In Armenia, when we talk about the mining industry, we first of all mean the development of metal ore deposits. And this is somewhat understandable, since, in fact, 95 or more percent of the sector is related to the development of metal ore deposits, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his remarks at the Mining Armenia Forum 2025 on Friday.

“But in reality there are problems. And I must emphasize that the [Armenian] government is facing very serious challenges; for example, in the field of non-metallic mineral extraction.

Against the backdrop of the active construction in Armenia, we were surprised to discover a shortage of stone in the country. We constantly claim that Armenia is a country of stones, but then it turns out that we import stone from abroad to implement a subsidy program in our communities; this in itself shows that we have problems.

I believe we [i.e. Armenia] have room for improvement, especially in the field of stone processing and mining, since, firstly, this represents the potential of our economy, and secondly, it provides an opportunity to demonstrate the unique nature of our country, which we still lack in [doing].

Not only do we have a shortage of construction stone, despite being a ‘country of stones,’ 60 percent of our Armenia is built from tuff [rock], but we also do not show due respect for tuff, and do not even have a monument to tuff. And we decided that in the near future, together with the Artik community, we will fill this gap,” Pashinyan noted.

PM assured, however, that he was not saying that stone should not be imported to Armenia, as the country’s needs have increased and are diverse.

Pashinyan added that he attaches great importance to transparency and professionalism in the stone mining sector.

“There are many reasons why we have found ourselves in this situation in the stone mining sector. One of them is the lack of transparency and the lack of investment in knowledge, or even their complete absence; and we need to pay special attention to this," the Armenian premier said.