Thursday, March 28 2019 13:06

ArmInfo.Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Hayk Grigoryan received the CEO of the ELARD company Ramez Kayal and the Coordinator of the expert group Ricardo Khoury , who will be engaged in the examination of the  Amulsar gold deposit.

During the meeting, the timeline and sequence of the actions of the  complex expert examinations on the Amulsar gold deposit operation  were discussed in details. The Chairman of the Investigative  Committee emphasized that the examination should be impartial. "We  expect impartial, flawless, high professional expertise, which should  give clear answers to all questions," said Hayk Grigoryan.

The Chairman of the IC explained to the representatives of the  "ELARD" company the importance of the results of the examination for  the Republic of Armenia and stressed that the whole process will be  in the center of his immediate attention. Hayk Grigoryan stressed  that he would maintain daily contact with the expert group to  familiarize himself with the progress of the work.

The Director of the "ELARD" company Ramez Kayal assured that the  expert work will be carried out at a high level, and the assessment  will be objective. "I am aware of the importance of this expertise  for Armenia. I want to emphasize that we participated in the  competition announced for the examination, being confident that no  one will interfere in our work," he stressed.

On the instructions of the head of IC, Hayk Grigoryan, the working  meeting with representatives of the ELARD company continued, headed  by the deputy head of the IC, Samvel Avetisyan, and the head of the  department, Aram Nikoyan.

To recall, on November 8, 2018, the General Directorate for  Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative  Committee of the Republic of Armenia announced the procedure for  international environmental impact assessment during the operation of  the Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite deposit.

As a result, <Earth link & Advanced Resources Development> (ELARD)  was recognized as the winner, who signed an agreement with the RA  Investigative Department on conducting a comprehensive examination of  the criminal case investigated by the General Directorate for  Particularly Important Cases of the RA Investigation Committee for  the purpose of operating the Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite deposit ,  as well as for the examination of reports on environmental impact  assessment and environmental and social impact assessment in the  operation of the mine.

Earlier it was reported that the General Directorate for Especially  Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of  Armenia opened a criminal case on the fact that officials of the  Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia deliberately  concealed information on environmental pollution in the Amulsar  field.

A message from a citizen was received by the Investigation Committee  of Armenia about environmental pollution during the operation of  Lydian Armenia CJSC of the Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite deposit.

"During the preparation of the materials, it was reported that the  relevant officials of the Ministry of Nature Protection of the  Republic of Armenia, being aware of the dangerous risks of chemical  pollution of the environment in the event of operation of this  complex, deliberately concealed information from the population about  environmental pollution by life-threatening chemicals for people's  health, "the statement of IC reads.

As the IC stresses, taking into account that in the prepared  materials there are signs of a crime stipulated by part 1 of Article  282 of the RA Criminal Code, a criminal case has been initiated in  the General Directorate for Investigation of Especially Important  Cases of the RA Investigation Committee. An Investigation Plan has  been developed and necessary investigative actions are taken to  ensure a comprehensive, objective and complete investigation.

Meanwhile, the leadership of Lydian Armenia believes that all the  necessary expert assessments in connection with the operation of the  Amulsar field were carried out, and there is no need for re-  examinations. Nevertheless, the company expressed its willingness to  cooperate with "ELARD" in the course of expert work.