27% of Sotk Mine Employees are on Forced Leave

There are 980 people working at the Sotk mine, of which 260 (27%) are on forced leave. This was stated by a representative of GeoProMining Gold LLC, which operates the mine, during a conversation with a NEWS.am correspondent.

The interlocutor clarified that this situation is due to the mine being operated at a limited scale. The remaining employees are going to work. However, given that the company has other production assets, all vacant positions in these assets are first offered to employees of the Sotk mine.

For example, recently 5 welders were sent to a facility in Ararat (where another 620 people work). Additionally, we are preparing a group of drivers from the Sotk mine to send to the Agarak copper-molybdenum plant.

Despite the force majeure situation arising from the signing of an interstate agreement, the company has paid for the forced leave of 260 employees until January 1, even though it was not legally required to do so, as this situation did not occur due to the employer's fault.

It should be noted that part of the Sotk mine was transferred to Azerbaijan following the announcement signed by Pashinyan, Putin, and Aliyev on November 9. However, the announcement did not mention the mine directly.