ZCMC CJSC management rejects demand for unrealistic salary increase

ArmInfo. In violation of the labor legislation of the Republic of Armenia and labor contracts, on January 31, 2025, a number of employees of Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine CJSC did not show up for work, demanding an unrealistic salary increase in an ultimatum. By their actions, they sabotaged the work process in the company. This is stated in a joint  statement by ZCMC and the CJSC trade union.

The statement notes that the trade union organization of ZCMC CJSC  does not consider the above actions to be a strike and does not  support them, considering them illegal. As a result of the illegal  actions of the employees, the production cycle of the Company was  disrupted, which suffered significant material damage. "If the above  illegal actions continue, the Company will be forced to dismiss a  significant number of its employees. Taking into account the above,  based on the interests of the overwhelming majority of employees of  ZCMC CJSC and the Company, ZCMC CJSC exercises its right to bring to  disciplinary responsibility persons violating labor duties, in  accordance with Chapter 21 of the Labor Code of the Republic of  Armenia.

For the third year in a row, the list of 1,000 major taxpayers in  Armenia is headed by the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine. The  enterprise transferred about 102 billion drams to the state treasury  for 2024 (with an annual growth of 44%), of which 2.2 billion drams  were customs duties, 30.2 billion drams were direct taxes (including  profit tax, income tax), 2.7 billion drams were indirect taxes  (including VAT, excise tax). Recall that in December last year, RA  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reported on his Facebook page that  ZCMC transferred 33 billion 249 million drams to the state budget as  government dividends. "Please note that this is plus the taxes paid  as a share of the profit, because since 2021 the government has been  a shareholder of ZCMC, as I promised," the Prime Minister noted.

Earlier, Industrial Company JSC acquired 60% of ZCMC shares and  donated 25% of its share to the Armenian government on September 30,  2021. On March 24, 2022, the government received another 6.875% of  the shares as a gift, thus becoming the owner of 21.875% of the  shares or 1/5 of the share in the plant.

Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine CJSC (ZCMC) is the largest mining  company in Armenia. In 2023, the company topped the list of the  largest taxpayers in the country. The plant operates the Kajaran  copper-molybdenum deposit. The plant's ore supply is about 150 years.  The plant produces molybdenum and copper concentrates. Molybdenum  concentrate contains 50% molybdenum, the copper content in copper  concentrate is not less than 15%.