19 November, 2007

Mr. Robert Kocharyan, RA President
Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, RA Prime Minister 
Mr. Tigran Torosyan, Chairman of RA National Assembly
Mr. Aram Harutyunyan, RA Minister of Environmental Protection 
Mr. Nerses Yeritsyan, RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development
Mr. Valeri Mezhlumyan, President of the Armenian Copper Program (ACP) CJSC
Mr. Valeri Ovsyannikov, Director of VTB (Armenia) CJSC
Stakeholders Committee, Millennium Challenge Account - Armenia

OPEN LETTER

The Environmental Public Alliance of 34 non-governmental organizations and “Partnership for Open Society” Initiative of 63 organizations express their concern about the current processes regarding the exploitation of the country’s natural resources and in particular, over the construction of Teghut ore mining and processing enterprise and the operation of Teghut copper-molybdenum mine.

The concept “sustainable development” implies rational utilization and protection of natural resources for the welfare of the future generation. Whereas today the lack of strategy for sustainable development of the country and for economical utilization of underground resources cause careless and shortsighted utilization of the Armenian mines. In its turn it may have irreversible negative impact on the environment as well as on human health and the prospects of the country’s economic development. 

Presently there are opinions and comments expressed by the Armenian public and professionals on the operation of the Teghut mine, which differ from those of the company that initiated the operation of the mine. Considering the job opening opportunities for the local residents as well as the irreversible losses to the environment, we find that it is unacceptable to adopt a hasty decision on exploitation of the mine in a situation of public disagreement, without considering the concerns of numerous professionals and organizations. In our opinion, those should have deserved more attention provided the scarce number of forests in the country, intensive desertification processes, violation of environmental legislation of the Republic of Armenia as well as obligations of UN  international conventions adopted by the country.

In this regard we call for the Government of the Republic of Armenia:
• to take immediate measures to cease the work already started in the area of Teghut copper molybdenum mine;
• to arrange for an independent assessment of the environmental impact of mining with participation of the best and prominent international organizations for an unbiased conclusion on the effects of Teghut operation.
We expect your understanding of the problem and your assistance in coming up with a solution and would be glad to discuss the above mentioned concerns within any suggested format.

Signatures