No More Double Standards!
Today, on June 8, the embassy of Sweden is organizing a joint event dedicated to the environment at the United Nations office in Armenia. On this occasion a letter was given to the ambassador which was read during the event.
Under the circumstances that the state of Sweden is directly financing operation of Amulsar mine with its deadly consequences, that there has never been a response to the 8000-signature Internet petition to Sweden’s state agencies financing this mine, we find this event with the participation of Swedish Embassy a hypocrisy and application of double standards.
The state of Sweden is directly responsible for the opening of Amulsar mine with its financing and financial guarantees provided to the operating company. Therefore, we deman to relay to the state bodies and private companies specified below that their participation in Amulsar mine operation is a complicity in a crime against those living in Armenia, the nature of Armenia and the ecosystems of this region.
More details about the state financial institutions of Sweden and private equipment companies engaged in financing Amulsar.
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SEK (Svensk Exportkredit) –Sweden’s Export Credit Corporation. A state export credit corporation under the control of Sweden’s Ministry for Enterprise and Innovation the aim of which is to promote Swedish exports. With the mediation of the Dutch ING Bank N.V SEK has credited Lydian Armenia with a loan worth more than 50mln USD in order for Lydian to purchase mining equipment from the Swedish mining equipment producers.
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EKN(Exportkreditnämnden) – Swedish Export Credit Agency. A state agency in charge of promoting Swedish exports by guaranteeing (insuring) their sales. In other words, if the Swedish exporter and/or creditor are concerned that their foreign buyer will be insolvent, the state agency guarantees the transaction for the sake of promoting the sales of Swedish products. For Amulsar gold project, EKN has guaranteed 85% (around 50mln USD) of the credit and its interest provided by the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK). The insurance risk is estimated to be high (6 out of 7). The scheme of the transaction is the same as with the financing of VTB for Teghut mine by the Danish PensionDanmark private pension fund guaranteed by the Danish Export Credit Fund (EKF)։
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Sandvik SRP AB– Mining Equipment company in Sweden, member of Sandvik Group global corporation. With the loan of Sweden’s state SEK corporation and guarantee of the state Export Credit Agency (EKN) Sandvik has pledged to provide mining equipment to Lydian. In the case of Teghut, the Danish FlSmidth company had a similar role. The director of FLSmidth wasby Armenia’s president Serj Sargsyan in Decmber 2016 and received a presidential medal of honor.
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Sandvik Mining and Construction Oy – mining drilling equipment company in Sweden, a subsidiary of Sandvik SRP AB mining company, member of the Sandvik Group global corporation. Has pledged to supply Lydian as part of the above-mentioned transaction.
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ABB Switzerland Ltd – member of the Swiss-Swedish ABB Group multinational corporation. As part of the above-mentioned transaction has pledged to supply high-voltage electricity equipment.
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ABB AB – high-voltage equipment and automation systems producing company in Sweden. Member of the ABB Group multinational corporation, part of the above-mentioned transaction of supplying equipment.
Armenian Environmental Front (AEF) civil initiative
