"Bright Armenia" sounds alarm: the assets of Vanadzor-Chemical Plant CJSC are alienated

ArmInfo. The doom of the last  surviving industrial giant in Armenia is Vanadzor-Chemical Plant CJSC  is close. Competent state bodies are either not aware of what is  happening, or consider the enterprise as a "bakery", the owner of  which sells it in parts. This is stated in the statement of the  "Bright Armenia" Party, which arrived in ArmInfo.

"Bright Armenia" cites the words of the unnamed representatives of  the enterprise, which say that in fact no alienation of vital assets  for the plant is carried out. However, the party believes that "in  fact, unique equipment is sold, which then can not be restored." The  statement asks "who actually owns the plant?" The state bodies keep  silent about this, hiding the name of the real owner. "The lack of  information about the beneficiaries of the plant on the official  website of the State Register of Armenia, which, after carrying out  standard procedures for payment for obtaining information about  owners of certain organizations, is a clear proof of the fact that  the system gives the signal - access denied.

Referring to the unverified data, party representatives refer to one  of the Armenian banks, informing that one of its shareholders  allegedly purchased the plant and pawned it in the same bank. And  this was done, they believe, in order to avoid alienation of assets  in the process of bankruptcy, since in this case it is the creditor  who has the right to take precedence for the acquisition of alienated  property. "At the initiative of the owner of the enterprise and,  secretly from the public, the unique equipment of the plant is  alienated as unnecessary trash, even in this situation the owner of  the enterprise returns the investment, since the purchase price was  too low," the statement said.

In fact, the assets of the enterprise of strategic importance are  sold, which cannot be regarded as private interests of the owner.  "The state bodies should immediately inventory the current assets of  the plant and conduct appropriate inspections," the "Bright Armenia"  calls.

To note, the signals about the alienation of the property of one of  the largest industrial giants of Soviet Armenia - Vanadzor Chemical  Plant began not today. Back in April 2016, information appeared that  from Vanadzor Chemical Plant unknown persons had dismantled and stole  a considerable amount of equipment.  It was reported that the  employees had to protect the company where they worked. Then the  ex-Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of  Armenia Levon Yolyan noted that the enterprise had dismantled a small  number of equipment, which was sold at auction, and the funds were  used to repay the arrears of wages.

To note, the Vanadzor Chemical Plant, founded in 1929, produced lime  at first. Then the production was expanded due to new types of  products: ammonium, melamine, synthetic corundums, various crystals,  and more recently - fertilizers. May 8, 1999 The Armenian government  signed an agreement with Zakneftegazstroy-Prometey on the sale for $  1.5 million. Prometey CJSC, which unites 3 enterprises:  Vanadzor  Chemical Plant, Vanadzor Chemical Fiber Plant and Vanadzor Thermal  Power Plant. In the year 2005 the restart of the Vanadzor plant  "Prometey-Khimprom" was held. The complex is able to produce up to 10  thousand tons of melamine per year, 15 thousand tons of carbide, 500  tons of melem, 3,500 tons of acetate tape, 200 tons of corundum, and  Vanadzor TPP - 25 megawatt of electricity.

Meanwhile, Vanadzor Chemical Industry, like the chemical giant of  Armenia, the Nairit plant became a victim of offshore deals. In June  2007, the offshore company Roding Commercial Limited became the owner  of 100% of shares for $ 25 million. (Roding Commercial Ltd), which,  according to the State Register of Legal Entities of the Republic of  Armenia, was registered in London at the address of the company  "Rhinoville Property Limited". In 2006, 90% of shares of Nairit were  sold to the same British consortium Rhainoville Property Limited. The  founder of these two companies and shareholder of Roding Commercial  Ltd, according to the media, is the same offshore company "Imex  Executive Ltd". However, in February 2010, "Roding Commercial  Limited" was disbanded. The founder of "Roding Commercial Limited"  company "Imex Executive Ltd" was established by the Russian branch of  the law firm "G.S.L. Low Consulting". The shareholder-director Brenda  Koksij, according to all the same media, for some time was also the  director of the company "Raionovil Property Limited" - the  shareholder of "Nairit Plant." At the same time, local media reported  that the talks on attracting investments to "Vanadzor- Chemical  Plant" conducts with the British company, and then information  appeared that the interest of the Georgian company is also visible.  By today, the authorities in every possible way still hide from the  uninitiated the names of the true owners of companies, and their  intentions.

It is noteworthy that in 2014 during the visit to the plant due to  delays in the payment of wages, Ex-Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan  could not answer journalists who owns Vanadzor-Chemical Plant. The  former prime minister then said that the plant is a private property,  and issues of payment of wages are beyond its competence. However, at  the same time, he promised to assist in obtaining a salary at least  for one month and recently a monthly salary was still paid. On  December 15, 2015, on behalf of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,  they began to pay debts on wages. In this regard, it is not entirely  clear where the funds were obtained for paying off salaries to  employees and, if from budget funds, why the state repays the debts  of a private company.

In the meantime, since 2013 the factory workers were in forced idle  time. As reported by the Governor of Lori Arthur Nalbandyan, the  total debt of Plant on wages is 100 million AMD. In addition, about 1  billion AMD the company owed to "Armrosgazprom" CJSC, another one  billion is arrears for electricity. Large debts were formed as a  result of non-payment of taxes on land and property to the mayor of  Vanadzor. Tax inspection of large taxpayers KGD also put forward a  demand for bankruptcy due to arrears amounting to about 2.2 billion  AMD. Against the enterprise, about a dozen bankruptcy lawsuits were  filed. It was noted that Zakneftegazstroy-Prometey JSC and Vanadzor  Chemical Plant CJSC signed an agreement, but could not repay the  debt, after which the company Zakneftegazstroy-Prometey appealed to  the court and partially won the claim. The court ordered Vanadzor  Chemical Plant to pay out debts of 112 million AMD. The company again  failed to fulfill its obligations, and Zakneftegazstroy-Prometey  appealed to the court already with a demand to recognize the plant as  bankrupt. The court granted the suit, and Vanadzor Chemical Plant was  declared bankrupt.