The sale of the Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit in Armenia's Lori region, which VTB Bank had reported on preparing since spring, has been completed. This is not just a corporate deal, believes Vage Davtyan, an expert from the Institute of Caucasian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Teghut is the second largest copper and molybdenum deposit in Armenia. Its estimated reserves amount to about 450 million tons of ore, and the production infrastructure includes an operating mining and processing plant," he reminded.
He noted that after Vallex Group was unable to service its debt obligations, the deposit came under the control of VTB Bank in 2018 in exchange for a debt of approximately $380 million. By the end of 2024, the amount of unpaid obligations to the bank had already exceeded 162 billion Armenian drams, or about $440 million. "For VTB, owning an industrial asset was not a core business direction. As early as April this year, the bank's head, Andrey Kostin, stated that the sale was in its final stages. Now it is closed. A new phase began in June when the investment company 'Kuprar RA' applied to the Competition Protection Commission for permission to acquire shares of 'Teghut'. On July 7, the regulator approved the deal. However, the ultimate beneficiaries of the new owner have not yet been disclosed," Davtyan noted.
