EcoLur
The employees of Alaverdi copper and smelting plant opened the railroad in the evening of 13 February. On Friday the representatives of the government will arrive in Alaverdi.
On 13 February, “Bright Armenia” Faction MP Armen Yeghiazaryan directed a question about the situation in Alaverdi to Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan at the National Assembly.
Over 100 employees from Alaverdi copper and smelting plant had blocked the interstate railway in Alaverdi and were demanding clarifications on the future of the plant. “What is expected to this city,” MP Armen Yeghiazaryan asked.
The PM answered, “I am also aware of these events and I would like to speak more in details about this issue. The VTB Bank has provided a loan of US $ 380 million to Teghout mine and “Vallex” Group and Vallex” Group, which is operating this mine, was not able to serve the loan. We have been involved in this process since May and started negotiations and helped the VTB Bank and “Vallex” Group to reach an agreement jointly. Last year we reached an agreement that the VTB bank shall become the owner of Teghout mine and that the VTB Bank shall involve a well-known operator in the copper sector so as to operate the mine and the copper smelting plant shall be operated in this context. Later, a very strange story happened: a company sued for a debt of US $4000 and demanded to impose an injection on all the assets of the company worth several million dollars, their flow, and legal procedures. Because of this ruling, the negotiations returned to a zero point.
The operator who has been involved so far and should have started its operation got frightened with these stories and refused to be involved.
The dispute between Vallex and VTB has transferred to a new platform and we should help them to settle this dispute as soon as possible.’
It should be mentioned that the copper smelting plant is pledged at the VTB Bank for the construction of Teghout mining complex. The operation of Alaverdi copper smelting plant was stopped on 19 October 2018.
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
February 14, 2019 at 17:53