Epress.am News from Armenia
Former employees of Nairit plant, who have been staging regular demonstrations and protest actions for months demanding that the rubber factory be re-operated, today gathered outside the Government building in Yerevan to meet with Ashot Manukyan, the newly appointed Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
Anahit Manukyan, a former Nairit worker and an active participant of the protests, familiarized Manukyan with the investment project offered to Armenia's government by Ashot Grigoryan, the head of the Armenian community of Slovakia and the chairman of the EU-ASIA Business Finance Centre Holding, according to which, the businessman is prepared to invest 20 million dollars to restart production at the rubber factory if the state agrees to hand over the reins to Nairit to his holding.
The demonstrators told Manukyan that they believed this project would reap significant economic benefits for Armenia since Grigoryan has also expressed a readiness to make investment in other areas as well, namely, the North-South highway construction program.
The newly-appointed minister admitted that he was hearing about Grigoryan's investment plans for the first time, adding that the proposal actually seemed “quite tempting.” “You've painted such a wonderful picture for me; I don't even know what to say to you. It's like offering candy to a child. Of course we'd like [to go ahead with the project], but first we have to speak with this businessman and see what he expects in return for all these [investments],” Ashot Manukyan said, claiming that Nairit's re-operation was his “only desire” and that he was willing to discuss the issue with the factory's ex-workers.