LAW ON LAKE SEVAN IS NO AUTHORITY FOR NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY OF ARMENIA
ArmInfo
2010-12-17
ArmInfo. The Nature Protection Ministry speculates whether to apply
RA Law “On Lake Sevan” to “Gegamet Plus” Company’s operation or not,
EcoLur NGO reports.
At the same time the Committee on Lake Sevan Issues under the President
of Armenia rejected twice the project on this very basis.
As Deputy Chairman Yuri Javadyan’s letter says, “Gegamet Plus” Company
applied twice to Committee on Lake Sevan Issues under the President
of Armenia with the project for crushing and sorting dunite-periodite
raw materials from Shorzha Mine. The first version of this project
was called as “ore processing enterprise”. Both times the Committee
rejected the project guiding by provisions of Article 10 of RA Law
“On Lake Sevan” which bans location of ore processing enterprises in
Sevan basin.
The Nature Protection Ministry represented by the Environmental Expert
Assessment Center also refused to consider the first version on the
same basis, i.e. making a reference Article 10 of RA Law “On Lake
Sevan”. In the second attempt the Environmental Expert Assessment
Center admitted this project for consideration.
Reminder: still in 2008 during the presentation of this project the
company founders Gagik Zakaryan, co-owner of “Unibank” and “Uniastrum
Bank”, and National Assembly Deputy Khachik Manukyan claimed an ore
processing combine would be set up around Lake Sevan to develop Shorzha
and Jil Mines, that will produce 20 million castables per year, 150
thousand tons of additives for cement, 50 thousand tons of chromium
concentrate and 20 thousand tons of ferrochromium.
It should also be noted that the list of founders include Mher
Bagratyan, the owner of Torront Holfigs Limited registered in the
offshore zone of the Virgin Islands and the Chairman of Board of
Directors Vladimir Gasparyan, the founder of Metta Group Company.
From: A. Papazian