UK-based Mining Law and Institutional Capacity Expert to Support Analysis of Armenia’s Legislative and Institutional Framework of Mining Industry

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On September 4th and 5th, Mr. Christopher H. Nurse, a British mining law expert, met with members of Armenia’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Secretariat and Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), which comprises government, industry, and civil society representatives. The initiative aims to support Armenia in reviewing and analyzing the country’s legislative and institutional framework, ensuring its compliance with the EITI Standard and helping produce Armenia’s first EITI report.

Mr. Nurse visited Armenia within the framework of the project titled “Support to Enhance Armenia’s Capacity to Implement Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and to Increase Transparency and Accountability in Mining Licenses and Contracts,” which was launched on July 18, 2017. The project was funded by the British Embassy in Yerevan and is being implemented in partnership with the American University of Armenia (AUA) Center for Responsible Mining (CRM).

One of the main purposes of the collaboration is to receive consultative input from MSG members and other stakeholderson all relevant aspects of the Armenian legislation in order to identify gaps and inconsistencies hindering implementation of EITI standards in Armenia and to prepare a report with recommendations on legislative and institutional reforms, as well as an action plan.

Legislative and institutional framework analysis is one of the key steps in the EITI report preparation process. The EITI is an international financial transparency and accountability standard for the mining, oil, and gas sectors. To date, 52 countries are members of EITI. Armenia was accepted as a candidate in March 2017. To become a member, Armenia would need to present their first EITI Report over the next 18 months, afterwhich the validation process would begin.

Mr. Nurse, founder and director of Hart Group, has over 40 years of experience in the mining sector. Over the past 13 years, he has participated in a variety of studies and projects supporting the implementation of EITI in various countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Albania, and Nigeria. Mr. Nurse has undertaken both EITI reconciliations and validations, and has also written EITI reports.

Background Info

The EITI is a global standard to promote the open and accountable management of extractive resources. The EITI Standard is implemented by 52 countries including Armenia, which became the 52nd candidate country on March 9, 2017 with the EITI Board’s approval of Armenia’s EITI candidature application.

According to the mandate of the EITI International Secretariat, Armenia’s first EITI Report should be published in 2018, covering information on permits issued by the state, extraction volumes, collected taxes, royalties and other payments, revenue allocations, and social contributions in the mining sector from 2016 to 2017. By January 1, 2018, Armenia should have an approved roadmap for beneficial ownership disclosure.

For more information please visit http://www.gov.am/am/eiti/.