Friday, October 1 2021 17:17

ArmInfo."Industrial Company" and the Government of Armenia (GOA) are happy to announce that the Company has granted the Republic of Armenia and the GOA has accepted a 25% share of the Company.

"Industrial Company" holds 60% of the  shares of the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC). The granted  25% shares constitute 15% of the equity of ZCMC that will  consequently belong to the Republic of Armenia. "Industrial Company"  is a fully owned subsidiary of "Georpromining Armenia". The company  has acquired 60% of ZCMC on 30 September 2021, the press service of  the Armenian government informs. 

Roman Trotsenko, Geopromining BOD Member, commented on the  transaction. "Geopromining has been operating in Armenia for many  years, and we have been a reliable partner for the Republic of  Armenia and Armenians for almost 2 decades. We have gladly embraced  the opportunity to further expand our business in Armenia and acquire  majority share at ZCMC, while offering the Republic of Armenia 15%  equity participation.  We intend to expand cooperation with the  Government of Armenia and this is the first step in a broader  investment vision. The Republic of Armenia, the people and our  shareholders will benefit from all this, as well as new opportunities  will open up for the Armenian economy. We also have a goal to start  the construction of a new copper smelter in Armenia in the coming  years".  Suren Papikyan, DPM of Armenia commented. "We would like to  thank "Industrial Company" for offering the people of Armenia an  opportunity to own a share in one of the largest industrial assets of  the country. This practice that is common in mining worldwide can be  a demonstration for the people of Armenia of how the notion of  stakeholder capitalism and shared values work in practice. We are  confident that this joint project will be a start for a better  governed, more inclusive and sustainable mining sector in Armenia,  that will benefit the country and its investors".

It should be reminded that in the 20th of September Roman Trotsenko  stated in Yerevan that AEON Corporation is showing interest in the  construction of a copper smelter in Armenia (smelter). In an  interview with an ArmInfo correspondent, Trotsenko stressed that the  company has not yet begun to study the possibilities of implementing  this project (fieasibility study), since this requires a political  decision on what the project will be; to determine the place, the  nature of this project, since it is associated with such things as  energy, the generation of which is still not enough, the water  circulation cycle, related to questions about where to get water and  how to use it, and other issues.  This, as the businessman noted, is  a rather complex project, so you need to go through it in stages. As  a rule, it takes 2-2.5 years from the start of a project to the first  construction, so today we are at the very beginning of its  discussion. "I agree that this is a good project and now it is  necessary to implement it, finding resources, space, energy for it,"  Trotsenko stressed.

It should be noted that the Geopromining group of companies  (GeoProMining) entered Armenia since 2007, with the acquisition of  GPM Gold, which operates the Sotk gold deposit and the Ararat gold  recovery plant. Then the company acquired the Agarak  Copper-Molybdenum Combine. The company has invested about $ 400  million in the Armenian economy and has become the largest private  industrial investor in Armenia. The investments were aimed at  technical re-equipment and technological modernization of two  enterprises. So the company "GPM Gold" became the first in the world,  where the innovative technology "Albion" for the processing of  refractory ores was successfully introduced. Agarak Combine has  successfully completed two stages of production modernization.   "GeoProMining" is one of the five largest taxpayers in Armenia. The  company has also committed more than $ 10 million to various social  projects as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program.  Geopromining founder Siman Povarenkin sold the company to businessman  Roman Trotsenko, who entered the company's capital in 2020.