By Mark Dovich
All signs are pointing that this will be a bumper year for Armenia’s biggest mine, even as the government faces a historic lawsuit over its 2021 takeover of a minority stake in the lucrative enterprise.
The Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine paid more than $165 million in taxes in the first half of the year, according to figures published last Friday by Armenia’s State Revenue Committee. That represents an increase of about 84% compared to the first six months of last year and suggests the mine’s profits have gone up substantially.
Meanwhile, the company’s director indicated last week he is expecting the mine to hit record-high production volumes this year, citing technical upgrades and additional investments in equipment.
The Zangezur mine plans to process some 22 million tons of ore this year, director Roman Khudoliy told the Armenpress news agency. That would allow the company to deliver about 220,000 tons of copper concentrate and 30,000 tons of molybdenum concentrate to world markets.
That would likely push the mine’s tax obligations to the Armenian government this year to about $260 million, Khudoliy added. The State Revenue Committee’s numbers suggest the company is already well on track to hit, and maybe even exceed, that figure.
One of the world’s top molybdenum producers, the Zangezur mine was already the single biggest contributor to Armenia’s state coffers, accounting for more than 3% of the government’s total tax earnings last year.
The enterprise’s apparent success comes despite a string of difficulties, including the filing of a $1.2 billion arbitration claim against the Armenian government involving the mine last month and the United States imposing sanctions on its Russian owner in February.
Khudoliy did not comment on either issue in his interview with Armenpress.
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