On 24 June, “Concern Dialog” Law Firm reported that on 3 June, Walnort Finance Limited Company (Walnort) filed an arbitration claim against the Republic of Armenia.
It is noted that the company’s investment in “Zangezuri Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC (ZCMC) was undermined as a result of a politically motivated campaign by the Government, which aimed to acquire a significant share in ZCMC. “…The Government did not allow Walnort to exercise its legal shareholder rights in ZCMC, which resulted in losses of at least 1.2 billion USD (as a result of an expert assessment, the amount of damage may increase significantly).”
“I do not think that any problems related to ZCMC can arise in the activities of the Government,” Mr. Narek Ghahramanyan, a member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, said to Iravaban.net , and added that it was their problem if they had applied to the court and the court would take a decision.
It should be noted that both the members of the NA ruling faction and the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have more than once directly said or hinted that the mentioned 12.5 percent belongs to the son-in-law of the 3rd President of the RA, Mikayel Minasyan. Narek Ghahramanyan noted that the position of the ruling faction has not changed, a legal process is underway, and the Prosecutor’s Office has expressed its position.
Eearlier, the NA deputy Vahagn Aleksanyan proposed creating an investigative commission and discussing how Mikael Minasyan’s shares were acquired.
During the press conference held on 7 May, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also addressed the issue. He remembered the episode of recording Artur Vanetsyan, the former Director of the NSS. Pashinyan also stated that the published version was not the full version of the recording and raised aquestion related to ‘what else could be in it’.
“For example, what else can be found out? Can it be found out that there could be a conversation in the recording that, being the Director of the National Security Service, without having any permission, he was negotiating with the son-in-law of the former President (Mikael Minasyan-ed.) about writing a part of the ZCMC in his brother’s name? I do not rule out that other things can happen. Now, are those people talking about the motherland?” Pashinyan said.
According to Pashinyan, if the above-mentioned persons care about the motherland, then they should return the illegally acquired interests of ZCMC to the Republic of Armenia, then they will believe that people have repented. He emphasized that there was no other option, and that the share of the combine shpuld be returned to the Republic of Armenia as illicit property.
Back in November 2023, Civilnet wrote that Mikhail Zurabov, a 12.5 percent shareholder in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), the former Minister of Health of Russia, was no longer a shareholder of the combine.
Zurabov managed the stake in Copper Molybdenum through “Zangezur Mining”, “Moon Metals” and “Walnort Finance Limited” Companies. He acquired the share in the mine in 2020, from Karen Vanetsyan, who is the brother of the former director of the NSS, former member of the National Assembly Artur Vanetsyan. The traces of this part of ZCMC ‘s share eventually reached the “Walnort Finance Limited” Company registered in Cyprus. Italian citizen Ignacio Guaya and Swiss citizen Carlos Ballesteros Cherp became the “new owners” of the Company.
On 4 November, 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that a public criminal prosecution for money laundering was initiated against Karen Vanetsyan. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the former ambassador of Armenia to the Vatican, Mikael Minasyan owned the 12.5 percent of ZCMC in 2013-2018, through “Zangezur Mining” Company.
“K.V. (Karen Vanetsyan-ed.),, being informed that 12.5 percent of the shares of “Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine” CJSC were transferred to the company belonging to M.M. (Mikael Minasyan-ed.) through criminal means, with the aim of becoming the actual owner of these shares under clearly advantageous conditions, and at the same time hiding and distorting the criminal origin of this property, ownership, method of management, gave it the appearance of property obtained as a result of legal civil transactions.
K.V. acquired and managed the criminally obtained, particularly large property, worth at least 14 billion 526 million 300 thousand AMD, through an offshore organization for 1 billion AMD and 13 million USD,” the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office said.
However, the criminal proceedings were initiated after Zurabov had already sold his share in the combine.
Notably, according to the data of the Prime Minister’s office in 2020, Mikayel Minasyan had illegal shares in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, as well as in a number of other companies, through fake shareholders.
“Most of those shares were hastily sold after the 2018 people’s revolution. M. Minasyan’s share, for example, was acquired by the former director of the National Security Service, Artur Vanetsyan, apparently by abuse of official powers and again with the help of fake shareholders. The Company owned by the latter’s father has also become a major transporter of ZCMC cargo,” Mane Gevorgyan, who was the Press Secretary of the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at that time said.
