and culture (not to mention the thousands of jobs) just because the mountains containing gold mines were sold to Lydian.
Not sure who has oversight on the mining and the Anglo-Canadian concerns doing the mining. Why would a foreign company care what happens in Armenia as long as they reap the$$$$$. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
I am in Jermuk right now and every local that I have spoken to is opposed to the mine opening. Many believe that even in the case it avoids major environmental catastrophes, there will be such a reduction to tourism in the area that it’ll hurt the local economy in a big way. They seem determined to prevent it from happening.
Also – Lydian is not a mining giant. This would be their FIRST mining project.
Definitely not a mining giant. A small company, no proven record, first mining project.
To put in financial perspective, here is the most recent data on the company.
Value of share traded on The Toronto Exchange. Cnd $ 0.15. (fifteen cents). Basically a penny stock.
Total Assets $ 399.5 million
Total Liabilities $ 354.0 million
Total Equity $ 45.5 million
With an equity of $ 45 million, it cannot be considered even a small company.
This was a bad contract from the start.
It is a legal and financial mess.
Vart Adjemian
Beside environmental concerns,
When currency values are falling on a global scale, Why is the Armenian government allowing a foreign government (British, which refuses to acknowledge the genocide btw) to extract and take the nation’s gold reserves ?
I really like Pashinyan, I think he is someone who means very well and genuinely cares about the future of Armenia and Artsakh.
However, I do call into question this decision. Looking at it from a broader spectrum, this is not very good. We are literally in a serious climate crisis. The UN informed the world that we are literally 12 years to radically act on climate change, shift away from fossil fuels, and switch to renewable energy and create green job. We must be saving the environment, not further polluting it, via fracking and mining.
So Pashinyan, should really be having second thoughts about allowing the mining project in Amuslar to go through anyway. Adding to the fact there were serious deficiencies in this report, Armenia is in a region prone to earthquakes, and he should be working to deter them, and not put them on steroids and growth hormone, and further do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry.
You can say that again. Nikolick, hasn’t been in the office long enough and the country is in a heap of a mess already. Him and his incompetent Facebook administration better vacate their position and let Kocharyan’s government run the country. It is obvious, Soros’ lapdog and his facebook administration is not up to the task.
Jay,
I agree with you on all accounts accept the part about former president Robert Kocharyan. While Kocharyan was arguably the best leader post-Soviet Armenia has thus far had (and that’s really not saying much at all), his time as a leader has long passed. Sadly, Kocharyan today is a divisive figure that is hated, albeit unjustifiably, by many Armenians around the world. In my opinion, Armenia’s real leader is former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Had Serj Sargsyan not collaborated/conspired with the the NED, George Soros and British Counsel led regime change agenda last year, Karapetyan would have been Armenia’s leader today. Karapetyan is one of the very few individuals in the country today that is actually capable – and worthy – of a leadership role.