ArmInfo. The reports of the massive dismissal of employees of the "ARMENIAN COPPER PROGRAMME" CJSC of the "Vallex" group do not correspond to reality. This was reported by the press service of the Group.
According to the source, since October 19, 2018, the Alaverdi copper smelting plant, which is part of "ARMENIAN COPPER PROGRAMME" CJSC, has suspended its metallurgical production for obvious reasons. At the same time, in accordance with the requirements and conditions of the Labor Code, until the end of October, all employees of the company were provided with notifications of staff reductions.
According to these notices, the decision of the employment relationship is planned envisaged to be implemented within five days after December 24. In November-December 2018, employees were not provided with new notifications. Taking into account a number of objective factors that have arisen around the enterprise, while remaining committed to the principles of fair partnership and deeply concerned about the social problems of workers, the company informs that the company's management, with the interested participation of the RA government, continues detailed studies, which began three years ago, on the subject of construction in Armenian-Chinese cooperation new copper smelter.
Attaching importance to the stability of the Armenian economy, the social situation of the residents of Alaverdi and the nearest settlements, the vital need to maintain current workers, and also setting itself the task of eliminating new tensions during these difficult winter months, The president of the Vallex group issued an order to postpone the settlement of labor contracts by two months, after which employees receive new notifications to solve the problem from February 28, 2019. "We hope that our cooperation with the RA government will continue in an environment of constructivism and mutual understanding," the report said.
To recall, from October 19, 2018, the furnaces of the Alaverdi copper smelter producing blister copper are extinguished. About 650 employees of the enterprise were left without work and livelihood. It was reported that the State Inspectorate for Environmental Protection fined the plant for 380 million drams ($ 700 thousand) because of a serious violation of environmental legislation, adopted in 2005. In an interview with the Public Radio of Armenia, plant manager Lusine Mejloumian said that the practical impossibility of fulfilling the requirements of the environmental inspectorate demands that the issue of shutting down the plant's work be put on the agenda. Earlier, Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan reported that the government's decision to close the Alaverdi Copper Smelter is absent. There are negotiations with the owners of the company, VTB Bank. As the Acting Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged, sooner or later the company had to close due to environmental risks. Today, discussions are underway on the construction project in Alaverdi of a new copper smelting plant, which will be able to process over 100 thousand ores. Tigran Avinyan also noted that from next year, the implementation of a program for the recultivation of land located near the open fields will begin. The problem is complicated by the fact that the property complex of the enterprise is secured by a loan of $ 500 million, previously received from VTB Bank for the development of a large Teghut copper- molybdenum deposit, the operation of which was also stopped due to environmental problems even last year after the suspension of co- financing from overseas lenders. Under these conditions, servicing a VTB loan becomes extremely unaffordable for an enterprise and a serious decline in the level of profitability of the Alaverdi plant, in fact, may lead to its bankruptcy.
To note, Vallex Group (Vallex Group) was established in 1998 and unites 20 subsidiaries and affiliates. Among them, Teghut CJSC, founded in May 2006, 100% of the shares of CJSC belong to Teghut Investments Limited of Cyprus, 100% of which voting shares in turn belong to Armenian Kopr Program CJSC, which is fully owned by Valery Mejlumyan, and also CJSC "Base Metals", operating the copper-gold deposit in the village of Drmbon, Martakert region, NKR, Armenian Copper Program CJSC (ACP), operating the Alaverdi Copper Smelter.
