Roman Khudoliy did not name those forces in video remarks posted on a ZCMC social media account. The company’s press service declined to elaborate on his allegations.
“Previously, the plant was a kind of ‘state within a state’ and no one outside it could benefit from it,” said Khudoliy. “The company's funds and influence were used in the interests of certain groups, but this practice was stopped. We eliminated corruption schemes and significantly increased tax payments to the country's budget.”
The ZCMC, which is Armenia’s number one corporate taxpayer, is controlled by entities linked to Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko. The Armenian government owns almost 22 percent of its stock.
Despite holding the sizable minority stake, the government has avoided any direct intervention in the strike launched on January 31 by some of the 4,600 or so people working in the company based in Kajaran, a small town 330 kilometers southeast of Yerevan. Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan has said that it is up to the management and workers to find a mutually acceptable solution. According to the ZCMC, every day of the strike costs the state 100 million drams ($250,000) in unpaid taxes.
The several hundred protesting workers demanded a 50 percent pay rise and better working conditions when they brought mining and ore-processing operations at the ZCMC to a halt. The company rejected these demands before firing eight organizers of the strike late last week.
Khudoliy likewise denounced the “ultimatum.” Still, he announced that the wages of the ZCMC personnel will be raised by an average of 20 percent over the next few months. He said the company will also hire a new health insurance firm to improve its workers’ access to medical care and install new air ventilation systems to protect them against toxic emissions.
The stoppage continued despite these apparent concessions, however. Some of the protesting workers said the concessions are short on specifics.
“Let them say, for example, that people making 240,000 drams will get 390,000 or 400,000 drams,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. He said the management must also rehire his fired colleagues leading the strike.
One of those organizers, Shavarsh Margarian, would not say what else the management must do now. “I can’t speak concretely,” he said.
Khudoliy claimed that the strike is supported by only a small minority of workers who threaten and bully their colleagues willing to return to work.
“I guarantee the safety of everyone who will come to work,” said the ZCMC’s executive director. “Any threats will be recorded and forwarded to law-enforcement agencies.”
The organizers of the strike deny any intimidation. They said later on Monday that they resumed negotiations with senior ZCMC executives. According to them, the talks are mediated by Armen Khachatrian, a senior Armenian parliamentarian representing the ruling Civil Contract party. Khachatrian could not be immediately reached for comment.
