Epress.am News from Armenia
Sponsoring an event dedicated to World Environment Day and, at the same time, financing the destructive program of the Amulsar gold mine is nothing less than pharisaism and an application of double standards on the part of the Swedish government, Armenian Environmental Front member Arpine Galfayan stated on Friday as she went uninvited to an exhibition titled “Facing the Climate: Swedish and Armenian satirical cartoonists get you thinking” at the UN office in Yerevan.
“Sweden directly finances the operation of the Amulsar mine, a project that carries hazardous consequences for Armenia, by providing Lydian Armenia with a loan of more than $50 million to purchase mining equipment from Swedish companies. This is a much-discussed issue in Armenia; many of us know what impact the exploitation of the Amulsar mine will have on the nature and the population of Armenia. Our petition with over 8 000 signatures, addressed to Swedish export promotion agencies, has thus far remained unanswered,” the environmentalist said.
Note, the Swedish Export Credit Corporation, which operates under the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications and has a goal to stimulate the export of Swedish goods, finances Lydian Armenia’s program for the exploitation of the Amulsar gold mine on the condition that the company will buy equipment from Swedish producers.