As a citizen, I don’t support exploitation of mines, but as a minister, I have to follow the letter of the law. This is what Minister of Environment of Armenia Erik Grigoryan said today during an initial discussion on the 2020 State Budget at the National Assembly, responding to deputy of the Prosperous Armenia Party Sergey Bagratyan’s question whether the Amulsar gold mine will be exploited or not.

Grigoryan stated that he views the issue on two levels. “As a person, I don’t view any mine as a basis for long-term development of Armenia. As a minister, I must say that before shift of power, the Armenian government had granted several licenses to Lydian Armenia. Now we have to check all the conclusions given by the Lebanese ELARD company. Specialists of the National Academy of Sciences have found incompatibilities in the conclusions, and if they are confirmed, they might change the situation concerning the mine,” the minister said.