«Irates». Alaverdi Copper Smelter Has Also Passed to the Russians

«Irates» newspaper reports: “The Alaverdi copper smelter, which has not been operational for nearly a year, has sent some of its employees on forced leave and has laid off others. According to our information, it has been transferred to the Russian side, specifically to VTB Bank.

Several years ago, in order to operate the Teghout mine, VTB Bank demanded collateral from Vaylex for the loan funds, which included the assets and shares of the company managing the copper smelter, A-C-P. At that time, however, the ‘Teghout’ company did not exist as such, meaning that the enterprise, the vast factory, and expensive equipment were not present; therefore, its market price was entirely different than it is now, after the transfer to VTB. Now, with ‘Teghout’ LLC having passed to the bank, the Alaverdi copper smelter has, in fact, also ended up in the bank's hands.

It turns out that ‘Teghout’ LLC, along with its infrastructures and production facilities, already belongs to VTB, and the bank had also taken over the copper smelter a month or two ago.

“As such, no new LLC has yet been formed. It is true that there is a new director for the copper smelter, Karen Ghazaryan, but it is still in the process of organization. Not only the smelter was on the books of A-C-P; thus, not all the territory and buildings have been transferred to the bank. The charitable canteen, the cultural house, and several other buildings remain on Vaylex's balance,” said a source from ‘Irates’.”

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.