During Robert Kocharyan’s visit to Germany, an agreement was made to
sell the Kajaran Copper Ardent factory to the Germans. The contract
will be signed before December the 5th. The German “Chronimet” Company
will hold 75% of the share-holdings, which means that the German side
holds the majority of the share-holdings. Some people think that
selling this rich factory to foreigners is yet another form of betrayal
by Armenian authorities, especially if we take into consideration the
strategic significance that ardent has for the country. We asked
president of the “Azgayin Petutyun” (National State) political party
and geologist Samvel Shahinyan to comment on this. “The one thing that
is worrisome for many is the fact that ardent is a substance that plays
a strategic role for the country. This factory for us is the same as
oil for Baku. Let’s try and come up with how many ways ardent is used:
it is used in all types of strategic and military technologies-starting
from tanks. In other words, ardent is itself becoming a part of
politics. If we look at things from this point of view, selling this
factory to foreigners could be dangerous. After all, isn’t it possible
that the foreigner just might be a Turk or an Azeri? Isn’t it obvious
what kind of consequences that may have on politics?” However,
Shahinyan thinks that there will no be reason to worry as long as the
authorities go along with the law. “We must demand that the German
businessman treats us with respect and obeys the laws. It is much
easier to demand the foreigner to respect the laws than demanding an
Armenian. So, it is really not about calling someone else a traitor,
but rather about violating the laws.” According to Shahinyan, the
question still remains of whether or not the Germans are really the
ones who hold most of the share-holdings, or are there some Armenians
who have opened up some factory in Germany and are now claiming
themselves as Germans to buy the factory. Shahinyan notes that the
“Copper Ardent factory” used to produce 7,500 tons of condensed
materials during the Soviet era and 200 kilograms of gold. “Nowadays, I
don’t know how much is being produced, but I know for a fact that there
are many “authorities” who are grabbing a hold of everything.” Who are
those “authorities”? “I can’t give out any names. If I do, then I will
have to start a court case. Today, I am doing serious work on
publishing books and I do not want to go after these kind of matters
just for some flaw in economic relations.” Shahinyan notes that the
“Copper Ardent factory” used to produce 7,500 tons of condensed
materials during the Soviet era and 200 kilograms of gold.
