Who is Fighting to Turn Karmir Sar into a Mine: 'Joghout' Newspaper

'Joghout' newspaper reports that Karmir Sar, having limestone reserves, has attracted the attention of several mining companies simultaneously, including 'ML Mining' LLC, 'DIGINDIG' LLC, 'GRANULS' LLC, 'ORD' LLC, and 'ORD GROUP' LLC. The real beneficiaries of these companies are developers or affiliated persons. They are now trying to 'seize' the mountain, planning to build a cement factory in the administrative area of Vedi, after which the neighboring villages will be engulfed in dust and cement.

Several villages known for their agriculture—Aigezard, Khachrashent, Ginevet, and Nor Ughi—will be severely affected. The news of the new cement factory in Vedi and the exploitation of Karmir Sar as a mine has been unsettling the residents of neighboring villages. Since the noise erupted back in July, the companies have not achieved their goals. The vast majority of the residents in the Aigezard community are opposed to the potential exploitation of the mine.

Despite three public hearings being organized in the area, many learned about it only when a petition against the project was initiated. A total of 2,300 signatures were collected. Tehmine Yeghoyan, president of the environmental NGO 'Green Armenia', who has opposed this decision, claims that the public hearings held to start mining at Karmir Sar were essentially falsified.

The NGO found out that several companies had submitted applications to undertake mining at Karmir Sar, while 'ORD GROUP' has already organized three public hearings. Residents of the Aigezard community were not informed about these hearings and did not participate in them. Environmentalists had also raised alarms the previous day, reminding that the law on 'Subsoil' states that 'mining is prohibited in areas where endemic species grow or reside.'