Previously

I published a column on January 21, “Davos and Amulsar: So close and yet so far apart”, where I talked about the statements that Armenian Prime Minister and other senior officials made about the problem with Amulsar project between June and December 2018.

In particular, on September 21 Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said:

“The Investigative Committee should order an expertise. It should be implemented by a renowned international organization and it is important that the assessment is acceptable both for Armenia and the international community.”

On November 8 the Investigative Committee of Armenia announced pre-qualification for the independent international examination. The committee said that two international organizations had submitted bids to the tender.

Part one: The government session

At a session on February 21, 2019 the Armenian government decided to allocate USD 369,900 (provided to the Investigative Committee) to Earth Link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) for a comprehensive report about the Amulsar project, which would be implemented within the criminal case opened by the committee.

To find out the environmental risks of the mine operation, the committee requested a comprehensive ecological, geological, hydrological, geophysical, materials science, chemical, technological, structural and technical, and economic examination.

Head of the Investigative Committee Hayk Grigoryan said at the session on February 21, 2019:

“A process like this usually lasts for 6 to 8 months. We sped up the procedures as much as we could together with our colleagues from the Ministry of Nature Protection. Some procedures cannot be omitted. We completed the preliminary stage in four months, and ELARD plans to finish the investigation in 12-16 weeks. However, the company will submit running reports once in two weeks. The preliminary results of the investigation will be known in May.”

Part two: ELARD

It was disclosed on February 21 that the winner of the tender was ELARD, so I decided to contact the company for more information.

This is their website: http://www.elard-group.com/.

It says that the company was founded in Lebanon in 1996 and “rapidly grew to have several permanent offices in the region, such as in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) and recently in the Mozambique”. The website also notes that ELARD’s “experience extends to many countries including Lebanon, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Montenegro” and the “Caspian countries”.

I sent a letter to info@elard-group.com (indicated on the website), saying that I would like to interview a representative of ELARD regarding the Armenian government’s decision to assign the Amulsar investigation to this company. 

I received a reply very quickly (this and other letters quoted below are archived-Mediamax) from Ricardo Khoury, Director for Environment at ELARD Lebanon. He said he was ready to talk to Mediamax, so I clarified if he would prefer a phone conversation or a written interview. Mr Khoury suggested the latter:

“Yes please, do send me your questions and I will reply.”

Part three: The strange link

When I was browsing the ELARD website, I noticed that the News and Events section had a publication on February 5, which was titled “ELARD is selected to Examine Armenia’s Amulsar Gold Mine Project Risks”.

There is no point to look it up, as the publication was removed, but we made a screenshot of it on February 21. Here it is:

 

Curiously, the link for more details directed to the webpage of an Armenian non-profit organization, Develop Armenia:

https://developarmenia.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/elard-consultancy-company-selected-to-examine-amulsar-project-risks/ 

The mentioned link is visible in the bottom left part of the screenshot.

 

The non-profit’s webpage contains photos with Armecofront watermarks. The photos have nothing to do with Amulsar, but they are presented as depicting it. 

 

Moreover, the text reads that “Armenian people especially the civil society hope that ELARD Consulting Company will conduct a deep and successful environmental audit of Lydian’s Amulsar project”.

Given that this page could also be removed, we made another screenshot:

 

It is rather strange that an independent international company announces a project in Armenia via just a title, while the actual text of the news is provided on the webpage of an Armenian non-profit, which contains specific information about Amulsar. I included this point in the questions to Mr. Khoury.

Part four: Our questions to Ricardo Khoury 

1. Could you please specify what kind of study this will be? Are you going to examine the documents and licenses of Lydian Armenia or you will be doing a field study? Will your company give an environmental or legal assessment?

2. Did the Armenian government set concrete questions that your assessment should answer? If so, can you disclose some?

3. Who will be involved in the process? Will it include only the company’s employees or you will attract independent experts as well? How many people are in the assessment team?

4. Amulsar has been audited by international companies previously - do you expect to find any gaps?

5. It was mentioned during the Armenian government’s session on February 21 that studies of this kind usually take 8 to 9 months, but given the urgency of this issue, your company committed to complete the examination by May. What will you have to omit to reduce the term nearly by half?

6. Do you have experience with such assessments? Could you please tell about similar projects your company did in recent years?

7. Will you have to cooperate with the Armenian government, Lydian Armenia or environmental activists during the examination or will you be entirely independent?

8. ELARD posted on the official website on February 5 that you were selected to assess the Amulsar project risks, here is the link:

http://www.elard-group.com/newsView.php?id=20 

When you click on “for more details”, it directs the users to the webpage of an Armenian NGO, which contains photos and text presented by Armecofront, the organization that opposes operation of Amulsar mine:

https://developarmenia.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/elard-consultancy-company-selected-to-examine-amulsar-project-risks/ 

Don’t you see a problem with the fact that the link on your website directs people to a webpage with such content?

9. As a matter of fact, the future of currently the largest investment project in Armenia (worth USD 400 million) depends on your assessment. Does that help or hinder your work?

Part five: Ricardo Khoury’s reply

In the evening of February 21, Mr. Khoury sent me this email:

“Thank you for your questions. I have checked with the Investigative Committee, and all media queries should be directed to them: press@investigative.am. Regarding the website, I have instructed our communications team to remove all articles/news related to this assignment.”

As you have noticed, the mentioned articles were indeed deleted from ELARD’s website.

I replied to Mr. Khoury and drew his attention to the following points:

- A few hours earlier he was ready to answer questions from Mediamax and asked to send them to him;

- He did not mention he had to obtain the agreement of the Investigative Committee first;

- It is unclear why ELARD needs the Investigative Committee’s consent to talk, for instance, the company’s previous projects;

- Given the fact that we had reached an agreement about the interview, I reserve the right to report this situation to the public.

Mr. Khoury responded that he respected my right and asked me to take into account that ELARD’s project in Armenia is implemented within the criminal case opened by the Investigative Committee.

“Our contract is with the Investigative Committee. This assignment is part of a criminal investigation and there are certain rules we need to follow. As soon as I received your inquiry I forwarded to our client (the IC) to check about any specific rules when it comes to communication with the media. They have instructed that communications need to pass through them. You need to inform them that you would like us to answer the below questions so they can instruct us on the procedure to do so,” he wrote.

Mr. Khoury added: “I am sure that the Armenian government would want to conduct this audit in the most transparent manner but all disclosure of information needs to pass through them.”

At Amuslar site, November 2017

Photo: Mediamax

I respect Mr. Khoury’s stance, but I have to express my opinion: if the company responsible for the assessment of the Amulsar project can interact with the press only with the consent of the Investigative Committee, I find it hard to call that company truly independent.

In this regard I have to recall another statement by Prime Minister Pashinyan, which he made on October 24, 2018:

“I think we have to invite a renowned international company to study the issue and give an assessment that would answer all our questions.”

As I see it, a “renowned international company” should not be restricted in its interactions with the media, especially if the questions from the press do not concern the criminal case itself.

Part six: Our questions to the Investigative Committee

I promised Mr. Khoury to contact the Investigative Committee and I emailed acting Head of the committee’s Information and PR Department Naira Harutyunyan in the morning of February 22. I wrote:

“We contacted ELARD on February 21, 2019 with a request to provide information about the company’s work in Armenia. Director for Environment at ELARD Lebanon Ricardo Khoury agreed to give an interview to Mediamax and asked for written questions. However, after he received them, Mr. Khoury said he contacted the Investigative Committee and he was told that all media queries should be directed to the committee, which is why he could not answer our questions.

At Amuslar site, November 2017

Photo: Mediamax

In that regard, could you please answer the following questions in the shortest possible time?

- Did the Investigative Committee set any restrictions for the communication between ELARD and the Armenian press?

- If so, do these restrictions concern the inquiries about the experience and previous projects of ELARD?

- Does ELARD perform as an independent company during the comprehensive investigation of the Amulsar mine operation?

Given the fact that the corresponding article will be published on Mediamax.am today, I will appreciate it if you respond to the request before 5 p.m. on February 22. If it is impossible to provide the reply to the request within that term, it will be posted upon receipt in a new publication.”

Part seven: Waiting for the response

There is no reply yet from the Investigative Committee as of the moment (at 17:20 on February 22), so this publication is posted without the committee’s response. As promised, the reply will be published upon receipt.

Ara Tadevosyan