Environmentalist and lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan once again shared the Amulsar Gold Quartzite Mining Project analysis that was published in 2016. She told Aravot Daily in an interview that she noted factors that could signify corruption. She believes that law enforcement needs to investigate these mechanisms that have been largely ignored.
In response to Aravot’s question about whether or not Nikol Pashinyan is truly aware of this, Nazeli Vardanyan said, “I do not believe that the Prime Minister read the document or that he even received the document when we presented it last September. But I presented several factors during the meeting on August 19th and I informed him that I tried to give him this document, but his guards did not let me get close. I gave the document to his assistant. I believe it has reached him this time.” She said that the Prime Minister created a working group last year for responsible mining.
Upon Aravot’s observation that if there is proof of the mine’s risks, why is the government studying this and making different conclusions, the environmentalist said, “Pashinyan presented weak and uninformed arguments during his live stream, which caused me to get angry over the fact that he was using uninformed arguments to make such a crucial decision. I criticized him until the consultation held in government was published. I read it and was surprised by the Prime Minister’s educated and detailed questions. Then, I read the responses and saw that they were full of inaccurate information. The Prime Minister mentioned that he read ELARD’s analysis and 300 pages of it are against the mine, and 1 page is in favor of it. He asked how they are supposed to understand this and what they are supposed to tell the public. Then he receives uninformed answers about how there are no risks. This shows that the entire system isn’t working.”
