“I am not impressed with the mining sector and I do not have positive views on it, but demonizing the sector is also unacceptable. It goes against the national interests and security of our country,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters.
He said, “You’re going to ask me about what mining has to do with national security. I am forced to speak about this, even though I don’t want to. We are a country in the middle of a conflict, so we must take into consideration methods we can use to take care of the necessities in a bad situation. For example, if a war starts, the biggest issue in terms of economic security is making sure that the value of our currency doesn’t decrease.”
Pashinyan noted that the main economic resource is tourism, but when there is a war, tourists won’t come. “Our currency will no longer have that resource. The next resource is food exports, which is banned in wartime to prevent a deficit. The third resource is the exportation of other materials, such as textiles, but that is also banned in wartime. So, our country then does not have the opportunity to uphold the value of its currency. As much as I hate saying this as someone who loves the environment, in a situation where Armenia is in the middle of a crisis, the only way it can uphold the value of its currency is through mining.”
He added, “Therefore, it’s not right to demonize mining. If we close the Amulsar mine, the international community will ask us why we didn’t close the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine or the Zod mine. Thus, Armenia will become a black zone in world economics.”
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Luiza Sukiasyan
