EcoLur
“Teghout” CJSC has confessed that the indicators of Teghout Tailing Dump sustainability don't comply with the highest criteria of the Armenian legislation and international ones, as the reply letter of the company addressed to Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center says.
'The studies showed that additional geological and technical works and lab experiments are necessary to improve the sustainability of the dam of the tailing dump, as well as designing and issuing projects based on them. These are long-lasting processes conditioned not with fast operation of the participants, but the complexity and volume of these processes and works. As a result, the company administration reached the only possible and responsible decision, which is not to re-operate the ore processing combine unless the sustainability criteria of the tailing dump are compliant with the highest international and Armenian legislative criteria,' Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center Executive Director Sona Ayvazyan read the letter of the company at the discussion entitled 'Teghout Disaster: What Is Solution?'.
Head of RA Nature Protection and Soil Inspection Body Arthur Grigoryan informed that upon Armenian PM's assignment he was offered to establish a professional working group, which must assess and clarify what is actually going on in Armenian mining sector. Both environmental matters, as well as matters related to corruption risks will be assessed. Currently, the working group is in the formation stage.
Soil and Land Preservation Policy Department Head of RA Nature Protection Ministry Vigen Avetisyan said when all the inspections are carried out and all consequences are made clear, the ministry will perform all its statutory functions.
Armenian Environmental Front member Levon Galstyan said that both Vallex Company and state officials having supported it should be liable for the consequences of Teghout project.
'I officially declare that our law enforcement bodies should carry out an investigation in relation with the activities of this private company and state bodies, I will submit this document to relevant bodies,' Levon Galstyan said.
He noted he had sent an inquiry to RA Ministry for Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources and found out that Vallex Company hadn't submitted any official document about the cessation of Teghout mining. According to Levon Galstyan, these are sufficient grounds to deprive the company of its soil management permit.
Civic activist Anna Shahnazaryan presented how Teghout project was financed from Denmark and how the concluded contract was terminated.
The EKF had concluded an additional bilateral contract with Teghou CJSC that the company is to develop and implement IFC standard compliance plans, which guaranteed the existence of the provisions to terminate the loaning agreement by the EKF. In 2015 it was found out that Vallex didn't perform its contractual environmental and social commitments in an acceptable manner, didn't perform any studies on the biodiversity and community health, the tailing dump wasn't assessed by an independent third party, the company didn't provide any water monitoring data etc,' Anna Shahnazaryan presented. The Danish part stopped the funding of Teghout project in October 2017.
June 29, 2018 at 14:33