The Vayots Dzor Regional Administration has decreed that the operation of “Argamik”, a company  which brought in heavy machinery for copper prospecting in the territory of Ketchout, is illegal. “The works were conducted without theYelpin Municipal Council's consent and in the absence of land allotment agreement,” says the verdict of theVayots Dzor government.

 The company is thus in violation of provisions of RA Law “On Territorial Administration” (Article 16, Part 1, para. 2). By the way, the reply of Supervisory Chamber of Armenian President addressed to Yelpin residents (letter numbered 20-7199 dated on 16.09.2010) signed by Second Department Head Papoyan says that “Argamik” Company operates in accordance with the requirements of the national legislation. Though the company has presently removed the heavy machinery from the village, local  residents continue to worry that the company and its patrons will win out in the end and resume operations. The main problem they are worried about is water supply to the village, as water springs are located in the territory of would–be mine development territory. Besides, these places are famous for their unique nature and biodiversity. Animals registered in Red Book of Armenia are found here. “Our places were and are famous for hunting and we can frequently hear shooting. We don’t go near, as we can be hurt with machine gun bullets,” say old residents. Ecolur has applied to the Nature Protection Ministry of Armenia and WWF Armenia with a proposal to discuss the issue of that particular territory for the preservation of rare and disappearing species and to include this territory in the network of specially protected territories of Armenia.