Eric Grigoryan on the Control of Natural Christmas Tree Sales

The Minister of Environment of Armenia, Eric Grigoryan, was asked by reporters today whether there is oversight on the sale of Christmas trees. The minister revealed that no permits for cutting down Christmas trees have been issued to anyone. Only the municipality of Gyumri has applied for permission to cut branches that are subject to sanitary felling in order to shape the Christmas tree for the city.

“We do not have any other quantities; we only have sanitary and maintenance felling. More than 99 percent of the Christmas trees sold are imported,” he stated.

Grigoryan noted that the oversight of tree cutting is conducted by inspection agencies. In cases of potential environmental law violations, employees approach, ask questions, study the situation, and verify the data.