630 Workers Face Job Loss as Alaverdi Council Appeals to Government

The Alaverdi Council has sent a letter to the Armenian government and President Armen Sarkissian, requesting a halt to the wave of emigration that may begin as a result of the closure of the Alaverdi Copper Smelting Plant.

“For around three months, the workers of the copper smelting plant and the residents of Alaverdi have been in a state of expectation and uncertainty. The people of Alaverdi are waiting to see how VTB Bank, the owner of the plant, and the Armenian government will manage their future and make decisions on their behalf,” the letter states.

The members of the council assert that given the availability of natural resources, it is unfounded not to develop a reasonable state program for the mining industry. “Armenia must stop being merely a raw materials appendage—not by closing mining enterprises but by constructing environmentally safe processing plants and entering the global market with finished metal products. The concentrate of the Republic of Armenia should be processed in Armenia, thus contributing to the creation of new jobs,” they added.

They propose establishing March 1, 2019, as a zero point for the copper smelting plant regarding collateral loan obligations and reactivating the plant.