ArmInfo. Due to the suspension of the Sotk mine, the volume of cargo transportation by the South Caucasus Railway will decrease to 3 million tons by the end of the current year, against 3.5 million tons in 2022. Director General of the South Caucasus Railway (SCR) CJSC Alexei Melnikov said during a press conference on June 28. He noted that this is a very painful issue for SCR, since the share of Sotk mine cargo accounted for 48% of the total volume of transported cargo.
In this regard, Melnikov stressed that the second half of the year will be difficult for the company. "In general, we see that our balance for the year will be negative, and we will work at a loss. This is hard for us, but we are doing everything to find additional volumes of cargo>, the head of the SCR emphasized. Due to the situation at the Sotk mine, the company was forced to take certain measures in order to retain the staff. As Melnikov noted a number of employees, serving this section of transportation, were transferred to part-time employment, the rest were sent to Yerevan. Since the evening of April 14 of this year, the Azerbaijani armed forces have been regularly targeting the Sotk mine. The working personnel of the mine repeatedly tried to start performing their labor duties, but this was hindered by shelling. Geopromining Gold, the operator of the Sotk mine, stated in a statement (published in May this year) that further work at the Sotk open pit had become impossible due to circumstances beyond the control of the Company. Thus, the Company faced force majeure circumstances. - the statement noted.
