YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. "If the Armenian government gives consent, in all likelihood Manes and Valex company will cut trees on about 500 ha of Teghut Forest." The RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian said this at the February 16 press conference. In his words, the ministry is in favor of granting such permission. V. Aivazian noted that Manes and Valex submitted this bid because about 150 thousand tons of molybdenum and 1 million 600 thousand tons of copper were discoverted in the Teghut mine. According to the minister, tree felling will be done in this 500-ha area within 25 years. Manes and Valex assumes the obligation to plant trees in other parts of Teghut Forest during the indicated period. By the way, this 500-ha area contains about 60 thousand cubic meters of wood, whereas according to official data, 100 thousand cubic meters of wood is cut annually in Armenia, while by the World Bank's data, the volume of illegal tree cutting makes 600-700 cubic meters.

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