The Armenian government has no legal grounds to ban the operation of Amulsar gold mine owned by Lydian International at least at the moment, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a Facebook live video.
At the same time, he said, they cannot ignore the concerns of the public and the country’s economic community.
“As you already know, Moody’s have recently upgraded Armenia’s ratings. We have certain signs in the situation surrounding Amulsar that a failure to handle this issue properly may lead to a decline in Armenia’s ratings,” he said, adding it may affect the interest rates of the loans Armenia receives.
Pashinyan also pointed to another issue regarding the Amulsar gold mine. “If we simply don’t allow Amulsar to be exploited, we have to explain why we allow Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine and Teghut mines to operate. Do they meet all the international standards and pose no environmental risks?” he said.
The PM s...
