Pashinyan warns illegal sand mining threatens Armenia’s territory, security

 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a stark warning on October 3 that uncontrolled construction sand extraction is not only fueling a vast shadow economy but also eroding Armenia’s national territory, particularly along the Araks (Araz) River.

“We have not found ways to resolve this; and this is a serious challenge. Here we are faced with issues of national security and territorial integrity, when it becomes clear that [construction] sand extraction from the Araks River [Araz river — ed.] is reducing the territory of our country—and we do not have effective countermeasures,” Pashinyan said in his address to the Mining Armenia Forum 2025, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

According to the prime minister, sand mining in Armenia is plagued by a lack of transparency and government oversight, with powerful interests in the construction sector pushing back against reforms.

“This is one of the domains where transparency is a serious problem, and the Armenian government finds it difficult to resolve it, partly because when the Cabinet expresses its willingness to take decisive steps, it quickly feels pressure from the construction sector,” he said. 

“It turns out that if everything is brought up to standard, construction in Armenia will stop for a long time,” he added, pointing to the heavy reliance on illicitly mined materials.

Pashinyan described the situation as one of the most challenging for his government and acknowledged that sand mining remains deeply embedded in the shadow economy.

The Prime Minister also addressed broader structural and public perception issues in Armenia’s mining sector, noting that the subsoil is widely misunderstood as being separate from public and state ownership.

"The problem here is that in the Armenian public consciousness, the perception that the subsoil belongs to the people and the state does not seem to be very accurate, and it is time for us to address this matter, and we are working on it," he added.

Pashinyan pointed to recent efforts to shift that narrative, including state and public ownership of shares in Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine and the Amulsar gold mine.

He also drew attention to challenges in non-metallic mineral extraction, which have become especially apparent amid a construction boom.

“But in reality there are problems. And I must emphasize that the [Armenian] government is facing very serious challenges; for example, in the field of non-metallic mineral extraction,” Pashinyan stated.

Despite Armenia’s reputation as a “country of stones,” the Prime Minister revealed a surprising shortage of building stone—so severe that some communities now rely on imports for local infrastructure projects.

“We constantly claim that Armenia is a country of stones, but then it turns out that we import stone from abroad to implement a subsidy program in our communities; this in itself shows that we have problems,” he said.

Tuff, a volcanic stone used in around 60% of Armenian construction, was also part of Pashinyan’s remarks. He criticized the lack of cultural appreciation for the material.

"Not only do we have a shortage of construction stone, despite being a ‘country of stones,’ 60 percent of our Armenia is built from tuff [rock], but we also do not show due respect for tuff, and do not even have a monument to tuff. And we decided that in the near future, together with the Artik community, we will fill this gap,” Pashinyan noted.

While acknowledging the need to import certain types of stone due to rising demand, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to transparency and professional standards in the sector.

“There are many reasons why we have found ourselves in this situation in the stone mining sector. One of them is the lack of transparency and the lack of investment in knowledge, or even their complete absence; and we need to pay special attention to this,” he concluded.

By Sabina Mammadli