Armenia’s Teghut Copper Mine to Suspend Operations, 11 March 2022

...One of Armenia’s largest mining companies belonging to a Russian bank sanctioned by the West has decided to suspend production operations.

Several workers of the Teghut company told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday that they have been notified that they will receive two-thirds of their wages during a two-week leave that will start on Monday.

The workers, who did not want to be identified, said the company management has blamed the stoppage on the Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. They said they are therefore not sure they will return to work two weeks later.

Teghut is owned by VTB, one of seven Russian banks that have been excluded by the European Union from the SWIFT messaging system underpinning global financial transactions. Europe is the main market for copper and molybdenum ore concentrates exported by the company...