Focusing on Amulsar mine only seems rather strange and suspicious: Biodiversity and Hydroecology Scientific Center Director

Mining contains certain dangers but at the same time it is wrong to oppose it, instead, it is necessary to find ways to reduce these dangers and bring them to minimum, Armenia’s NAS Biodiversity and Hydroecology Scientific Center Director, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Barduch Gabrielyan said in an interview to Aysor.am.

“We must not reject everything without proposing anything as the country cannot develop only by selling apricots, developing tourism and IT. It is necessary to develop different branches, including industry, while we do not have anything else but mine industry,” he said.

Speaking about Amulsar mine targeted by activists and ecologists during the recent period, Gabrielyan said, “It seems a bit strange and suspicious why everyone has focused on Amulsar. The works have barely started while it is already being spoken about closing it,” he said.

“If it was spoken about further steps and preservation of norms, I would have understood it. It would be more logical to first speak about closing those mines which really pollute and harm the environment, only then about those who have not even started working yet,” he said.