Stealing Armenia's Gold, Again

Ah, gold. What self-respecting Armenian doesn't have at least a few pounds of it stashed somewhere? As of this very moment, the price of Gold stands at $833.20, having made a mad rush to that position in the last few years, no thanks to the present economic uncertainties. So where does Armenia fit in all of this, you ask?

In the town of Ararat - about an hour's drive south of Yerevan, Armenia's capital - investors from Russia have moved in to take control of what is believed to be one of the biggest gold-mining operations in the country.

But there's more to it than that.

Azerbaijan says a considerable amount of the Zod mine is in its territory, at present occupied by the Armenian military.

And let's not forget the previous owners:

In 2002, AGRC was taken over by a company controlled by the family of Indian mining billionaire Aneel Agarwal. But its operations were closed down after the Armenian authorities accused the company of reneging on various licensing agreements. The company was charged with tax fraud and environmental violations and ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines.

Besides the laughable notion of the Armenian government charging anyone with tax fraud, this is yet another nail in the coffin that is Armenia's economic future. We've given away nearly everything in the name of short term profits, but what of the future?

Critics will contend that some of the assets are actually on a long-term lease, but this isn't the case with all of them. Besides, how absurd is it that to revitalize the economy and move it forward means giving control of important assets to foreigners? We only have so much left!

Source: BBC News