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The government of Armenia has rejected a recommendation from the World Bank to put a debt-ridden Yerevan chemical plant into bankruptcy.

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharian told the parliament on July 28,2015 that the bankruptcy procedure for Nairit, a Soviet-built sprawling enterprise on the outskirts of Yerevan, would be very much more costly for the government than continuing to operate the plant.

"It doesn't at all suit the government that the company becomes bankrupt, because it will bring quite sizable financial expenses in its wake, as well as safety and hazard neutralization issues that will require millions of dollars in expenses over years", the minister said.

Zakharian have called "absolutely not true" rumors & media reports that "the government is taking the company to dissolution"

After conducting studies, the World Bank has concluded that Nairit doesn't have the technical & financial viability for continued operation.

Minister Zakharian didn't comment on the World Bank's findings, but he promised that the matter will be investigated during those special hearings in the National Assembly next fall.

Vardan Ayvazian, a lawmaker affiliated with the Republican Party, told his colleagues that the World Bank representatives had wished to to talk about their Nairit evaluation in private without the presence of media. But the majority of Armenian lawmakers have objected to that.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Nairit chemical plant said that they have found the minister's statements "reassuring".

Hundreds of former & current workers of the idling chemical plant have held protests in front of the government offices in recent months demanding more than a year's worth of a back pay. Nairit owes an estimated $15 million in unpaid wages to its employees.

Zakharian repeated an earlier promise of PM Hovik Abrahamian that the plant's workers will receive their back wages by the end of July.