Within the international cooperation, from June 1, 2018 to date, 14 grant programs have been approved for a total amount of 20.27 billion drams, said the Armenian Environment Minister Eric Grigoryan told reporters on Wednesday.

He noted that this amount exceeds state financing for the environment, and Armenia is the leader in the region in terms of involvement in grant programs, which can also benefit from programs with direct financing.

“We are actively working with the Green World Foundation, agreements have been concluded with China and the UAE,” he noted.

The minister added that this year the main work will be conducted against major polluters (30-40 enterprises) and illegal activities, as well as in the direction of changing the system of expertise.

“Changes to the Criminal and Administrative Codes were attempts to fill in the gaps that had been before to prevent illegal emissions of harmful substances into the water. Today, over 99% of environmental tax payers pay less than 100,000 drams, and 70% pay less than 20,000 drams,” he noted.

Touching upon the statistics of recorded violations, Eric Grigoryan noted that there were 400 of them this year. They relate to violations in mining and water use (instead of 15 last year), over 100 of which relate to water use.

The minister also assured that the fight against illegal logging will continue, and it will intensify, and “people who used the forest for domestic needs need to look for an alternative, and the business must strictly adhere to the norms and restrictions that established by the state. “