YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Ministry of Nature Protection deprived the company Global Gold Mining (GGM) of its licence for exploration of the mine in Marjan (Sisian). The RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian stated this at the September 5 press conference. According to him, the company has no longer the right to carry out work at the above mentioned mine. However, GGM is continuing exploration of the Marjan mine, so the ministry has applied to the RA Prosecutor General's Office. GGM's director Ashot Poghosian told NT correspondent that the company has sent the minister a letter with the indication of the respective RA law's provisions, according to which "the unilateral annulation of a licence through a statement or letter is forbidden". He noted that the ministry was obliged to warn in writing the company about its decision to cancel the company's licence, and if the company committed a violation, the ministry was to allow GGM to eliminate that violation within a 90-day period. After that, the company must have been given an opportunity for damage compensation repayment. In the event that compenstaion is not paid, the ministry may apply to court. Yet, according to A. Petrosian, GGM has never received such a warning from the ministry. "If the ministry does not observe the provisions of the RA law and international agreements and continues making illegal statements, it means that we have a "textbook" example of confiscation of our investments," A. Poghosian said.

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