On April 3, 2023, "EcoLur" Information NGO sent an opinion to RA Environment Ministry regarding the environmental impact assessment application of "Loribird-2" small hydropower plant construction project filed by “Lorva Amrots" LLC, which says:
“On 8 April 2021, the Armenian Government adopted resolution "On defining the list of rivers prohibited for the construction of small hydroelectric power plants conditioned with being spawning sites for red-listed or endemic fish species or overloaded with derivation pipelines by 40% and over”, where due to the presence of red-listed fish species, the Dzoraget River was also included in the list of rivers prohibited for the construction of small hydropower plants. "Lorva Amrots" LLC sued the RA government to remove the Dzoraget river from that list. RA administrative court upheld the claim filed by the Company.
However, RA Government appealed the ruling of RA Administrative Court to RA Appeal Administrative Court. No ruling has been made yet. Inga Zarafyan, President of "EcoLur" Informational NGO, said during the public hearing of "Loribird 2" SHPP that the status of the river is still prohibited for the construction of new HPPs, and holding the hearing in public conditions may lead to a conflict of interests between the community and the government.
Considering the pressure on the participants of the public hearings, the failure to provide full information by the state official, as well as the fact that Dzoraget is a prohibited river for the construction of small hydropower plants, we believe that the application filed by "Lorva Amrots" LLC should be issued a negative conclusion.
April 04, 2023 at 12:31