Baku will be against construction even in Yerevan: President of Union  of Miners and Metallurgists of Armenia

ArmInfo. The most important sectors of the Armenian economy, which are of strategic importance  for the republic and capable of providing it with long-term and stable economic growth, are targeted by Baku.

Vardan Janyan, First Deputy General Director of Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine CJSC  (ZCMC), President of the Union of Miners and Metallurgists of Armenia  stated on January 29 b during a discussion on the topic "Trends in  the economic development of the Republic of Armenia in the context of  the economic distribution of large taxpayers" at the Club of Economic  Journalists.

Janyan draws attention to the fact that Azerbaijan does not "target"  Armenian importing companies.  Meanwhile, the mining and energy  industries are at the epicenter of Baku's anxiety. This is due to the  fact that importing companies do not ensure long-term sustainable  development.  The expert recalls that back in 2022, Azerbaijan began  a campaign against the mining industry of Artsakh, with the  far-fetched problem of the Kashen mine, and then, when it seemed to  them that the issue with Artsakh was already closed, they switched to  Armenian enterprises, for example, to Lydian Armenia, which is  preparing to restart, and even to the Armenian nuclear power plant.

"In the future, even during the construction of some enterprise in  Yerevan, they may declare that it "pollutes the rivers flowing into  the Araks, and this affects Azerbaijan," Janyan said.

The expert notes an "interesting trend". Thus, until the end of 2021,  Azerbaijan was not so active in this issue. In his opinion, this is  due to the fact that much greater economic growth is registered in  Armenia than in Azerbaijan. "If before 2017-18 there were no concerns  about Armenia's ability to economically compete with Azerbaijan, now  this danger is real, because we surpass them in economic growth  rates, even in GDP per capita. Naturally, they understand that this  will also lead to the formation of a new military balance.   Therefore, they are now waging a hybrid war against Armenia,"  concluded the President of Union of Miners and Metallurgists of  Armenia.

In the summer of 2023, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan  announced   the construction of a metallurgical plant in Yeraskh for  the   processing and production of ferrous metals, angles, and pipes.  He   noted that the investment amounted to $70 million, and the plant,    which is being built in Yeraskh by GTB Steel LLC, will be built on an    area of 16,500 square meters, the y-o-y production volume will be    about 180 thousand tons.  Baku actively opposed the development of  the plant. Enemy forces   consistently hold the enterprise under  intense fire. The so-called  were also brought into play,  in particular, in July, the   Azerbaijani government officially  appealed to Armenia with a demand   to stop the construction of a  large metallurgical plant in Yeraskh,   Ararat region of the Republic  of Armenia. A letter from the Minister   of Ecology and Natural  Resources of Azerbaijan to the Minister of   Environment of Armenia  stated that the operation of metallurgical plants is recognized as an  activity "that may cause a significant   negative transboundary  impact." On December 14, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to  move the  plant to the village of Ararat, Ararat region. The GTB  Steel company, which was forced to move the metallurgical plant  project from Yeraskh to the city of Ararat, received a loan of 3.5  billion drams from the RA government.