The Republic of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources issued a statement regarding Armenia’s construction of a plant on the border with Nakhchivan AR, APA reports.
The statement reads:
“Armenia’s Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan has published information and video footage confirming this fact on his social media account regarding the construction of a large metallurgical plant with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons on an area of 16,500 square meters in the village of Yeraskh (Arazdeyen) on the border of Armenia with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan.
This means that Armenia has grossly violated international law standards and principles once again, particularly the provisions of the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention).
Thus, according to the Espoo Convention, if a Convention party’s large-scale economic activity planned on its territory has a negative environmental impact on the territory of other countries, that activity must be agreed upon with the relevant institutions of that country, and an environmental impact assessment document must be prepared.
In addition, as a party to the Espoo Convention, Armenia should have ensured Azerbaijan’s and the public’s participation in the transboundary environmental impact assessment procedure before beginning the said activity.
We inform that it is not the first time that Armenia does not comply with the norms of international law, including environmental law. A while ago, Azerbaijan filed a claim against Armenia under the Espoo Convention regarding plans for the construction of a new nuclear reactor on the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant’s territory, and the decision was made that Armenia did not comply with the provisions of the Convention.
It is known to everyone that Armenia’s mining industry has a significant detrimental impact on Azerbaijan’s ecological environment. For a long time, the high-chemical-content producing water of Armenia’s main mining enterprises – Gajaran copper-molybdenum plant and Gafan ore processing plant – has been heavily polluting the cross-border Okchuchay.
These facts demonstrate that Armenia’s illicit activities have become a subject of concern not only for Azerbaijan, but for the entire region’s ecological environment.
We strongly condemn the actions of Armenia, which harm the ecological security of the region and are contrary to the norms of international law, and we call on the international community to pay special attention to this issue.”
