YEREVAN. – One criminal case was investigated in connection with the water use permits issued to fish farms, and it was found that the well-known minister of nature protection had given arbitrary permits—unlawfully, and without an expertise study. Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet session of the government of Armenia.

“It turned out—with the criminal case [that]—about 211 businesses are unlawfully carrying out that production,” he said. “Unlawful to the extent that an expertise study had not been conducted, but people had permits.”

The attorney general stressed that there are businesses in Armenia that do not properly use water resources, and this is fraught with considerable risks.

“If the permits have been given unlawfully, it’s a very difficult situation,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded. “There is a need to discuss and understand.”