Armenia responded to Azerbaijan's letter regarding the Yeraskh plant, demanding an end to the use of force on its sovereign territory

The RA Ministry of Environment has received Azerbaijan's letter to Armenia regarding the exchange of sufficient information to ensure effective consultations on transboundary harmful effects of the metallurgical plant being built in Yeraskh village under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espo). The Ministry of Environment informs about this.

"Armenia does not consider that it is obliged to notify Azerbaijan according to Article 3 (1) of the Espoo Convention, or to exchange information with Azerbaijan regarding the planned activities according to Article 3 (7) of the same Convention.

Article 3(1) requires the Party of origin to notify a Party it believes may be an affected Party of an intended activity only if two conditions are met: (i) the intended activity is listed in Annex I to the Convention, and ( ii) it is "an activity with significant cross-border harmful effects". None of the conditions are present.

The intended activity is the processing of small volumes of ferrous metal scrap exclusively using an electrically powered induction furnace, which is not a type of activity listed in Annex I of the Convention.

Azerbaijan itself has not clarified to which point of Annex I the planned activity is related. Accordingly, the procedure referred to in Article 3(7) of the Convention, which Azerbaijan refers to, and which is applicable to cases where notification pursuant to Article 3(1) of the Convention has not been carried out, does not refer to the type of activity envisaged in Armenia.

Moreover, in response to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan in 2023. In the statement of June 7, where it was mentioned that the operation of the Yeraskh plant will have a negative impact on the environment, the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia clearly stated that the plant is being built in accordance with all environmental standards and requirements. The owner of the factory, "GTB Steel" LLC, also gave assurances about it, where it was noted that modern technologies will be introduced in order to exclude all possible negative effects on the environment.

Therefore, there is no basis for Azerbaijan's demand to "immediately stop the construction works" of the factory in accordance with the Espoo Convention.

Based on the above, Armenia demands that Azerbaijan stop the use of illegal force on the sovereign territory of Armenia by firing in the direction of the construction site. The actions of Azerbaijan seriously injured two innocent employees, as well as caused significant material losses. Azerbaijan's behavior grossly violates the obligation set forth in Article 15 of the Espoo Convention, namely, "In the event of a dispute arising between the Parties, the Parties shall endeavor to settle it through negotiations or any other method at their discretion."

"Armenia maintains all its rights under international law," the message said.