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Ecologists Picket Bank Over Armenian Mining Project

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  • Ecologists Picket Bank Over Armenian Mining Project

    ECOLOGISTS PICKET BANK OVER ARMENIAN MINING PROJECT
    Hasmik Smbatian

    Armenialiberty.org
    July 28 2010

    About two dozen environmental activists clashed with police on
    Wednesday as they picketed the Armenian branch of a Russian commercial
    bank that plans to finance a controversial mining project in northern
    Armenia.

    The police used force against the protesters after they blocked
    the entrance to the Yerevan head office of the VTB-Armenia bank
    and refused to let anyone in or out of the building. One of the
    protesters, Armenian Green Party leader Armen Dovlatian, was injured
    in the scuffle.

    The country's leading environment protection groups and other
    non-governmental organizations have for years been campaigning against
    plans by the Armenian Copper Program (ACP) mining company to develop a
    massive copper and molybdenum deposit in the northern Lori region. The
    Teghut deposit is estimated to contain 1.6 million tons of copper
    and about 100,000 tons of molybdenum.

    The project, if implemented, will lead to the destruction of 357
    hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees. Critics say that
    would wreak further havoc on Armenia's green areas that have already
    shrunk dramatically since the 1990s.

    ACP admits the heavy environmental cost of its plans but says it
    will be more than offset by 1,400 new jobs which it has pledged to
    create in the area. The Liechtenstein-registered company has also
    pledged to build new schools and make other investments in the local
    infrastructure.

    The project was formally approved by the Armenian government in 2007.

    The subsequent global economic crisis delayed its implementation,
    with the Russian bank VTB delaying the release of a $300 million
    loan promised to ACP. The company needs the loan to launch open-pit
    operations at Teghut.

    The protest outside VTB-Armenia followed reports that the Russian bank
    will disburse the sum later this year. The protesters demanded that
    the bank withhold funding for the "illegal project." Bank executives
    refused to meet with them.




    From: A. Papazian
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