LAND DISPUTE: VILLAGERS DEMAND BETTER COMPENSATION FOR THE COPPER UNDER THEM

The copper mine project brought to the Lori region by the Armenian Copper Program (ACP) has raised the discontent of area residents who believe that the exploitation of the mine holds nothing good for them. The company has already purchased the major part of the lands belonging to the villages of Teghut (780 residents)and Shnogh (2800 residents)for the ore exploration, offering villagers 40 dram per square meter (about 16 cents).
Residents believe that the amount is far less than the real value of their land and are concerned that selling would deprive them from income that comes from agriculture and cattle-breeding.
The Armenian government has allocated to the ACP Company 1,700 hectares of territory, about 1,600 hectares is covered in forest, while the rest is considered community land. ACP plans to mine 450 million tons of ore reserves in the next 25 years.
Rubik Petrosyan from Shnogh is one of those who already sold part of his land to the company. He said he was forced to sell his land as he “had no other means to cover the expenses of his father’s funeral.” He sold a hectare of meadow and 6,000 square meters of arable land for 300,000 drams ($984). “They decide the prices themselves,” Rubik complains.
Further, the ACP has evaluated his cattle shed at $500, although Rubik wants $1,000 to be able to build a new one in another place. The 1,100 square meters of the cattle shed and 4,600 square meters of the garden are still considered his property.
Petrosyan is the only worker in the family of seven, and relies only on agriculture. The main source of income for the family budget are milk, cheese and butter. Now Petrosyan wants ACP to give him $5,000 for the garden and the cattle shed, and says he will not sell otherwise.
“The geologists from the company say they will take it away by force and say I will regret not selling,” the man says, who still can not believe that his property could be taken away from him without his consent. He says he will fight for his property until he is offered a better price.
His neighbor Levon Alikhanyan has similar concerns. To avoid dooming his family of 11 to starvation in the future he needs money to start a new business. Seven hectares of his property are also included in the areas conceded to ACP. He cultivates cereals and is also engaged in apiculture [bee-keeping] and husbandry.
“Usually trading means one learns the wish of the other side and thinks whether it’s worth the deal or not.” However, no one has asked his wish and no one has negotiated about the price. Instead the company dictates its own price “artificially fixing about 40 drams per square meter,” says 54 year old farmer Alikhanyan.
He says if the mine is exploited there will hardly remain a hundred families in the village.
“Those who will leave the village will be the families with children,” he says adding that “the environmental problems that will arise will make agricultural business impossible.”
So far the villagers’ concerns have not been addressed by ACP in any satisfactory manner for residents.
Gagik Babayan, the head of the ACP geodesic survey group in Teghut says the villagers’ demands are illegal and says the lands are classified and have a fixed market price.
“The villagers can’t offer the price they want,” says the geologist, citing Armenian Law on Alienating Property for Public and State Needs.
“In the case when there is supremacy of state interests the government has the right to use even the land lots owned by the villagers. The protesters will sell them after all, as they have no other alternative.”
According to Babayan the territory of the Shnogh and Teghut proposed for ACP make 248.7 hectares, 167.2 hectares of which have been purchased. There are still 81.5 hectares to be bought; 66.5 of the remaining part belongs to Shnogh and the 15 hectares – to Teghut.
Lawyer Karen Tumanyan from the Vanadzor office of Helsinki Assembly believes forced purchase of the citizen’s property is a violation of Article 1 of the European Convention for Human Rights and Basic Freedoms.
“It can’t be considered as supremacy of state interest, because property in this case is given not to the state, but to another proprietor,” says the lawyer and offers help to the residents of Teghut and Shnogh in preparing cases for the European Court.
Naira Bulghadaryan

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