On December 21, 2020, an agreement was signed by the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the territorial administration of the Republic of Armenia. This agreement entails the temporary suspension of the operating license of two Armenian-Polish joint ventures in the Ararat province and Lusarat villages, located in the basin of the Arax River. The reason for the suspension is due to violations of the preservation and use requirements set by the authorities of these companies.

Preliminary data from the document reveals that the head of one of the mentioned companies will be suspended from December 21, 2020, until March 2022. Similarly, the head of the other company will be suspended from December 21, 2020, until March 2023. These suspensions are a result of the territories deviating from the coordinates granted by the geological coordinates provided in 2015 and the limits defined for mining purposes.

In these territories, unauthorized use by the companies has led to the exploitation of state-owned mineral deposits, totaling 63,834 cubic meters. These companies have paid approximately 4,392,028 Armenian drams for the use of 21,519 cubic meters and 4,626,008 Armenian drams for the use of 22,665.4 cubic meters of forest exploitation. Unfortunately, these actions have caused damage to the environment, degraded soil quality, and hindered the proper utilization of the valuable minerals found in the area.

Despite fulfilling the requirements set by the RA legislation, the heads of the mentioned joint ventures failed to pay the necessary fine of 5,000,000 Armenian drams. Consequently, the heads of these joint ventures have been notified of their violation according to Article 383(1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

The investigation into these violations has been concluded, and the materials of the criminal case, accompanied by evidence of the violations, have been forwarded to the court for further examination and confirmation.

Past instances of similar unauthorized actions in the basin of the Arax River, including those carried out by the Arax River Police, have prompted comparable measures to be taken against several other companies.