Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian revealed that the obscure firm called AMP Holding secretly “donated” its 6.8 percent stake in March this year. Pashinian said AMP asked the government at the time not to publicize the transfer “because of commercial issues.”
He did not shed light on those issues or give a reason for the lavish donation. The government’s press office declined to comment on the unusual move.
“The main thing is that since March 24 the government of Armenia holds a 21.875 percent stake [in ZCMC,] which is a very important development,” Pashinian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Pashinian’s government already got hold of 15 percent of ZCMC’s stock through a similar donation announced last fall. The Russian metals group GeoProMining said on October 1, 2021 that it has acquired 60 percent of the Armenian mining giant and “granted” a quarter of that stake to the government.
The transfer followed a government crackdown on ZCMC’s former owners and management. The company based in southeastern Syunik province was believed to be controlled by individuals at odds with Pashinian’s government. One of them, former Syunik Governor Vahe Hakobian, is a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance.
Campaigning for the June 2021 parliamentary elections, Pashinian pledged to punish ZCMC’s “corrupt shareholders” and make sure that their shares are “returned to the people.” In July 2021, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) raided ZCMC’s offices and detained thee company executives.
Pashinian said on Wednesday that the acquisition and subsequent increase in the government’s stake in ZCMC means he has fulfilled his campaign pledge.
According to the Armenian state registry of legal entities, AMP Holding, the company that transferred the 6.8 percent stake to the government, belongs to another firm called Stardust. The latter is in turned co-owned by two individuals. One of them is opposition politician Hakobian’s brother Karen.
The registry also shows that Stardust is managed by Mher Poloskov, ZCMC’s former chief executive. Poloskov faced criminal proceedings after tax and law-enforcement authorities accused the former ZCMC management of large-scale tax evasion last fall.
The authorities dropped the case earlier this year after Poloskov transferred 15 billion drams ($37 million) in what they called unpaid taxes to the state. It is not clear whether the increase in the government’s ZCMC stake was also part of that settlement.
The mining giant employing about 4,000 people is Armenia’s leading corporate taxpayer. It paid almost 105 billion ($260 million) in various taxes in the first half of this year.
