There is a Decline in the General Mining Industry: Djhanyan

If in 2022, 8 mining companies were included in the list of major taxpayers in Armenia, then their number has decreased to 5 in 2023. This was stated today by Vardan Djhanyan, the First Deputy Director of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Plant and President of the Union of Miners and Metallurgists of Armenia, during a conversation with journalists.

“In general, there is a decline in our sector when comparing 2023 to 2022. The mining sector is primarily an exporting sector, and this is why the exchange rate of the dram significantly impacted the sector. Over the last three years, we have observed a strengthening of the dram's exchange rate, which has had a very negative effect on our industry. The appreciation of the dram has a positive effect only for importers,” he noted.

Djhanyan presented comparative data from the list of major taxpayers in Armenia. In 2023, besides the ZPMP, there are 4 other mining companies that together paid about 30 billion drams in taxes. Meanwhile, in 2022, there were 8 companies in the list of major taxpayers that collectively paid around 90 billion drams in taxes.

Regarding the ZPMP specifically, Djhanyan stated that it has been the leader in the list for the third consecutive year by a significant margin. By contrast, according to Djhanyan, between 2014 and 2021, the ZPMP was the leader only once.

Djhanyan also emphasized, “In the last three years, after the appointment of a new owner and management, we have continuously been the leader. The ZPMP is recording both profit growth and an increase in taxes paid.”