The main reason for the reduction in tax payments by Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine CJSC was the decline in world prices for copper and molybdenum. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan stated this on February 7 during government hour in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
According to him, world prices caused a 50% decrease in tax contributions to the state budget. Another reason was the company’s repayment of previous debts and fines accrued on these debts in 2022. However, as Grigoryan noted, the company’s tax payments over the past two years amounted to about $500 million. If this figure is compared with the previous three years, then three years ago the maximum volume of contributions to the state treasury was no more than $60 million. “In any case, the volume of tax contributions from the company is unprecedentedly high,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Grigoryan also touched upon the investment obligations of the GeoproMining company, which owns ZMMK, according to which it is planned to build a low-power nuclear power unit and a copper smelter. As the Deputy Prime Minister noted, the company is currently adhering to the deadlines for implementing investment obligations. The presented projects are very significant in scale and require research and preliminary work. “We’ll wait and see what will happen in the end, especially since a lot has changed over the past time,” the vice-premier emphasized.
It should be noted that for the second year in a row, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine tops the list of the largest taxpayers in Armenia. According to data from the State Revenue Committee, the company sent 70.8 billion drams to the state treasury in 2023 (with an annual decline of 50.8%), of which 5.2 billion drams were for customs duties, 27.1 billion. drams
– for direct taxes (including profit tax, income tax), 5.6 billion drams – for indirect taxes (including VAT, excise tax).
GeoProMining Gold operates the Sotskoye deposit and the Ararat gold recovery plant. In the fall of 2021, the company bought a controlling stake in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, transferring part of the shares to the Government of the Republic of Armenia (15% of their total volume).
