Mineral Resources from Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan Exported to OECD Countries

Baku / 30.06.18 / Turan: Armenia illegally mines mineral resources in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and exports them to the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on information from open Armenian sources, prepared a report Illegal Economic and Other Activities in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan.

In the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, rich in natural resources, there are about 155 deposits of precious stones, minerals and iron, including deposits of non-ferrous metals, gold, mercury, lead, hard coal and zinc, perlite and other natural resources.

Among them, there are deposits of gold, copper and pyrites in Gizilbulag, copper, gold and molybdenum in Demirli, Janyatag, Gyulyatag (occupied part of the Terter region), gold deposits in Soyudlu, Agdyuzdag, Tutkhuma (Kalbajar), gold deposits in Vezhneli (Zangilan), lead in Mehmana and Sorbulag (Kalbajar), mercury in Sarybulag, Agyatag, Levchay, Shorbulag, Gamyshly, Aggaya (Kalbajar, Lachin), Chilgyazchay and Narzanly (Lachin).

According to Hajiyev, raw materials illegally mined in the occupied territories are supplied to Armenia, processed and exported.

Natural resources in the occupied Azerbaijani territories are obtained without observing standards and using primitive methods, which causes serious damage to the environment.

According to Hajiyev, within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) there is a special ban on the export of mineral products from zones of conflicts and high risk.

However, legal entities and individuals registered in some countries of this organization participate in the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and a number of valuable minerals are exported to OECD countries.

During the investigations it was established that the managers and individuals of such companies as Vallex Group, Base Metals, ACP, Lerna Metalurgiayi Institute, Teghout and others, registered in Armenia and other countries, are involved in this illegal activity.

Thus, Base Metals, registered in Liechtenstein and part of the Armenian Vallex Group, has been illegally operating gold and copper deposits in Gizilbulag near the village of Heyvaly in Kalbajar since 2002.

GPM Gold, a part of GeoProMining, has been operating the Soyudlu gold deposit (Kalbajar) since 2007.

The construction of the Vardenis-Agdere road, passing through Kalbajar, serves the supply of natural resources from the occupied territories to Armenia.

According to international law, such activities in the occupied territories can be regarded as a war crime providing for criminal liability.

Based on the materials provided by AzerGold, the Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal case against individuals and legal entities involved in the illegal exploitation of mining resources in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The criminal case was initiated against the head of the company Franck Müller, registered in Switzerland, and Vartan Simakis, a participant in the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the occupied territories.

According to international law, all states have to warn their legal and physical persons against travel to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, or illegal economic and other activities in these territories, and they must not allow products manufactured there to be exported to their territories.

"Azerbaijan uses all legal and political opportunities at the national and international levels to suppress such illegal acts in the occupied sovereign territories," Hajiyev said. -06D--