British company files complaint to arbitration against Armenia
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Armenia remains in one of the bottom places among the CIS countries in terms of investment attractiveness.
Over the 2018 year, even despite the velvet revolution that has occurred in Armenia, the situation has not changed.
In connection with the ongoing blockade of roads to the Amulsar mine, subsidiaries of Lydian, Lydian U.K. Corporation Limited and Lydian Canada Ventures Corporation, officially reported to the Armenian Cabinet on the existing disputes under the agreement on the promotion and protection of investments between the governments of Armenia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and an agreement on the promotion and protection of investments between the Government of Armenia and the Government of Canada, according to Lydian International Limited.
Lydian is a gold developer focusing on construction at its 100 percent-owned Amulsar Gold Project, located in south-central Armenia. However, illegal blockades have prevented access to Amulsar since late June 2018.
"Under a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, Lydian UK may submit a dispute to international arbitration three months after official notification, and under a bilateral agreement with Canada, Lydian Canada, six months after the official agreement with Canada. At the same time, Lydian is open to the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers in terms of discussing disputes. Whether Lydian UK or Lydian Canada will be transferred to arbitration will depend on the actions of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers," the statement said.
Earlier, lawyers of the Lydian Armenia company filed a lawsuit against MP Sergey Bagratyan, demanding that he is obliged to publicly refute the evidence presented during the February 17 meeting in the Jermuk educational complex, which are considered slander, in particular: "Dear people, the question is very simple, there is a very trivial truth, it is not serious that we take it seriously, because the previous authorities took a bribe from them and resolved what I was talking about, I declare it with all responsibility...".
On its Facebook page, the company demanded to publish a refutation in any printed newspaper with a print run of at least 1,000 copies and distributed throughout Armenia within one week after the entry into force of the sentence under the heading "Refutation" with the following content.
"Voiced by Sergey Papashaevich Bagratyan during an introductory meeting with MPs on February 17, 2019, in the Jermuk educational complex, data considered to be slander that relate to taking bribes by the former authorities from the company "Lydian Armenia" not true".
The company also demanded from Sergey Bagratyan money compensation for slander.
The company said they had long shown indulgence and tolerance and often did not respond to such statements. However, from now on, they will not tolerate the spread of lies and will refer to the relevant legal steps.
Amulsar mine program is the first project of the company in Armenia. And, apparently, the last. Because almost immediately after the April coup, local residents blocked the approaches to the mine and do not allow the company to develop, explaining that it is a concern for the environment.
The authorities do not take any measures, despite the threats of the company's management to sue Yerevan in an international court. As a result, Lydian Armenia already has multi-million losses.
As a result of the scandal, Armenia may remain without foreign investment, as the history of this company is a signal to potential investors not to invest in a country whose authorities do not give any guarantees. The former U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, hinted at this non-transparency, saying that investors "are following the processes taking place around Lydian Armenia".
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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