UK expert to assist Armenia in implementing standards of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI)

ArmInfo. British mining law  expert, Mr.  Christopher H. Nurse, will support Armenia in reviewing  and analyzing country's legislative and institutional framework  ensuring its compliance with Extractive Industries Transparency  Initiative (EITI) Standard for producing Armenia's first EITI report  .

Mr. Nurse, within the framework of the project funded by the British  Embassy Yerevan, met with members of Armenia's EITI Secretariat and  multi-stakeholder group (MSG) that comprises government, industry,  and civil-society representatives on September 4 and 5. The aim of  the meetings was to receive consultative input from MSG members and  other stakeholders on all relevant aspects of the Armenian  legislation to identify gaps and inconsistencies hindering  implementation of the EITI standards in Armenia and to prepare a  report with recommendations on legislative and institutional reforms  and the action plan.

Legislative and institutional framework analysis is one of the key  steps in the EITI report preparation process. The EITI is an  international financial transparency and accountability standard for  the mining, oil, and gas sectors. To date 52 countries are members of  EITI. Armenia was accepted as a candidate country in March 2017, to  become a full member, over the next 18 months after this the country  would have to present the first EITI Report, afterwards the  validation against the Standard will commence.

Mr. Nurse, Founder and Director of Hart Group, has over 40 years of  experience in the mining sector. He has worked in a variety of  studies and projects supporting implementation of EITI over past 13  years in countries like Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Albania, Nigeria. He  has undertaken both EITI reconciliations and validations as well as  written EITI reports.

Mr. Nurse is visiting Armenia within the framework of the project  funded by the British Embassy Yerevan.  The implementing partner for  the project is American University of Armenia (AUA) Center for  Responsible Mining. The project called "Support to Enhance Armenia's  Capacity to Implement Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative  (EITI) and to Increase Transparency and Accountability in Mining  Licenses and Contracts" was launched in July 18, 2017. 

The EITI is a global standard to promote the open and accountable  management of extractive resources. The EITI Standard is implemented  by 52 countries including Armenia, which became the 52nd candidate  country on March 9, 2017 with the EITI Board's approval of Armenia's  EITI candidature application.  According to the mandate of the EITI  International Secretariat, Armenia's first EITI Report should be  published in 2018, covering information on permits issued by the  state, extraction volumes, collected taxes, royalties and other  payments, revenue allocations, and social contributions in the mining  sector from 2016 to 2017. By January 1, 2018, Armenia should have an  approved roadmap for beneficial ownership disclosure.