Avinyan: Alaverdi copper smelter sooner or later had to close or  undergo modernization

ArmInfo. The Alaverdi  copper smelter sooner or later had to close or undergo modernization.  Tigran Avinyan, acting Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, stated this  on November 2 in an interview with journalists.

According to him, a discussion was held with the Vallex Group company  and representatives of VTB Bank Armenia about the possibility to  continue the plant's operation, and the problem here is not with the  government, but with the judicial process that is currently taking  place between the two subjects.

Note that the leadership of the Alaverdi copper smelter is facing  serious financial problems. October 19, the company officially  suspended its activities. According to some information, the plant is  already owned by VTB-Armenia Bank. This information triggered a wave  of protests among workers. Employees of the plant submitted proposals  to the Government, one of which is an increase in the limit of  emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Currently, the  plant has the right to emit about 6,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, while  the amount of emissions is 33,000 tons. According to the results of  inspections of the inspection body of nature protection and the  subsoil of the Ministry of Ecology of Armenia, the plant was fined  380 million drams. After that, the town-forming enterprise stopped.