Ecological terror by the enemy – collaboration of German companies with Armenians – COMMENTARY 

Azerbaijan once again recognized its friends and enemies by clearing its lands of occupation. It turned out that those who claimed to have cleared the occupied territories of mines helped the enemy to mine the Azerbaijani territories and participated in the construction of engineering and fortification facilities for Armenians.

So, those, who spoke about justice and mediated between the parties, revealed their true color. Companies and business people belonging to these countries paid taxes to their budgets due to the wealth from the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijani lands. No government agency or civil society has demanded an account of the source of the money. As if these companies were instructed to commit robberies in the territories of other countries or join the occupying Armenia, damage the Azerbaijani lands, and own millions. Otherwise, they would be responsible for their illegal actions in their own countries.

Looting of Azerbaijani resources

During the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, the natural resources of the Kalbajar district, the Soyudlu (Zod) gold deposits with industrial reserves of 112.5 tons and exploited, and the Agduzdag and Tutkhun gold deposits with more than 13 tons were plundered for 22 years together with Armenia and its supporters. The Armenian government signed a contract with the Canadian First Dynasty Mines Ltd in 1998, extracted 5 tons of gold from the Zod field in 2002-2003. In addition, the next partner of Armenia in this area was Indian Sterlite Gold Ltd. The US-owned Global Gold Armenian Ltd was one of the leading partners of the Armenians in this direction. Hundreds of different US-made Caterpillar machines, agricultural machinery from John Deere and Deutz-Fahr from Germany, including tractors, Belarusian MT3-82.3 tractors, and other mining and agricultural equipment were used illegally in the construction of farms, expansion of settlements, and construction of infrastructure. The Yerevan branch of Iran's Bank Mellat also sent considerable financial aid to the separatists in April 2016.

Environmental terror of Armenians

Okhchuchay is one of the most polluted rivers in Armenia. Taking its source from the Zangazur mountain range, the Okhchuchay passes through the Zangilan region and empties into the Araz River. The length of the river is 83 kilometers, and the catchment area is 1,175 square kilometers. Toxic wastes of Gajaran copper-molybdenum and Gafan copper refinery located at the source of this river and direct discharge of municipal waste from these cities to Okhchuchay without treatment lead to excessive heavy metals in the river. Unfortunately, due to the company's activities, the Okhchuchay River flowing from Armenia to Azerbaijan is polluted. The Okhchuchay, heavily polluted by Gafan and Gajaran mining wastes, is a collector that removes industrial wastes from this part of Armenia.

Monitoring by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources shows that the pollution of the Oxchuchay is higher than other transboundary rivers. According to the monitoring results conducted in the first three months of the year, the amount of nickel was seven times more than the norm, while cadmium exceeded the standard by five times, iron by four times copper-molybdenum by twice. In early March, it was recorded that the river was also polluted visually. In those days, the mass extinction of bioresources, trout species, was discovered in the river basin. Soils were poisoned in the Zangilan region, where the water of the Okhchuchay river is also used for irrigation. The product grown with this water is dangerous for the health of the population. Toxic waters of the Okhchuchay may be discharged into the Khudafarin reservoir in the future.

Okhchuchay flows through the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia. It is the left arm of Araz. The river, which is 85 km in length, passes through the Gafan district of Armenia and the Zangilan district of Azerbaijan. The area of the basin is 1,140 km². It starts from Gapijig mountain (3,285 m) of the Zangazur Mountains. The water is formed by snow (46%), rain (10%), and groundwater (44%); water consumption is 8.90 cubic meters per second. 40% of the annual flow passes in spring, 43% in summer, 10% in autumn, and 7% in winter. It is used in irrigation works. The river is called Vokhchi in Armenia.

Companies that harm Azerbaijan together with the enemy

Zangazur combine is also the largest taxpayer in Armenia. The company paid $ 60.9 million in taxes to the state budget in 2012. Cronimet is one of the companies operating in Armenia and causing damage to Azerbaijan. The owner of this company is Hunter Pilarski, a German citizen. He owns part of the shares of Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine and Yerevan Plant of Pure Iron. The company has been operating in the Armenian market for more than ten years. All this shows that Cronimet is involved in terror against the Azerbaijani environment. Cronimet Holding was established in 1980 in Karlsruhe, Germany, engaged in the extraction, processing, and sale of minerals and metals. In 2018, the annual turnover was $ 2.8 billion. 83-year-old Hunter Pilarski has been running the company for 40 years. They have been operating in the mining sector in Armenia since 1996. When the Zangazur plant was privatized in 2004, Cronimet owned 60% of the company's shares. The company also operates in dozens of countries in Africa and Asia. Hunter's name is also on the list of Armenian lobbyists bought by Armenia. The USA Tribune published an article about this. Cronimet's name has been the subject of various scandals with Armenian leaders. One of the secret owners of the company is the son-in-law of former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, former ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan. With the help of Hunter, Serzh Sargsyan plundered Karabakh and made billions. In other words, the German company supported the illegal enrichment of Serzh Sargsyan and participated in his criminal activities. In November 2018, Pilarski met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The Prime Minister wished him and his company success. So, he also cooperated with Pashinyan in the pollution of Azerbaijani lands.

Ecology is not an internal affair of a state. In this regard, the involvement of the German company in environmental terrorism in Azerbaijan should also concern the German Green Party, which is fighting for power. It is believed that in the parliamentary elections to be held in Germany in September this year, the party and its leader Annalena Baerbock have a chance to form a government and lead it. According to opinion polls conducted a few months ago, her party was 3-5% ahead of the ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union - Social Democratic Party. However, according to recent polls, the Greens have begun to decline. According to the latest polls, 29% will vote for the ruling Christian Democratic Union leader, Armin Laschet, and 26% for Olaf Scholz, chairman of the Social Democratic Party. The Greens gain 16% by falling 12%. However, it is hoped that the organization will focus on protecting the environment in the South Caucasus. The Greens are expected to pay attention to the pollution of the environment by Cronimet and the dirty money transferred to the German state budget due to environmental damage. It is surprising and unfortunate that the ruling CDU / CSU coalition has not yet punished Cronimet. It turns out Germany allows the flow of dirty money into the state budget. It must be born in mind that that this money is obtained through the destruction of millions of lives, environmental pollution, and the threat to human life. I wonder whether Germany, an active member of the OSCE Minsk Group, is so unfair?