14 February 2019, 01:06
Protesting workers unblock railway in Armenia
Workers of the Alaverdi Copper Smelter have suspended their protest action in order to give the authorities time to respond about the future of the enterprise. They threatened to block both the motor road and the railway running to Georgia.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 13, workers of the smelter blocked the Yerevan-Tbilisi railway, stating that they would not disperse until they received an answer about the future of their enterprise.
The Alaverdi Copper Smelter stopped its operation on October 19, 2018. After the previous protest action, the authorities promised that for the sake of more than 600 workers, "the government will do everything possible to make the enterprise work."
At 8:00 p.m. local time, the protesters unblocked the Yerevan-Tbilisi railway, Armen Kirakosyan, a worker at the smelter, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to his story, protesters put forward an ultimatum to the authorities, giving them time to organize a trilateral meeting at the level of the head of government or one of his deputies, the owner of the enterprise and the bank, to which the enterprise owes. "If we fail to get a clear answer by midday on February 15, then, we'll block both the highway connecting Armenia with Georgia and the Yerevan-Tbilisi railway," said the worker.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 13, 2019 at 08:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Tigran Petrosyan Source: CK correspondent
