Friday, November 27 2020 00:40

ArmInfo.The Russian side, represented by the company "GeoProMining Gold" (GPM Gold), has taken all necessary preliminary measures to ensure the security of the  territory of the Sotk gold mine in the Gegharkunik region of Armenia,  located at the junction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Deputy  Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Armenia Tsiran  Khachatryan stated this on November 26 during a briefing.

It should be noted that earlier the media circulated information that  the Azerbaijani Armed Forces broke into the mine and demanded that  the employees leave the territory of the deposit.

In this regard, Khachatryan recalled that according to the trilateral  agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on  November 9, the Armenian Armed Forces were withdrawn from the  Karvachar region of the Republic of Artsakh on November 25 in  accordance with the schedule. He showed a map that clearly showed  that the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan runs almost in the  middle of the mine.  "All security issues in Sotk were resolved by  the Russian side. We were not involved in the security of this site.  The gate on the Sotk-Karvachar road was also installed by the Russian  side. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces, having entered Karvachar, and  faced with an obstacle, raised this issue, demanding to remove them,  "Khachatryan said.

He noted that the Armenian side informed Azerbaijan that the Russian  side is dealing with this issue, and the Russian side was conducting  negotiations around the mine. At the same time, he found it difficult  to say whether the parties agreed and about what.

Khachatryan also informed that the delimitation of borders is carried  out through the GPS system, and the Armenian side does not have  military positions located beyond the border line, previously  dividing the Armenian and Azerbaijani Soviet republics. He noted that  now the dividing line follows the coordinates that existed in Soviet  times, but he did not rule out that in the future some agreement on  certain areas could be given and changes would be made.

To clarify who still owns the mine, the Deputy Chief of the General  Staff of the Republic of Armenia again noted that part of it is  located on the territory of Armenia, and part of it, where the  tailing dump is mainly located, outside the territory of the lands  returned to Azerbaijan. The owner of the mine will decide on the  operation of the mine. All questions of further exploitation will be  decided by the Russian side, "he said.  The senior military man also  informed that the Azerbaijani side has already established 3  positions near the mine.

The military noted that these days the mine did not work and the mine  employees, except for the Russian security service, were there.

As a reminder, GeoProMining, founded in 2001, is an international  private company with a diversified resource base of gold and other  metals. GeoProMining enterprises are located in Russia and Armenia.   GeoProMining owns two enterprises in Armenia

- Agarak Copper and Molybdenum Combine (AMMK) and GPM Gold, which  owns the Ararat gold recovery plant and develops the Sotsk gold  deposit.