ArmInfo
Among the all the negative consequences of the world financial crisis there is only one light point for Armenia - I think we shall succeed in saving Teghut, and a new deposit will not be put into operation, Head of the parliamentary faction of "Heritage" oppositional party Armen Martirosyan told ArmInfo when commenting on a draft budget for 2009 introduced in the parliament.
'I do not think we shall bear great losses, as even in case of Teghut operation, the annual receipts to the state budget in the form of taxes will not exceed $ 10 mln. However, our mistake is that we do not try to obtain a final product selling only a green ore, since VAT is imposed on ore enrichment in Armenia , and a paradoxical situation is created when it is more profitable for us to export an ore in the form of a concentrate abroad for processing than process on-site. In this context, the share of the metal mining industry in 2007 in a total 12% volume of the industrial production growth made up 11% in all', he said. The MP thinks that Armenia's budget will not depend so much on export of ore and other raw material, as its prices have strongly dropped and keep on dropping. 'I think the problem is that the prices fall and the production will drop either, that will inevitably cause reduction of workplaces.
A deposit is developed in the territory of Teghut, the right for operation of which belongs to the copper company Armenian Copper Programme. Implementation of the programme of operation of Teghut deposit supposes of about 58,000 cub m of forests in a territory of 357 hectares.
November 10, 2008