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Minister of Energy: “Have I said anything wrong?”

Economy

RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan assures that it is still unclear whether there is uranium in Syunik province or not. According to him, that is why NGOs "have gotten ahead of what is actually being done."

Environmentalists sound the alarm that the discovery of possible uranium resources and their exploitation will turn into a great evil from the angles of nature protection and healthcare.

During a press conference, Minister Movsisyan tried to mitigate the concerns, mentioning that studies are still underway and only after technological and environmental experiments will there be permission for exploitation.

Studies will continue for the next two years. The "Armenian-Russian Mining Organization" is in charge of searching and studying the potential uranium resources in Syunik province, while the RA Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources will ensure the project's security.

The Minister considered it wrong to say that there is officially 30,000 tons of uranium in Armenia. "Have I ever told you anything wrong? I'm telling you again-there were only developments of uranium after the studies conducted in the Soviet era, but there were no resources confirmed as ores. If there was uranium, why would we study again?"

For that reason, he considered the clamor raised by environmental NGOs as populist. "I'm personally from Kapan and am well aware of the issues. That issue is more painful for me than anyone, but it's one thing to exploit uranium correctly and another thing to bring that issue to the right field. How many environmentalists do you know that are from Syunik province when they talk about the province's issues?"

As far as the announcements according to which underground waters will receive the contagion after exploitation are concerned, Armen Movsisyan stated: "There is no underground water where they are conducting studies on uranium. The researchers will never reach the water no matter how deep they dig. They dig up to 2,000 meters, but there is no water there. Those waters flow at the lowest point and go."