The Armenian government, ignoring the opinion of the local population and civil society, gave the green light for the project of Amulsar gold mining.
According to the decision of the executive reached on January 18, 2024, 12.5% of the shares of "Lidian Armenia" CJSC, which implements Amulsar project, were donated to the Armenian government. This decision stems from the memorandum of understanding signed on February 22, 2023 between the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the Eurasian Development Bank and "Lydian Armenia" CJSC.
The authority to manage the shares donated by "Lydian Armenia" CJSC was assigned to RA Economy Ministry.
According to RA Deputy Economy Minister Ani Ispiryan, 12.5 percent shares of the authorized capital of "Lydian Armenia" are donated to the Armenian government without any obligation on the part of the government. Reminder: before the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the RA government, the Eurasian Development Bank and "Lydian Armenia" CJSC, the construction of the Amulsar project was at a standstill.
It is not clear when and how the RA government received the answers to all concerns. Over the years, local residents and civil society have repeatedly spoken about the unmanageable risks of Amulsar project. These risks were also confirmed by the expert opinion of "ELARD". Recently, Jermuk residents sent a letter to the Eurasian Development Bank regarding the possible financing of the Amulsar project and mentioned the risks of the project and their negative opinion.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia noted that "In addition to the payments established by the legislation, including to local governments, 7 million AMD will be paid to the affected communities every year, that is, this amount will be entered into the budget of the affected communities. In this case, the affected communities are Sisian consolidated community, Jermuk and Vayq communities.
This is also a controversial issue. The Amulsar project was approved at the state level when community enlargement had not yet been implemented. After the process of enlargement of communities, Gndevaz merged with Jermuk. The communities of Sisian and Vayq, which became affected by the Amulsar project, were enlarged. These large communities include many settlements, and the question is how these funds should be distributed.
It is not clear what model we are talking about. The Amulsar mine is planned to be operated in an open-pit way, gold extraction using cyanide, which, according to experts and local residents, carries great risks for the environment of that region. Amulsar's controversial plan has also given rise to a number of court cases.
January 18, 2024 at 20:46