Teghut: national security and wealth are exchanged for the massive income of the greedy “elites”

“Once upon a time there was a forest called Teghut. Teghut was the most beautiful, most peaceful and kindest forest in the world. This forest had many different residents. There were big, tall trees, small and colorful shrubs, bright and smiling flowers… They lived this way, united and happy. Then, one day, black clouds gathered above Teghut, lightning struck, and news arrived that huge monsters from the neighboring mountains were coming to demolish the forest.”1

After more than two years of continuous discussion, and ignoring the existing controversies and warnings of environmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and different professionals, on November 1, 2007 the Armenian government ruled to change face of the land, offering it for the exploitation of the copper-molybdenum mines of the Lori Region’s Teghut Forest and handing the rights over to Armenian Copper Program (ACP), a company that is part of Vallex Group.

The presence of the copper mine in Teghut has been known since the years of the Soviet Union, but there did not seem to be appropriate cause to exploit the mine at the time. In the 21st century, the sharp increase in the price of copper in the world market changed the attitude of investors with respect to the Armenian mines, including Teghut’s mine, although little to no profits were reputed to be found there in the past.

The exploitation of Armenian mines is attractive for local and foreign investors not only for the high market price of copper but also because of the absolutely unilateral and shortsighted approach of the Armenian government when it comes to the subject of core natural resources and their uses.

The position of the Armenian Government on this question is more than clear. In response to National Assembly deputy Zaruhi Postanjyan’s questions in relation with the exploitation of the Teghut mine, the written response from Armenia’s Minister of Economy clearly states that “Business Environment Incentive” is the absolute priority and the government isn’t finding appropriate term constraints to “limit investors” from the state side. In practice, this means that anyone who makes more or less massive investments in Armenia, “buys the right” to do anything - ruin our nature, exploit our laborers, poison and sicken out population; athe result will be a fatherland, Armenia, that is dangerous and unfit for life 50-100 years in the future.

The main justification for exploitation of Teghut’s mine is the creation of about 1400 worksites and close to 6-7 million dollars in annual income to the state budget, with the goal of stimulating the economy. The expected gains of exploiting the mine are incomparable to the damages and consequences they will produce for Armenia and the Armenian people.
Some of the Key Damages:

• 
  ACP projects that their plan will destroy 357.16 hectares of forest, while environmentalists allege that the mineral extraction and the construction of tailing dumps, the road and other infrastructures will cause 1000-2000 hectares of forest to suffer. Today it is impossible to calculate the full scale of the damage, because the figures do not only include the actually cut forest area, but also, due to the destruction of the ecosystem, and the change in the microclimate, regions of forests on higher mountainsides will be destroyed. Of the 170,833 trees that are to be cut, 55,000 of them are rare and 45,000 are valuable. Also registered in the red book are the animals naturally residing in the forest, as they will be destroyed along with their ecosystem. It is not possible to financially compensate for such damage, and saplings cannot restore the state of a forest’s ecosystem in a short time. The termination has already begun (of the most rare and precious trees), and in the first year of work it is foreseen that around 30 hectares of forest are to be cut. Some can argue that many more trees are cut annually in Armenia by numbers alone, but that is the problem: the deforestation has no discrimination; it is going to destroy an entire ecosystem, including all of its plant and animal life.
• 
  According to the plan, the mine’s industrial waste (rocks and tailings) are going to fill the channels and gorges of Shnogh River’s Krunk, Dukanadzor and Kharatadzor tributaries. That will bring the destruction of those riverbeds and that ecosystem to its conclusion, along with the pollution by heavy metals in the region’s air, soil, and water; the negative effects will increase with the time because of the tailing dump.
  In the January 2008 #1 issue of “Armenia: Finances and Economics” journal, an article was published by Hrachya Avagyan, professor of geological sciences, entitled “The metal minerals of the Lori region in the Republic of Armenia: the situation of present usage and paths towards increasing the efficiency”. Here, among other issues, the author touches upon exploitation of the Teghut mine and the safety of the tailing dump. As a professional in the field of concrete materials (betonits), he mentions that the soil-made dump, isolated with a layer of clay which should (in theory) ensure the safety of the tailing dump and prevent from the leakage of tailings, will not be able to carry the multi-ton weight of the tailings, which will finally leak into the canyons and gorges, thus polluting and poisoning the entire area. The product of the mineral exploitation will damage the water-acquisition system, lower the water quantity, and worsen the water quality. It is possible that the heavy metals will infiltrate into the groundwater. It is know that the high density of heavy metals leads to embryonic and genetic mutations, harm to the immune system, inherited disorders and diseases of that nature.
• 
  The exploitation of Teghut’s mine will become a precedent when it comes to using forests for the purpose of mineral extractions, which will change the state policy towards the forests. It is known that the forests are not only producers of a huge amount of oxygen, but they also kill a huge number of pathogenic bacteria, thus ensuring the surrounding population’s health.
• 
  Concerning the workplaces that will be created… in reality they are temporary (for 25 years only), and damages to the environment resulting from the mine exploitation will gradually bring to an end the existing agricultural jobs, which are quite numerous and long-term. Moreover, only about 10% of the aforementioned 1400 jobs – the maintenance workers and unskilled manual laborers - will go to the local population, but the remaining jobs require high professional qualifications, those that the peasants naturally do not have.
• 
  Having polluted water and soil, experiencing the negative climate change and being deprived of the opportunity to benefit from the goods of the forest, the villagers of Shnogh and Teghut will be forced to leave the area and these villages will be deserted.

The representatives of “Save Teghut” movement presented all these points to the prime minister in a meeting held on May 29 of this year. The prime minister publicly accepted that the Ministry of Environmental Protection has indeed not carried out a proper investigation and announced that a new expert study will be conducted in cooperation with the ecologists (portions of the meeting were broadcast on television). Nevertheless, the deforestation has not stopped, which is very suspicious considering if the second investigation proves the ACP project estimation wrong, the Armenian government will have to compensate the company’s losses; the losses of the nature will already be impossible to rehabilitate.

Nevertheless, the government of Armenia “keeps eyes closed” on all these deadly dangers and continues “trust” Vallex Group and ACP. What is the reason of such “high” sponsorship? And why, against all professional and ethical principles, is the president of ACP, Valeri Mejlumyan, included with the Presidential Decree in the RA Advisory committee for the usage of natural resources, when he himself is a stakeholder and has private interests in this in Armenia? And why is the government of Armenia making another deal with ACP when they have violated their contract signed with the RA Government 10 years ago and have failed to install any modern technologies in the Alaverdi copper foundry, thus poisoning the environment, exploiting the laborers in medieval-level smelting houses with lower than mean-level wages, and without paying any compensation for the health and other losses?

The result? … The head of Greens’ Union of Armenia, Hakob Sanasaryan, in his article “The Exploitation of the Teghut Mine is an Action Directed Against the Public”, dated December 12, 2007 (Hetq Online, April 14, 2008, http://www.hetq.am/), refers to the N 17 issue of the electronic weekly ArmeniaNow from April 2006 (http://www.armenianow.am/) and cites the statistical data of the RA Ministry of Health, which clearly reflects the problems that began from the year 2000 after the launch of the Alaverdi factory. From 1992, when the factory was not operating, no births that were out of the ordinary were recorded, while in 2002 28 such cases were recorded and in 2004 this number had increased about five times, up to 107 cases. During the recent year the following diseases were discovered: hydrocephaly (when there is water instead of the brain of the fetus), anencephaly (there is the facial part of the head, while the brain does not exist), spine (backbone) rupture, two-headed fetus (head-like sack filled with water) and other anomalies which are incompatible with life and necessitate an abortion. In the same articles, Hakob Sanasaryan mentions that the number of people with various harmful tumors (cancer) has also increased. According to the data of Alaverdy health clinics, 392 cases were recorded in 2002 and already 411 cases in 2004. There case of respiratory diseases is also quite similar. And all of this is occurring in a place where, according to the data of RA national statistics service from April 1, 2005, the total number of the permanent population in the town of Alaverdi is 16,400 people, and is only 17,000 people when combined with the surrounding villages.
For many months, the government of Armenia was unable or avoided answering who ACP actually belongs to. It is clear that 19% of the company belongs to a Russian-Armenian businessman, Valeri Mejlumyan, and that the owner of the 81% is Vallex Group (Vallex F.M. Establishment) registered in Liechtenstein. Controversial and suspicious information is voiced about the owners of Vallex. According to one of the activists of the “Save Teghut” movement, at first the Armenian government representatives were just refusing to answer the questions about who Vallex Group belongs to. Later gossip started about different names, finally it was officially announced that the owner of the remaining 81% is again, Valeri Mejlumyan. Such behavior and information seems untrustworthy, to say the least.
The Armenian Government’s decrees on exploitation of the copper and molybdenum mines in Teghut was based on the positive results of the investigation of RA Ministry of Environmental Protection with regard to the ACP copper-molybdenum factory project (“Working project” and “Assessment of the Effect on Environment.” The decrees (No 1278-N and No 1279-N) violate 77 provisions of international conventions and Armenian legislation, including articles of the RA Constitution. The RA Ministry of Environmental Protection has not carried out any investigation at all. Furthermore, the environmental organizations and experts claim that the exploitation of the copper-molybdenum plant in Teghut is developed with a number of insufficient and false estimations. The assessment of damage to the flora and fauna is presented in greatly reduced estimates. In the project, the volume of mining rocks, industrial and everyday waste, the usage of water and fuel, as well as the extracted minerals are calculated for the period of 25 years, while the damage to the soil and water systems, flora and fauna are presented only for the first phase of the mining, for 8 years (with drastically incorrect estimates). The organizations involved in the protection of Teghut forest claim that by giving a positive assessment to the project without a proper expertise, the Ministry has violated its obligations by law, including the requirement of Article 3 of RA Law on “Expertise on Effects on the Environment” (particularly, to analyze the planned activity and its alternative limitations, assess its effect on the environment and level of danger, check the comprehensiveness of consequence analyses, check and ensure the satisfactory level of activities planned for prevention, liquidation or diminishing of consequences during the exploitation and implementation period, and in the case of a natural disaster). As a result the principles of Article 2 of the mentioned law are also violated, particularly relating to the scientific justification and legality of the expertise.

And the finances?

The funds for the exploitation of the mine, in the amount of about 300 million USD, are provided by the VTB (Foreign Trade Bank, Russia). Before signing this deal, ACP had approached and had negotiated with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which had refused a loan for the project.
Is there really an alternative? Certainly. There are varied project possibilities that can open larger doors financially for the Armenian State Budget and also won’t cause damage to the environment or put the lives and health of future generations in danger. To offer an example in the case of Teghut, eco-tourism and agriculture would be both financially beneficial and long-term, creating lasting employment and facilitating sustainable development in the region.
The “Save Teghut” movement has stresses: Armenia is rich with minerals; however, these are not fully evaluated and registered, there is no relevant strategy and long-term project that would aim at the rational use of the ores that would harness the opportunities for fostering socio-economic development and consider the interest of today’s and future generations. The present processes of ore export are not at all justified, while it would be possible to genuinely develop the economy by building metal fusing factories and getting precious and rare metals along with pure metals, thus creating bases for the development of scientific potential, organizing industries of end product and creating many more jobs. Today, 372 mines are already being exploited in the country; another 12 projects have been presented for environmental investigation. When the Armenian Government announces mining a priority sector and provides legislative benefits to the mining companies, a crucial increase in the scale of mining is expected, combined with the careless and short-sighted use of resources.
As we can see, the “high national interests”, in the name of which the government has allowed the exploitation of the mine, in reality, have nothing to do with the interests of the state and the people, but merely serve to the private or “corporate” financial interests of some corrupt and criminal “elites”.

The movement for the protection of Teghut continues today, despite the fact that the governmental decree is signed and the deforestation has begun. The non-governmental organizations of “Save Teghut” movement are going to appeal to the court that the governmental decree based on illegal and invalid investigation. “Hands off Teghut”, “Teghut: Crime against generations”, “Green and clean Armenia”, “Well, where will your children live?”, “Don’t kill”, “Armenia: mine appendage”, “Stop robbery of our country”, etc… With these slogans, every Thursday protests are held in front of the government building, near the office of VTB Bank (the sponsor of the criminal project) and ACP (the implementer).
There have been successful precedents in the past – in 2007 the destruction of “Symphony of Stones” in Garni was stopped as a result of public protest; and in 2005, after the protests of the local population, the government prohibited the destruction of Shikahogh preserve. The most important component of success is the genuine, consistent, sincere and unselfish dedication of the ones who struggle.
Many believe that the problem is far away, that the disastrous consequences are going to pass us by and that only the area’s villagers will be harmed. However, the consequences of Teghut’s destruction will not merely effect the area’s villagers, even not just residents of Armenia, but all Armenian people whether they are found in Armenia, Artsakh, or the diaspora. With such state policy, the living conditions for the next generation in Armenia may become deadly, the Armenian individual can become a mere slave or cheap source of labor in his own country, and the country will be a large tailing dump, a toxic wasteland where every harvest will be poisoned for hundreds of years. When even physical existence is endangered, all the other long-term projects, whether overcoming poverty, the organization of repatriation, or economic and cultural development seem highly doubtful.
I will finish by quoting from Teghut’s defense movement’s appeal, “Our little country cannot simultaneously guarantee extensive mining and toxic waste tailings while guaranteeing favorable and healthy conditions for human life...
“Today, the unique nature of Teghut forest and the villages of Teghut and Shnogh are on the sacrificial altar. Next in line are the forests of Hankavan, Syunik’s honored green mountains, and the surrounding nature of those areas.
THE DANGER IS REAL AND INEVITABLE if you, a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, don’t raise your voice against these criminal activities.

We participate in these crimes, as our silence is agreement.”

“Three apples fall from the sky; one to the listener, one to the narrator, and the third to the man who is not afraid of the little monsters and will go stand on the side of Teghut forest as a defender against new dangers.” 2

Arpineh Galfayan
Yerevan, July 2008