Below is the public appeal of the "Save Tegut Group" calling on Armenians to boycott "VTB" Bank due to its planned funding of the mining project in the Teghut forest. The Armenian Copper Program (ACP) company, which is going to exploit the mine at Teghut, is registered in Lichtenstein, and is part of the “Vallex Group”, which already has turned Alaverdi (in North Armenia) into a poisonous desert town. This company undermines our national security and is an untrustworthy partner for our country. The exploitation of the Teghut mine will have a huge negative effect on nature, life and health of the people of Armenia, as well as on the prospect of sustainable development of the country. The exploitation of this mine cannot be justified for any economic, social or environmental reason. Exploitation of the Teghut mine means: 1. consuming the remaining copper and molybdenum resources of our country, leaving nothing to future generations (we are already depleting our biggest molybdenum mine in Kajaran, South of Armenia); 2. extracting only copper and molybdenum out of the rich mineral mixture available in the ground, while all other metals will be accumulating in the tailings dump, as waste; 3. the mine will be exploited as an open pit, which means, up to 500 million cubic meters of waste rock and tailings will be generated, destroying thousands of hectares of forests, pastures and orchards, destroying the water regime of the region, polluting the streams and rivers, burying local streams under waste rock, enormous dust emissions, etc. 4. Construction of a tailings dump with a volume of about 175 million cubic meter, which will be is the largest for Armenia and will have an immediate effect on Debed river, which is already polluted heavily with metals and chemical reagents. 5. No opportunities for agricultural development, which means disappearance of hundreds of traditional, environmentally clean jobs, and replacement of these jobs with low-paid, mine laborer jobs in a hazardous and toxic environment, etc. SAVE TEGHUT GROUP CALLS UPON ALL IN ARMENIA AND ABROAD TO BOYCOTT THE ACTIVITIES OF VTB-ARMENIA BANK which is planning to fund this disastrous project. Particularly, 1. Close all your accounts at VTB-Armenia bank 2. Do not make any transfers or take other actions via VTB-Armenia bank; 3. Do not make any business or personal deposits at VTB-Armenia bank (former Հայխնայբանկ) Armenia’s wilderness has reached a critical threshold. Exploitation of the Teghut mine will become the final stage of the total destruction of our country’s last remaining wildernes. Save Teghut Group, which is mainly composed of young people, is full of commitment to continue the struggle for the preservation of Nature, for saving the very damaged but not completely destroyed wilderness of our country. This wilderness must be saved for the sake of a healthy future.