EcoLur
RA Administrative Court, presided by Judge Artsrun Mirzoyan, is trying a lawsuit filed by a group of Jermuk residents demanding that the court obligates RA Minister of Environment to revoke the opinion OP 35 issued to environmental impact assessment of Amulsar mine modified mining project and its confirmation by the decree of the Minister of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia dated on 29.04.2016.
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia, Lydian Armenia CJSC and Environmental Impact Expertise Center SNCO are the third parties involved in the case.
At the hearing held on October 17, Judge Artsrun Mirzoyan rejected the motion of Lydian Armenia representative Sayat Badalyan to suspend the proceedings of this case until a decision is reached in the criminal case on Amulsar project.
Nazeli Vardanyan told EcoLur that she has changed the claim and on September 30 she submitted the expert opinion prepared by the Lebanese company "Earth link & Advanced Resources Development" (ELARD) on Amulsar project, the letter from the Minister of Environment Erik Grigoryan consisting of 13 points addressed to the Government of the Republic of Armenia and Decision No. 30-A dated 27.08.2018 of RA Environmental and Soil Inspection Body as newly emerged factors in addition to the assessments and conclusions of 4 experts from three international expert organizations (from Australia, US and Canada) carried out by the order of Harut Bronozian of American-Armenian origin, the World Bank International Finance Corporation Ombudsman’s Office letter, WWF Opinion.
At the court hearing on 17 October, the representatives of Lydian Armenia, the Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Impact Expertise Center SNCO submitted objections to prevent the amendment of the lawsuit from being tried. The court did not consider the objections. The court granted the Ministry of Finance's motion to remove its representatives from the trial as an inappropriate third party.
After the consideration of the motions, the case trial was launched. The next court hearing is appointed for October 24.
Reminder: Plaintiff's representative Nazeli Vardanyan filed a motion on September 30 to seek a measure to prohibit any mining activity in Amulsar, but the Administrative Court dismissed the motion with its ruling on 02.10.19. The decision was appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal of the Republic of Armenia.
October 23, 2019 at 11:52