ArmInfo
The Nature Protection Ministry of Armenia qualifies the environmentalists' statements that when calculating the damage caused to Jermuk park the Environmental Inspection deliberately pitched the fines too low as ungrounded.
To recall, environmentalists expressed their indignation at the fact that despite the mass devastation of trees in Jermuk park, the Environmental Inspection fixed AMD 370,500 penal sanctions for 16 poplars. According to environmental NGOs, this modest figure is not accidental. In case the fine does not exceed AMD 400 thsd, no criminal case on illegal deforestation is instituted "The amount of penal sanctions is calculated with due regard for the species of trees and their diameters, and this is fixed in the legislation. These are the standards the Environmental Inspection was guided by", Press Secretary of the Armenian Nature Protection Ministry Hasmik Mkrtchyan said to ArmInfo correspondent.
As regards the problem of illegal deforestation in Azat gorge (Kotayk region), according to the source, here the ministry is closely cooperating with the police. "By the minister's instruction, now the employees of the ministry and the police deal with the illegal deforestation in Azat gorge", she said.
February 04, 2011