VZCZCXRO5527
PP RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0330/01 1351450
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151450Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9052
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000330 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD AM
SUBJECT: FOUR PERSONS KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT YEREVAN 
CHEMICAL PLANT 
 
SUMMARY 
 ------- 
¶1. At least four persons were killed and more than a dozen 
injured in a late-afternoon explosion at Yerevan's Nairit 
chemical plant on May 14.  Company officials said the cause 
is not yet known.  This is Armenia's worst industrial 
accident since the Soviet era, though obsolete equipment and 
poor safety standards at this Soviet-era facility have 
resulted in previous accidents.  The plant, which currently 
employs 1,000 persons, had recently reopened after being 
closed since December due to the slowing economy.  The GOAM 
claims the explosion will present no health or environmental 
threat.  End Summary. 
 
SMOKE SEEN AT EMBASSY 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. At about 6:40 pm on May 14, an explosion at the sprawling 
Nairit chemical plant in Yerevan killed at least four 
persons.  A second explosion occurred five minutes later and 
a third approximately two hours after that.  Three victims 
were found shortly after the explosion, and a fourth the 
following day.  The powerful blasts overturned cars in the 
surrounding area and produced an intense fire that took 
several hours to douse; seventeen firefighters and rescue 
workers suffered burns and smoke poisoning while trying to 
put it out.  Eight others were also hospitalized with other 
injuries. The plant is located nearly due east of the 
Embassy, from where a thick plume of black smoke was visible 
in the early evening.  We have not yet heard about the extent 
of the damage to the plant, though it seems likely to be 
extensive. 
 
EMERGENCY RESPONSE 
------------------ 
 
¶3. Police and emergency workers evacuated the area 
surrounding the plant following the explosion.  Yerevan's 
Chief of Police told RSO that he was on the scene a short 
time after the accident and that the risk of toxic fume 
emissions was very low, at least to persons farther removed 
from the accident scene.  Doctors from the Nairi Medical 
Center were called over to Erebuni Medical Center, the 
closest facility to the accident, to attend to injuries, most 
related to respiratory impairments. 
 
¶4. This is the worst industrial accident of its kind in 
Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.  However, the 
plant sometimes faces emergency situations due to its 
obsolete Soviet-era equipment and poor safety standards.  In 
December 2006, two Nairit reservoirs containing inflammable 
industrial waste caught fire that raged for two days, though 
nobody was hurt in that incident. 
 
GOAM CLAIMS NO HEALTH OR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. Ministry of Health officials informed the embassy in the 
hours after the explosions that there was no danger to 
residents outside the immediate vicinity of the plant.  On 
Friday, radio reports indicated that the city's air 
conditions were normal.  The major chemical released was 
reportedly acetylene, which is highly inflammable but not 
particularly toxic, unless people are exposed to it in large 
concentrations or were in the immediate vicinity of the 
explosion (Note: This would likely explain the intensity of 
the fire. End Note). Karine Danielian, leader of an 
environmental NGO, told Emboffs that she had received a large 
number of phone calls from nearby residents in the hours 
after the explosion, complaining of a strong smell of 
chemicals in the air, and the next day received calls 
reporting allergies ostensibly related to the chemical 
emissions. 
 
CAUSE NOT CLEAR 
--------------- 
 
¶6. The cause of the accident is not yet known.  Local 
television stations speculated that it was a gas explosion. 
However, the production process for these chemicals--used 
primarily in the production of synthetic rubber--is 
inherently dangerous and fire-prone, especially in 
combination with lax safety standards, outdated equipment and 
inadequate protective gear. 
 
RECENTLY REOPENED 
----------------- 
 
¶7. This accident occurred approximately three weeks after the 
Nairit facility, Armenia's largest chemical plant, resumed 
operation after a nearly five-month shutdown that management 
attributed to the global economic crisis.  While production 
 
YEREVAN 00000330  002 OF 002 
 
 
increased by over 20 percent in 2007 and 2008 compared to 
prior years, market prices for rubber--and the plant's 
sales--fell by 60 percent between October 2008 and March 
¶2009.  In December the plant closed and furloughed much of 
its workforce of nearly 2,000 persons (the firm's total 
employment is close to 2,800).  The plant currently employs 
approximately 1,000 persons and was operating at half 
capacity at the time of the explosion. 
 
¶8. The plant is owned by the UK-registered Rhinoville 
Property Ltd, with the GOAM holding a ten percent stake. 
Nairit nearly declared bankruptcy in March, and management 
claims it was still losing money after it resumed operations 
in late April.  The GOAM has been supportive of the plant's 
revival, and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian, visiting the 
plant on April 30, expressed the GOAM's support for Nairit, 
saying that its survival is "an essential development for the 
state." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. Beyond the obvious tragedy of at least four deaths and 
over a dozen injuries, the explosion at the Nairit plant is 
also likely to shut down production indefinitely, putting up 
to 1,000 persons out of work in the midst of a deepening 
recession.  It will also likely require millions of dollars 
in repairs, raising the question of whether it will in fact 
be restored or will instead join the hulks of abandoned 
Soviet-era factories that dot the Armenian landscape.  While 
the cause of the accident is not yet known, we hope it will 
at least bring some attention and reform to the antiquated 
condition and inadequate safety standards in many Armenian 
factories, as well as the tradeoff many workers in this 
country are compelled to make with respect to health and 
safety as the price of finding employment.  The accident also 
puts to a test the GOAM's emergency response capabilities; 
injuries to 17 firefighters and other emergency 
responders--many possibly due to poor training, equipment and 
procedures--are not an encouraging indicator.  End Comment. 
YOVANOVITCH