Reconstruction of ancient oil mill adjacent to Tatev monastery will be completed by autumn 2011, according to restorer architect Amiran Badishyan.

As he noted during the press tour organized by National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, works on evaluation and area investigation were organised prior to reconstruction launch. The oil mill was cleansed of soil it was covered with.

As the architect pointed out, the working mechanism of 18th century oil mill will be repaired within a year to come, with the final aim of putting in into operation.

Citing historic data on butter production in Armenia, Amiran Badishyan noted that in 19th century, Armenia had thrice as much butter mills as neighboring countries. “Armenians were in possession of all butter mills in the territory of Georgia and Azerbaijan, having gained monopoly in butter production business,” he remarked.