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The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) has filed a lawsuit against Pastinfo news outlet which actively covers all developments and deals involving the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC).

“The question why the news outlet has been sued can hardly be answered even by ANIF. The fund was vested with exclusive powers by the Armenian government, which handed over its shares in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine to ANIF and granted it a mandate of state representation. Thus, under the Armenian law on freedom of information, a link for public contact should have been posted on the most visible part of the fund’s official website. Moreover, it should have been considered a priority for it,” Pastinfo writes.

“Meanwhile, ANIF has favored a policy of blatant violation of the law, limiting and obstructing the media’s right to obtain information. The media is not allowed to disclose the investment programs implemented by the fund, to develop the topic and make it public.”

Pastinfo says it has addressed a number of questions of public interest concerning the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine to ANIF, expecting “clear answers” from it.

More than 21% of the ZCMC stake were donated to the Armenian government as part of a “shady deal”. The government next handed them over to ANIF for trust management, Pastinfo reminds.

“The chairman of ANIF's Board of Directors is former Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, who has long been the ruling team’s candidate for Yerevan mayor, thus aspiring to become one of the top officials of Armenia always being in the center of media and public attention. Therefore, he should be ready for open and transparent communication with the public.

“Getting back on topic, we couldn't find any information about ZCMC on the website. Moreover, it does not provide the contacts of the Board of Directors members, including foreign ones. The media outlet was left with no option but to submit inquiries to the competent agency to receive answers, which Pastinfo did, performing its original functions. Moreover, the enterprise assured us that although the e-mail addresses [of the board members] were not published, we could reach out to them for comment through the fund.

“The questions we addressed to the Board of Directors members and the chairman of the Investment Committee are the following: Why does ZCMC reject a shareholder's request for an audit of the company? Is it conditioned by the personality of the shareholder who requested this information (lawsuits filed by them). Did they ask for and/or initiate an audit or inspection at the company? Did the ZCMC also reject the Republic of Armenia’s request to conduct an audit or inspection or did the Republic of Armenia have the opportunity to conduct an audit or inspection at the ZCMC? If you didn't make such an appeal, given the recent disclosures (compensation of about 15 billion drams of damage by the ZCMC management), don't you think there is such need? And if you conducted an audit, what violations were found?

“The questions which, in fact, are of public interest, for a long time remained unanswered, one could say, left hanging in the air, as the unsigned letter sent to Pastinfo’s editorial office gave no answers, which was covered in the article entitled "Foreign members of ANIF Board of Directors are isolated from trust management of ZCMC shares” published on June 25.

“Some 1.5 months later we were told that the enterprise which did not reply to our questions sued the news outlet for its evaluation of their conduct.

“It’s worth noting that the editorial staff received neither an answer nor a denial from ANIF, and we learned about the dispute only from the court. What does ANIF dispute? It turns out that the matter concerns our statement that the failure to forward our inquiries to the addressees is aimed at hiding the details of the shady and corrupt ZCMC deal from them. ANIF does not state that they sent our requests to the addressees, which we were notified of. It doesn't make such a statement because there is no mention of it in the unsigned letter received in response to requests sent to 5 different individuals. But it turns out that according to ANIF, the media and journalists have no right to express an evaluative opinion over its actions or inaction. ANIF is allowed to breach the law, whereas we have to praise it,” the media outlet says.

Pastinfo also dismisses the claims that the media “simply disseminates news” as “deeply flawed”, stressing the investigative journalism is inseparable from the media.

“After all, we live in a democratic country, don’t we? Pashinyan claimed that democracy is Armenia's main international brand. Whereas transparency and accountability are critical for a democratic country. Ah, yes, that statement is only intended for the international community, while we in Armenia know what the brand of these authorities really is: militant ignorance, manipulation and pressure.

“How can a government in a democratic state cut a deal with the number one taxpayer of all time, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, and keep the details of the deal secret from the public, leaving questions from the media, which aims to inform the public, unanswered, and even suing it, demanding 5 million drams? Why is the sum so small? They should have demanded 50 million drams instead. Where will this censorship and oppressive machine be leading Armenia to?

“Naturally, Pastinfo takes responsibility for every opinion it expresses, both in the course of its daily activities and in the case in question. We will meet in court, where we will justify the right to make value judgments, as well as the grounds. And if they want to deprive us of the right to express our viewpoint and make judgements, sorry, we will not allow it,” Pastinfo says.