The Soviet-era giant Nairit chloroprene rubber plant is a ticking timebomb threatening the environment of Yerevan and the health of its residents.

Hazardous chemicals, some highly explosive, are still stored at the plant that shut down in 2010. (The plant was legally declared bankrupt in 2016.)

See: Nairit Rubber: A Twisted Tale of Offshore and Russian Financial Dealings

Ethanol varnish, which poses numerous health risks, was a major waste by-product of the plant.

During the Soviet era, ethanol varnish was exported to Russia and used to paint ship parts to prevent water corrosion. It also protects ships from the adhesion of algae and seashells. After the collapse of the USSR, it was stored at Nairit.

Ishkhan Aghajanyan, a former Nairit senior researcher, says ethanol varnish is a highly flammable substance to which special chemicals must be added to prevent spontaneous explosions.

Aghajanyan worked at the Institute of Organic Chemistry in Yerevan before joining the Nairit Plant Scientific Center in 2003. His task at Nairit was to identify the problems at the plant, mainly ethanol varnish, and propose solutions.

Ishkhan Aghajanyan

Aghajanyan proposed to Nairit management that they use the varnish to produce paints.  Such a move would also neutralize the risk of its transporting the varnish.

Nairit head honchos didn’t want to listen.

“I studied it in laboratory conditions and found out that the varnish also has positive properties. The general director had already ordered that paint production should be organized. At my suggestion, they received almost 600 kg of paint, but experimental work was not conducted. The director was then replaced by Vahan Melkonyan who was interested in the plan. But the factory managers told him that experimental work had been conducted but showed no promise,” says Ishkhan Aghajanyan, who was already on forced leave at that time.

After sending various letters and reports to plant management, Aghajanyan was advised to abandon the idea, since Nairit Scientific Center management did not want to take on the heavy burden of paint production. In addition, plans to cease operations at the plant had already surface.

Explosive Ethanol Varnish Has Caused Numerous Fires at Nairit

Aghajanyan says that about 700 tons of ethanol varnish was produced from the annual production of 5,000 tons of rubber. More than 1,000 tons of the dangerous varnish are now stored at Nairit. The slightest movement can cause these containers to ignite, causing a major disaster.

In 2006, three fires were recorded at the plant. A 2009 explosion killed four Nairit employees, but a forensic examination failed to identify the exact cause. Aghajanyan says that the cause was, yet again, ethanol alcohol varnish. He wrote to then President Serzh Sargsyan. In 2017, a major fire broke out at Nairit, again burning ethanol alcohol varnish containers.

“The combustion of ethanol alcohol varnish can produce many toxic substances that negatively impact human health. If there are sulfur compounds, sulfur gases can be produced, or acetylene gases. Anything is possible,” Aghajanyan tells Hetq.

Nairit: A Headache for the Government

The issue of chemicals, waste, and equipment at the Nairit Plant has long been on the agenda of Nikol Pashinyan’s government. In April 2023, Pashinyan established an interdepartmental working group to discuss the safe management of hazardous chemicals at the plant.

The working group is coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, represented by the Rescue Service. The Department of Population Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction of the Rescue Service, in response to our inquiry, reported that according to the data provided by the management of Nairit Plant CJSC, there are 180 chemical substances at the Nairit Plant. Some of them are raw materials to produce chloroprene rubber, and the others are by-products of the production of chloroprene rubber.

"Taking into account the previously conducted identification of chemical substances and possible changes in their physicochemical properties over the years, thirty-four of the above-mentioned chemical substances are subject to neutralization by incineration, 144 are offered for sale at public auctions, and two are intended for neutralization of production facilities," the Ministry of Internal Affairs' response states.

The ministry claims that a water main has been installed at Nairit and that high-pressure fire hydrants have been installed in hazardous production areas, which are capable of quickly and properly extinguishing any fires.

The ministry also claims to have reached out to international organizations specializing in hazardous waste management for technical advice. 

Over the past three years, the Armenian government has spent AMD 300 million to ensure safety at Nairit. Considering the amount to be allocated in the 2026 budget draft, AMD 1.4 billion drams ($3.7 million) will be spent from taxpayers' pockets over five years to ensure safety at the plant.

What the World Bank Plans for Nairit

The Armenian government, on June 26, 2025, approved a proposal to sign a grant deal with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the preparation of a grant agreement for the environmental rehabilitation and regeneration project of the Nairit Plant. 

The World Bank, as part of the agreement, will grant Armenia $1.5 million to prepare the environmental rehabilitation and regeneration project of the Nairit Plant by 2026.

Hetq asked the World Bank (WB) about the progress of this project and requested details about it. According to the WB, this is a preparation grant for a possible environmental rehabilitation project for the Nairit Plant. By the end of 2025, a special implementation group operating under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be established to begin procurement of key preparatory activities, such as a feasibility study of the site and an environmental and social impact assessment.

When asked what the Nairit Plant Environmental Rehabilitation and Regeneration Program entails, the World Bank responded that it will be “a comprehensive effort to reduce public health and safety risks from hazardous materials at the former chemical complex and transform the high-risk industrial site into a safe, usable area.”

The WB says work will restore soil and groundwater at Nairit, making the site environmentally safe and suitable for public and private development.

“However, since discussions and preparatory work are still ongoing, more detailed results will become clearer when additional technical assessments and planning are completed,” the WB notes.

Murad Petrosyan, Nairit’s bankruptcy administrator, declined to be interviewed and said that filming is prohibited on the plant premises for security reasons. However, Petrosyan gave general answers to some questions. He said that there is still no clear decision on the neutralization of hazardous chemicals, but, according to Petrosyan, the warehouses are in normal condition.

Aghajanyan says the most dangerous chemical substance at the Nairit plant is ethanol varnish and that special furnaces are needed to neutralize them. There are no such furnaces in Armenia, and buying and transporting them to Armenia would be extremely expensive. He says the issue can be resolved by temporarily burying them in underground bunkers.

Top photo: Saro Baghdasaryan (Hetq archive; 2017 Nairit fire)