GLOBAL GOLD MINING CONSIDERS AS POSSIBLE RETURN OF ITS LICENSE DURING EXAMINATION OF INTERNATIONAL COURT
Noyan Tapan
Mar 22 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Global Gold Mining company (US)
initiated a arbritration lawsuit against the Armenian government
at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
(ICSID). King & Spalding juridical company (UK) will represent the
US company’s interests at the trial. Ken Fleuriet, representative of
King & Spalding, told NT that Global Gold Mining accuses the Armenian
government of violation of the bilateral Armenian-US investment
agreement: Global Gold Mining was ahead of time deprived of its license
to do extraction in some Armenian mines. According to the lawyer,
this was the behavior of the RA Ministry of Nature Protection after
the company rejected the minister Vardan Aivazian’s demand to give
a bribe. Ken Fleuriet said that according to their information, at
present the RA Ministry of Nature Protection is conducting negotiations
with another company on the issue of providing Global Gold Mining’s
license to this comapny. He did not mention the name of this company,
just saying that it operates in Georgia. He did not rule out that
court may suspend the Armenian government’s decisions, according to
which Global Gold Mining was deprived of license. However, the court
instance has not been formed yet and the court examination may start
in one-two months.
Ken Fleuriet noted that the examination of the lawsuit may last up
to two years.
ICSID is a special body adjunct to the World Bank. In response to
the question why Global Gold Mining did not dispute the Armenian
government’s decisions in an Armenian court, Ken Fleuriet said that
the agreement violated by the Armenian government falls under the
jurisdiction of the ICSID and not an Armenian body.