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Back wages of all workers of Yerevan-based Nairit chemical plant will be repaid in full within one or two days, Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan said at the government session today.

He said documents are being drawn up in parallel, but there are no obstacles to the repayment of debts, including financial obstacles.  

As was reported, on June 9 Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan received a group of Nairit Plant’s workers. He said that during the consultation held by the Armenian president, it was decided to find financial resources to pay Nairit staff’s back wages for recent years. The PM said that Energy Minister Yervand Zakharyan was instructed to set up a commission for calculating the wages and that the debt would be repaid by July 15.

After a series of protests, Nairit workers on July 17 gathered outside the Armenian government to demand full repayment of their back wages. Anush Harutyunyan, a member of the group coordinating  protests of Nairit workers, told Panorama.am at that time that they decided to wait until July 28-29 when back wages were expected to be paid. Meanwhile, they would sign agreements on a waiver of fines that are paid in case of wage arrears, she said. The plant workers demanded that their debts be paid off in a lump sum within 1-2 days.

Since late 2014, Nairit Plant workers have staged protests which are supported by some Armenian political forces. They demand repayment of their back wages for the last 4 years – a sum of 5.7 billion drams. On February 6, 2015 the plant announced 1700 lay-offs. 

As of July 24, about 450 workers of the plant already received their back wages, Panorama.am learned from Anush Harutyunyan.