Arrest Imposed on Shares of Former Russian Minister in Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine

On November 29, an arrest was imposed on the 12.4% share of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine owned by the company 'Zangezur Mining' and the 12.5% share of another stakeholder, 'AMP Holding', as reported by 1lurer.am.

The shareholder of 'Zangezur Mining' is Mikhail Zurabov, the former Russian Minister of Health and Social Development, through the Cypriot company Walnort Finance Limited.

Stakeholders of 'AMP Holding' include former director of the copper-molybdenum combine, Mher Poloskow, the brother of opposition 'Armenia' alliance MP Vahe Hakobyan, Karen Hakobyan, and Gurgen Ambaryan, who is the son of the combine's former deputy director, Narek Ambaryan.

There is currently no information in the judicial information system or the registry regarding the nature of the legal action that led to the imposition of the arrest on the shares of the companies. Aram Orbelian, the lawyer representing the interests of 'Zangezur Mining', told Lurer that he has no information about the arrest order: "I assume that the arrest is related to some legal case. I believe we will learn more later. There is still no information on the 'Datalex' platform. There is a 99% likelihood that this has resulted from a new judicial process against us, but I have no idea about the rest... A lawsuit has been filed, and they have requested the imposition of an arrest, which has effectively been applied," Orbelian reported.

In his opinion, the arrest on 'Zangezur Mining' could be associated either with disputes over certain transactions or with a compensation claim.

Prior to this arrest on the shares of 'Zangezur Mining' and 'AMP Holding', the court also imposed an arrest on the shares of 'Industrial Company', which acquired 60% of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine on September 30, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko. The arrest on Trotsenko's shares was made at the request of Zurabov, who deemed the acquisition of shares from the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine and the transfer of 15% to the government illegal. This arrest was part of the same legal action.

Currently, as a result of various legal actions, 70% of the combine’s shares are under arrest.

Orbelian assures that "Zangezur Mining" wants to make investments and is interested in expanding its operations.

The legality of Trotsenko's acquisition of the combine's shares is currently being contested in court. 'Zangezur Mining' claims that in the event of a share purchase, they should have been offered the opportunity to buy them first. This procedure has not been followed, and 'Zangezur Mining' is currently demanding the transfer of those shares to them.

Recently, the 'Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine' submitted a declaration of real owners to the electronic register of legal entities. According to this declaration, Roman Trotsenko holds a 32.4% share in the company, 15% of the combine belongs to the government's cabinet, and 12.4% belongs to Mikhail Zurabov. Mirzaaziz Musakhanov owns an 8.1% stake, and Roman Khudolin has a 4.5% stake; these two are essentially connected to Trotsenko and hold leading positions in his various companies. Mher Poloskow owns 7.5% of the combine, and both Karen Hakobyan and Gurgen Ambaryan hold 2.5% each.