Negative Conclusion Issued for Gagik Tsarukyan's Yegvard Bitumen and Lubricants Plant

The Yegvard bitumen and lubricants factory has been given a negative conclusion. This has been reported by "Hetq." The emissions expected from the production of lubricants and bitumen in Yegvard will have an irreversible negative impact on the surrounding environment, including atmospheric air and nearby residential areas. The established sanitary-protective zone limits have not been maintained for the production activities.

Based on these justifications, the Ministry of the Environment, led by Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan, issued a negative conclusion for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) project of "ArmOil" LLC, owned by Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, and Iranian-Armenian businessman Henrik Dergokasyan, regarding the plant's environmental impact in Yegvard.

The bitumen and lubricants factory located in the Yegvard community of the Kotayk region has been constructed but has not received permission to operate for years, as it had not gone through an EIA review. Initially, the issue of the plant undergoing an EIA review was up for discussion, and later, when it was clarified that the plant needed to go through the EIA review, the application was sent back several times for revisions.

In the spring of this year, "ArmOil" LLC submitted a revised application for the EIA review, and on July 29, the Minister of the Environment, Hambardzum Matevosyan, signed the negative conclusion of the state examination.

Reasons for Rejection:

The examination justifications indicated that the issue remains concerning the failure to maintain the established sanitary-protective zone standards for the activity, particularly in relation to the nearby residential area located 140 meters away and a road situated 74 meters away. According to urban planning norms, a sanitary-protective zone of 1000 meters is designated for chemical objects and industries related to bitumen production (according to the order of the head of the Urban Development Committee dated February 1, 2024, concerning the "Sanitary-protective zones of production and public significance buildings and constructions").

The examination process also considered the decision made by the general jurisdiction court in February 2025, regarding a civil case presented by the company, where the claim regarding the violation of property rights was satisfied. Given this circumstance, the harmful effects of the production activity on gardening areas located within the sanitary-protective zone were not assessed.

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