All the actions of Azerbaijan tend to hinder the normal development of the border settlements of Armenia. Sedrak Tevonyan, Governor of Ararat Province, on Thursday told the representatives of embassies accredited in Armenia about this in Yeraskh village of Ararat Province, referring to the incident that occurred in Yeraskh on Tuesday.

"As for their [i.e. the Azerbaijani] claims that there are some environmental issues [regarding this metallurgical plant], I assure that we don't have any problems. This is a trend that our border settlements simply do not develop. It is clear that their goal is that plant is not built; you all see it. We have invited international partners to make their own contribution to the solution of this issue. Construction work is still going on in the plant, therefore there can be no environmental issues—at least at the moment. Moreover, the investments for the construction of the plant come from the US. It’s about the investment of 70 and more million [US] dollars. At the moment, 200 people work in the plant. But after it is put into operation, about a thousand people will work," emphasized the governor of Ararat.

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced Tuesday that the Azerbaijani side opened fire in the direction of the metallurgical plant being built with foreign investment in Yeraskh. And as a result, two Indian citizens were wounded.

Ambassadors, military attachés, and diplomats from about 40 countries visited Yeraskh village Thursday to get familiarized with the consequences of the shots fired from the Nakhichevan section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on Wednesday and Tuesday. Among these foreign diplomats are the ambassadors of the European Union, France, Germany, China, and several other countries.