Armenia Uncovers 81 Illegal Mining Operations Costing the State 1.4 Billion Drams
In 2026, Armenian environmental authorities uncovered 81 cases of illegal mining and resource concealment. These illicit operations have caused substantial financial losses, with damages to the state estimated at approximately 1.4 billion drams.
Utilizing drones and advanced digital tools, Armenia's Nature Protection and Mining Inspection Body recorded 81 instances of illegal subsoil use and the concealment of extracted mineral volumes throughout 2026.
Breakdown of Uncovered Violations
The violations identified during the regulatory oversight efforts were categorized into two primary groups:
- 24 cases were discovered during formal inspections of companies that hold legal mining permits,
- 57 cases were identified through administrative proceedings initiated by the regulatory agency.
Financial Impact and State Losses
Across the 81 documented cases, authorities discovered the illegal extraction of 3,884,321.8 cubic meters of non-metallic minerals. For the 57 administrative cases alone, the direct environmental damage was calculated at 254,914,192.7 drams.
Concurrently, the State Revenue Committee of Armenia—the nation's tax authority—assessed the total financial damage to the state based on these hidden volumes. Their calculations place the loss at 1,395,393,017 drams (approximately 1.4 billion drams).
"Reports concerning alleged criminal offenses for all the aforementioned cases have been forwarded to law enforcement agencies," reports Armenpress.am.
This article was generated automatically using AI based on reporting from established news sources. All sources are listed below.
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