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FORTUNE OIL PLC FROM CHINA IS NOT GOING TO LEAVE ARMENIA THOUGH NOT ALLOWED TO WORK IN THE COUNTRY
ARMINFO
Thursday, April 11, 12:01
Fortune Oil PLC from China is not going to leave Armenia even though
its program to develop three local iron ore deposits has not yet been
approved, says a source from Fortune Resources LLC (a company where
Fortune Oil has a controlling stake).
The source has told ArmInfo that the recent media reports saying that
the company is going to leave Armenia are not true. "Simply we are
not working because our program is pending approval," says the source.
Fortune Resources has been registered in Armenia for implementing
three big iron ore mining projects. It has been permitted to develop
deposits in Hrazdan and Abovyan for 25 years and to explore a deposit
in the village of Svarans, Syunik region, for 3 years. The company
began working in Armenia in Oct 2010, with the prospecting activities
started in Mar 2011.
For over a year already the company is drafting a project to build
ore mining and processing factory in Hrazdan but it has yet to undergo
an environmental examination and public hearings. At one and the same
time the company is developing a report on the possible environmental
impacts of the project, with ecology being the key obstacle to its
approval.
The key shareholder of Fortune Resources is Fortune Oil PLC, a Hong
Kong-based company, who has oil and gas business in China and whose
stock is listed at LSE.
As was reported earlier, Fortune Oil was going to invest $500mln in
Armenia. Some media report that the company has paid $24mln cash for
a stake in a company having the right to develop the deposit. It is
reported to be an offshore company with an authorized capital of just
$300 owned by the son of MP, former Environment Protection Minister
Vardan Ayvazyan and businessman Tigran Arzakantsyan. As far as ArmInfo
knows, both are actively engaged in selling licenses for ore deposits
that were "written off" when Ayvazyan was Minister. For Arzakatsyan
this is already the third known deal with a foreign investor.
ARMINFO
Thursday, April 11, 12:01
Fortune Oil PLC from China is not going to leave Armenia even though
its program to develop three local iron ore deposits has not yet been
approved, says a source from Fortune Resources LLC (a company where
Fortune Oil has a controlling stake).
The source has told ArmInfo that the recent media reports saying that
the company is going to leave Armenia are not true. "Simply we are
not working because our program is pending approval," says the source.
Fortune Resources has been registered in Armenia for implementing
three big iron ore mining projects. It has been permitted to develop
deposits in Hrazdan and Abovyan for 25 years and to explore a deposit
in the village of Svarans, Syunik region, for 3 years. The company
began working in Armenia in Oct 2010, with the prospecting activities
started in Mar 2011.
For over a year already the company is drafting a project to build
ore mining and processing factory in Hrazdan but it has yet to undergo
an environmental examination and public hearings. At one and the same
time the company is developing a report on the possible environmental
impacts of the project, with ecology being the key obstacle to its
approval.
The key shareholder of Fortune Resources is Fortune Oil PLC, a Hong
Kong-based company, who has oil and gas business in China and whose
stock is listed at LSE.
As was reported earlier, Fortune Oil was going to invest $500mln in
Armenia. Some media report that the company has paid $24mln cash for
a stake in a company having the right to develop the deposit. It is
reported to be an offshore company with an authorized capital of just
$300 owned by the son of MP, former Environment Protection Minister
Vardan Ayvazyan and businessman Tigran Arzakantsyan. As far as ArmInfo
knows, both are actively engaged in selling licenses for ore deposits
that were "written off" when Ayvazyan was Minister. For Arzakatsyan
this is already the third known deal with a foreign investor.