The Prime Minister has said several times that the Amulsar gold mine will be exploited, if it is established that there are no uncontrollable risks, and won’t be exploited, if it is established that there are uncontrollable environmental risks. The government will express its stance based on this principle. This is what Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia Eduard Aghajanyan said during the “Facebook press conference” show aired on RFE/RL, adding that the investigative bodies will assess the expert evaluation of ELLARD soon.

Aghajanyan stated that he doesn’t agree with the comments that the government is disregarding environmentalists.

“I have participated in various discussions with the people who address questions and have declared several times that the government is always open for discussions with all parties. There are two interested parties. Besides environmentalists, there are also those operating mines. The government understands the interests and concerns of all parties, and the government will make a decision based on the principle I mentioned,” Aghajanyan said.