Lidian Armenia Issues Statement

Lidian International Limited has announced that on October 15, the Administrative Court of Armenia upheld Lidian Armenia's lawsuit, invalidating the decision No. 30-A of the Armenian Environmental and Mining Inspection Body dated August 27, 2018, which mandated Lidian to refrain from any actions related to mineral resource exploitation until the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Armenia could study the "new ecological circumstances" supposedly discovered for the first time in the Amulsar project area.

The Administrative Court concluded that the alleged ecological circumstances were not substantiated after independent expert examination. The court also noted that Arthur Grigoryan, the former head of the inspection body, had actively opposed the Amulsar project prior to assuming the position of head of the inspection body, which raises serious doubts about his impartiality. The court found that in this case, Grigoryan was obligated to self-recuse, which he did not do. The court has invalidated decision No. 30-A.

Edward Sellers, the Acting President and CEO of Lidian, commented on this matter, stating, "We were confident that the court would confirm that the previous head of the inspection body’s claims were baseless and that his failure to self-recuse was illegal. This court ruling once again confirms that illegal attempts were made to obstruct Lidian’s legal right to construct and operate the Amulsar project. It is regrettable that such illegality has, in fact, occurred with the involvement of an official of the Armenian government."

“On August 19, 2019, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly stated that there is no legal basis for the Armenian government to prohibit Lidian from continuing the Amulsar project and that it is in the interest of the state to allow the project's implementation. The Prime Minister also called on the perpetrators of illegality to unblock the roads and restore Lidian's access to the Amulsar project area. Subsequently, the Prime Minister made similar statements on various occasions, including during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly. However, to this day, illegal blockades of the roads continue.”

“The Prime Minister has also publicly stated several times that 'competing mining companies' and others support the illegal blockaders. It now appears that at least one of these supporters has also been part of the Armenian government. The government has allowed the ongoing illegal blockade of the Amulsar project since June 2018 and has not ensured the enforcement of court decisions confirming Lidian's legal right to access the Amulsar area. When will the Prime Minister disclose who supports the illegal actions against Lidian and when will he take steps to restore the rule of law?”