Thursday, August 22 2019 16:03

ArmInfo.Armenian Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan does not see any risks related to budget execution and deviations from macroeconomic forecasts in case of  suspension of Amulsar mine development. This was stated by the  Minister on August 22 after a government meeting.

According to him, talking about a strong blow for the Armenian  economy in this case will be wrong. But, as explained by the head of  the Ministry of Finance, the suspension of the program will have a  certain impact on the economy, as well as the work or termination of  work of any large business entity. "In the case of the functioning of  the business, this entails positive expectations, increasing economic  potential, in the case of termination of detail - negative  expectations are formed that will have their immediate echoes," he  explained.

It should be noted that the other day, in a conversation with  reporters, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National  Assembly of Armenia on economic issues, Babken Tunyan, referring to  the possible termination of the exploitation program for the Amulsar  gold mine, said that some might consider that there were no any  risks, others might find it quite problematic. According to Tunyan,  this will be a very negative signal for potential investors. "If a  decision is made to close the mine, it will mean the possibility of  such a decision in the implementation of other investment projects.  Perhaps I see more economic risks.  But for me at the moment,  economic risks are much higher and more predictable than  environmental risks," he said.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan on his Facebook page  also pointed to the obvious "dividends" for the Armenian economy if  the program continues. "There are investors who are ready to invest  up to $ 400 million in the country's economy based on the legislative  requirements of Armenia. 750 jobs will be opened at the mine. And if  we take into account the multiplier effect of employment, the number  of created jobs will be up to 4,500 people. Additional investments  are expected in the amount of $ 130 million before the mine starts  operating, annual additional revenues to the state budget will amount  to $ 45- $ 50 million. The mine development will increase the GDP  from 1% to 4%, 1% of which will be direct impact The finished  product, which will be almost completely exported, will be about $  250 million. As a result, the impact on export growth is estimated at  about 10%, "he wrote.

It should be noted that according to the data on the Lydian Armenia  website, the mine contains about 73733 kg of gold with an average  grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294.367 tons of silver with an  average grade of 9.29 g per ton.