ArmInfo.Armenia makes significant progress in implementing the global standard for good governance in its mining sector. This is stated in the message of USAID- Armenia on Facebook.
According to the source, recently, Armenia became the 9th out of the 53 countries participating in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to achieve the highest status rating for implementing the 2016 EITI Standard, the global document outlining the compliance requirements for countries having joined the EITI.
Following Armenia's first validation assessment since it joined the EITI in 2017, the EITI Board commended the Government of Armenia (GOAM) and the EITI Multi-Stakeholder Group for its exemplary progress, highlighting its efforts to elevate mining issues into broader transparency and governance efforts, integrate the EITI process into the reform agenda of the mining sector, and set a precedent for constructive dialogue and cooperation between different constituencies.
Armenia became an EITI candidate country in March 2017, with political and technical support from the USG. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided direct assistance to the Government of Armenia to facilitate Armenia's application for EITI membership and catalyzed other donor support to the EITI effort.
USAID's current support focuses on strengthening civil society's capacity to conduct oversight of the EITI implementation and fostering professional media coverage of the mining sector and the EITI process. To recall, as Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan reported in May of this year, specific processes are underway in the country to disclose the names of the real owners of mining enterprises. "We have not postponed this question. The process is underway and will be completed. There is no other alternative," he stressed. In this regard, the Prime Minister recalled the legislative changes, the entry into force of which obliged economic entities to submit the names of the real owners by February 20, 2020. Pashinyan said that in general, the implementation of these processes is a new system in the mining industry, but not only for Armenia, but for the whole world.
<But, between us, the names of the real owners are known, at least at the public level. In addition, there are certain criminal cases, as a result of which the answers to all questions will be announced,> he added. To note, at the end of 2019, more than 670 solid mineral deposits with proven reserves, including 30 metal ones, are registered on the state balance sheet of mineral reserves.
EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society, investors and international organizations. It was created in 2002 at the initiative of the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a conference on sustainable development in Johannesburg. The goal of the Initiative is to increase transparency and improve governance in the extractive industries through periodic reporting, adherence to standards, and institutional strengthening. Armenia intends to extend the EITI standards to the energy sector.