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A court in Armenia is set to issue a ruling in the Zangezur Mining vs. Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) case in the near future, while Armenia’s government has already “put up with” the idea of losing the case, Pastinfo reported on Saturday.

Former Russian Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov, who owns 12.5% of the ZCMC shares, sued the mining giant, asking the court to invalidate the sale of its 60% shares to Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko’s GeoProMining Gold. The decision to unfreeze the shares has already been overturned.

On September 30, 2021, Industrial Company JSC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roman Trotsenko's GeoProMining, mysteriously acquired 60% of the ZCMC shares and promptly donated a quarter of that stake to the Armenian government. The granted 25% of the shares make up 15% of the ZCMC equity. Trotsenko’s company acquired the shares immediately after they were unfrozen by an Armenian court.

“Our sources tell us that Nikol Pashinyan is somewhat disappointed, since he has realized that Trotsenko, who has been targeted by U.S. sanctions, has “let him down”. He has warned against any interference in the case as well as any corrupt deal favoring GeoProMining,” Pastinfo said.

“Our government sources report that Pashinyan's tough stance is also attributed to the reports that Trotsenko and his team have decided to sell another "property" they own – the Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine – to the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine at a price much higher than normal in order to solve their personal financial problems. Moreover, the idea apparently belongs to ZCMC Director General Roman Khudolin.

“Another important fact is that the U.S. Embassy has also warned Pashinyan that Roman Trotsenko is on their black list, i.e. he is among the sanctioned Russian businessmen. This has also affected Pashinyan's position. According to our diplomatic source, Pashinyan has been urged, "Don't flirt with Trotsenko."

“The government experts have studied the court case and have concluded that the Zangezur Mining's lawsuit is well grounded and any meddling to win the case will have negative consequences both on the investment environment and international courts, where the government is likely to lose huge sums,” the media outlet says.