Armenian and U.S. Flags Raised at Yeraskh Smelter Plant Construction Site

YEREVAN — Armenian and U.S. flags were raised to confirm the decision of the Board of Directors of GTB Steel that the company will not go anywhere, head of the company’s Board of Directors Tiran Hakobyan told reporters on Tuesday.

The construction site in Yeraskh, a village 55 kilometers south of Yerevan, has come under cross-border fire on a virtually daily basis for the past week amid heightened tensions at various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Two Indian nationals working there were seriously wounded on June 14.

“We will continue building the plant. Of course, raising the flags does not gives us some additional military protection,” Hakobyan said.

According to him, the construction of the Armenian-American steel plant, estimated to cost $70 million was permitted by the government.

“The Republic of Armenia has given us all the necessary permits. We have all the documents required by law for the construction of the plant,” the businessman said. When commissioned the plant is expected to employ about 1,000 people.

“We will carry on with the works regardless of whether or not they will shoot at us,” Hakobyan told reporters. “At some point, they [the Azerbaijanis] will understand that we will not leave and will not play by those rules of the game.”