(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. GeoProMining
company, which illegally mined gold in the Kalbajar region of
Azerbaijan during the Armenian occupation, has fallen under the US
anti-Russian sanctions, the statement of the US Treasury Department
says, Trend reports.
During the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, the Armenian side
ruthlessly developed mineral deposits in Karabakh and Eastern
Zangezur. The largest gold mining zone in this region, located in
Kalbajar, has been exploited since 2007 by the Russian company GPM
Gold, part of the GeoProMining mining company.
Although the company's license allowed mining only in the
Armenian territory of the mine, there is evidence of operations
also in occupied Kalbajar, confirmed by satellite imagery. During
the II Karabakh War, the company, to preserve its revenues,
concentrated a significant amount of weapons and mercenaries in the
mine to counter the Azerbaijani army.
Meanwhile, Vartan Sirmakes, a Swiss entrepreneur and jeweler of
Armenian origin who is the co-founder and CEO of the famous Swiss
watch brand Franck Muller Group, was involved in the looting of the
mine.
Gold mined in Kalbajar and Zangilan was offered at Swiss auctions
and stored in Swiss banks.
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