Friday, December 14 2018 13:21

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.