Throughout the year and with the summary data of 2022, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine maintained the status of the country’s first taxpayer, registering an unprecedented dynamics.

In 2022 the company paid 144 billion drams in taxes compared to 61 billion drams last year. The taxes paid by ZCMC exceed the taxes paid by the 4 companies following it in the list of large taxpayers combined.

ZCMC said in a news release that the company continues to be one of the country’s largest employers. As of January 2023, ZCMC employed 4,607 people, of which 2,481 are residents of Kajaran community, 1,629 are residents of Kapan. In the last year alone, 504 people were hired, including 192 from Kapan, 216 from Kajaran, 45 of them were newly demobilized young people.

Summarizing the indicators, Vardan Jhanyan, the First Deputy CEO of ZCMC and the President of the Union of Miners and Metallurgists, said: “This unprecedented indicator has two explanations: first, the metal prices and the new taxation regime. And the second reason is the improvement of procedural and administrative management of the company. In any case, it is impossible to underestimate the role of ZCMC for our economy.”

He emphasized that the sector has a serious impact on the country’s economy:

“In general, last year, a handful of metal mining companies paid more than 203 billion drams in taxes. The investment is enormous, but the sector needs both quantitative and qualitative growth. All our efforts are aimed at the consistent implementation of reforms both in ZCMC and in the sector, striving to see a positive steady dynamics of modernization, competitiveness and sustainable development in the Armenian mining industry.”