Enviromentals Warn Sevan Could Become Ecological Disaster Zone
[ 2009/03/31 | 15:12 ]
At a press conference held today, Garineh Danielyan, President of the “Association for Human Sustainable Development” sounding a public warning regarding the future of Lake Sevan.
“At issue is the fact that there are mines around Lake Sevan. In the end we will destroy the Sevan beachfront, the tourist industry and agriculture and develop the mining sector instead,” Ms. Danielyan warned.
What most worries the environmental community is while ore has been transported from the mines up till now, with the advent of flotation factories, the entire reprocessing process can take place in the Sevan basin itself. The companies to watch out for in this regard are GeoProMining and Gegamet.
According to Inga Zarafyan, President of the Ecolur Informational Center, Gegamet has been granted permission to run some mines at Shorzha and Chil but that the company never informed the government that it is preparing to reprocess the ore at the Sevan basin. Ms. Zarafyan claimed that this was the reason that the company was given the green light by the government in the beginning.
Ms. Zarafyan stated that she and her colleagues had seen the reprocessing going on and that they had informed the Ministry of Nature Protection. According to her, the ministry merely saw fit to send an inspection team to the area, but that the mines themselves are still operating. She stated that the ministry had stated that the reprocessing itself most likely should take place in Hrazdan.
Ms. Danielyan noted that GeoProMining still hadn’t been granted a construction permit for a reprocessing plant at Sevan for the Sotk gold mine. She said that the issue of exploiting the Sotk mine had been reviewed during the Soviet period and that a decision had been reached to extract the ore and transport the ore for reprocessing to Ararat. Now that GeoProMining has purchased the entire facility it has decided not to transport the ore. This decision has provoked the ire of the environmental community and concerned citizens.
The “SOS Sevan” initiative group (Eco-Alliance) calls the Armenian authorities in the person of the President of Armenia, RA National Assembly, the Government, National Security Council, as well as all political parties, non-governmental organizations, international community, legal authorities to support the public campaign to save Sevan Lake, one of the major stocks of drinking water of Armenia and the whole Caucasus region, to show good will and make the “GeoProMining” Company stop its illegal activity. “We are appealing to the state authorities to review the contracts with the mentioned company and declare the given licenses invalid”
April 1st, 2009 at 21:01
We need to stop the exploitation of Armenia’s nature by foreign corporations and the Russian state! (Who are the owners of GeoProMining?)
We need to keep a check on our ministers and president who are receiving hefty bribes (and power) from these foreign corporations and the Russian state in return for their corrupt practices in allowing them to operate in Armenia, instead of serving the Armenian people which is their duty.
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:05
GeoProMining is non other than a Russian corporation! (Their headquarters are in Moscow.) See their website: http://www.geopromining.com/office-locations.html
The company doesn’t have much information on its website, other than the fact that its principle places of business are in Russia, Georgia, and Armenia.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:03
The fate of Sevan is being bargained away by short-sighted government bureaucrats who are in bed with these corporations and are feeding at theit tits.
Does anyone believe the assurances of GeoPro or the government specialist when they say that gold reprocessing will take place with minimal environmental impact??
If you do I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you…
April 2nd, 2009 at 22:28
It is probable, actually, that the subsidiary of GeoProMining operating in Armenia is actually owned by Armenian state officials. (They conceal their ownership in the company, by hiding underneath a Russian corporation.) So I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that the minister of the environment (and his friends and family) actually own GeoProMining’s subsidiary.
Where is public opinion in Armenia? It flees to perceived “better waters” such as the U.S. and Canada… (only there they must start from scratch and 95% just end up becoming the debt and/or wage slaves of the status quo in those countries…)