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Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko, de facto owner of the GeoProMining Gold LLC and the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), is “at loggerheads” with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Past daily reports, citing its sources.

“Our sources in the government tell us that Pashinyan is so enraged that he even prohibited anyone from his inner circle to put in a good word for or interfere in any matters related to Roman Trotsenko and his mining business,” the newspaper says.

“According to the sources, there are several reasons for Pashinyan's anger, including the failure to make important investments and deliver on other promises as well as the steps during the acquisition and transfer of the ZCMC shares which will lead to serious consequences sooner or later,” it adds.

On September 30, 2021, Industrial Company JSC, a wholly owned subsidiary of 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.

“At the same time, according to our sources, the government is certain that Trotsenko's acquisition of the shares will be declared invalid by the court. In this case, the current authorities have the sufficient resources to reach an equal agreement with any new shareholder, i.e. to regain a stake in ZCMC as ‘donation’,” Past says.