The Armenian government has hired the U.S. law firm Foley Hoag LLP to represent the country’s interests in an international arbitration case brought by Walnort Finance Limited, which owns 12.5% of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC). The cost of legal services will exceed $2.5 million, according to CivilNet.
Walnort Finance Limited, whose beneficiary is former Russian Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov, has filed a $1.2 billion lawsuit against Armenia. The company claims its investments in ZCMC were negatively impacted by what it alleges to be a "politically motivated campaign" by the government to secure a significant stake in the plant.
Prior to the arbitration case, Walnort Finance, through other affiliated entities, initiated numerous lawsuits in Armenia challenging various stock transactions related to the plant. These include the sale of shares to a company associated with Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko and the transfer of shares to the Armenian government.
Armenia’s interests in the arbitration will be represented by Konstantinos Salonidis, head of Foley Hoag's international litigation and arbitration department. Salonidis has previously represented Armenia in several international legal disputes.
Payment for Foley Hoag’s services will be made in stages: $250,000 for the preliminary arbitration phase, $1 million for the jurisdiction phase, and $1.3 million for the arbitration hearing and filing of objections.
Earlier, BMG reported that ZCMC, Armenia's largest taxpayer, contributed approximately $215 million in taxes to the state budget in the first nine months of 2024, a 37% increase compared to the same period last year. (This figure differs from the Prime Minister's earlier statements on tax contributions.)
