YEREVAN, JULY 2, ARMENPRESS. Lydian Armenia company workers are protesting outside the government, demanding to open the road to Amulsar mine, reports Armenpress.

Executive director of Lydian Armenia Hayk Aloyan said the road is closed for already 10 days.

“We have applied both to the leadership and the police, and as of now no action has been taken to open the road. The goal of this campaign is to show the leadership that there is a large number of employees, thousands of families who want to work and legally protect their rights”, Aloyan said.

He said it is already 12 years directed attempts are being made to affect the company’s rating.

“All environmental and social standards are being maintained at the highest level. Today there is no company and entrepreneurship in Armenia that ensures high standards as the Lydian Armenia’s Amulsar project does”, he said.

He called on to open the road so that the company will be able to start the work, and in line with this checks and environmental audit processes will be held.

“I am confident that we have no environmental problems. We want to restore the legality. We have received all permissions legally. The company had more than 150 meetings with the neighboring communities. Based on these meetings, taking into account all environmental risks, we have designed the project. Now we are carrying our works that reach to the end. We plan to extract the gold from the project at the end of the year”, Aloyan said.

On July 1 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters that the future decisions in connection with the Amulsar gold mine must be based on undeniable facts.

Protest participants are keeping the road to Amulsar mine closed for already 10 days. They demand to suspend the operation of mine, as they believe that its operation is dangerous for human life and health. However, the Lydian Armenia says all risks have been reached to minimum. The company has applied to the government and all respective structures and waits for concrete actions.

 Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan