Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has stated today that “at least as of the moment, there are no legal grounds to prohibit operation of Amulsar mine”.

“At the same time, on one hand we cannot ignore the concerns of the society, and on the other, we cannot ignore the concerns of the economic actors of Armenia.

Moody’s recently increased Armenia’s ratings. We have certain signs in the Amulsar situation that a failure to manage this issue properly can lead to decrease of Armenia’s ratings, the consequences of which we will all feel in the loans Armenia receives, in other words, in the context of the value of money,” the Prime Minister said during a Facebook live.

According to him, if the Armenian government prohibits the operation of Amulsar, it could be viewed as “discriminatory approach”.

“If we simply don’t allow Amulsar to work, we have to explain why we allow Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine and Teghut mines to operate. Do they work in accordance with all environmental standards? We can have serious issues with foreign partners if we practice discriminatory approach,” added Pashinyan. According to the Prime Minister, “we cannot ignore the issues of economy and foreign policy and security, which also bear some significance in this matter”.

Nikol Pashinyan has urged Jermuk residents to clear the roads leading to Amulsar mine.