A government group consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, the State Service for Real Estate Affairs under the Ministry of Economy and AzerGold CJSC visited the area in Agdere district on December 3 to conduct monitoring. The ministry, which has released official information on monitoring, said that the delegation held discussions at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Khojaly.

During the discussions, serious concern and dissatisfaction regarding the illegal exploitation of minerals and other secondary consequences within the illegal activities conducted in the territories of Azerbaijan where the peacekeeping forces are temporarily stationed was brought to the attention. The importance of conducting monitoring, property inventory and environmental research in fields where illegal mineral exploitation is carried out and other relevant locations was emphasized. At the end of the discussions, preparation of the road map was started in the mentioned area with the participation of the relevant institutions of the Azerbaijani government. source

Faktyoxla Lab. has investigated the identity of those engaged in the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in the territories of Azerbaijan and those who patronized them.

First, let’s consider the brief geological geography of this region. The area where the ‘Gzilbulag’ gold-copper deposits located in the villages of Gulyatag, Janyatag and Ashagi Oratag of the former Agdere (now Tartar) district, which is part of the Karabakh economic region, is one of the most promising mining areas of Azerbaijan. Until the 1990s, geological exploration and excavation works in this region were carried out directly by the Geological Service of Azerbaijan. After Armenia occupied Karabakh, these deposits were looted by an international transnational criminal network in nearly 20 years. However, each of those fields has been internationally recognized as an industrial region under the mining jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. According to the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed between the government of Azerbaijan and the Anglo Asian Mining PLC company on August 21, 1997, the Gizilbulag, Mehmane, Janyataq-Gulyataq, Heyvali fields were given to a UK company.

Armenia, however, continued its occupation and looting activities without paying attention to international law and norms. Vallex Group (the financial investor of its corporation is Vartan Sirmakes, a Swiss citizen), and Base Metals, a subsidiary of Vallex Group (the shareholder is Valeriy Mejlumyan and the general director of that JSC is Artur Mkrtumyan), were involved in development and exploitation in Soyudlu and Zod, Vejnali, Gizilbulag, Demirli and other rich gold, copper, molybdenum deposits in Kalbajar, Zangilan and Agdere districts. (source)

Vartan Sirmakes was at the head of this robbery. His Corporation includes the companies Vallex Group, ACP, Base Metals, Teghut, Vallex Mining, Vallex IT.

Vardan Sirmakes has chosen Gold Star, one of its subsidiary companies, as the main contractor in the gold mine in Vejnali. Sirmakes and Mejlumyan, which have offshore relations with Cyprus and Lichtenstein, have attracted subsidiaries of Argentina, Australia, France, Iran, the US, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, China, Lebanon, Greece, Uruguay, India, Canada and other countries to the production works, and together with the separatist regime exploited the wealth of Azerbaijan. Among them are Canadian First Dynasty Mines Ltd, GeoProMining Ltd, GPM Gold, Global Gold Armenian Ltd, Geologix Group, Rodino Haskovo, Centro Ceibal, Deccan Gold Mines Ltd, Indian Sterlite Gold Ltd and other companies were found to be operating illegally.

Most of the equipment used for the extraction of Agdere’s resources was brought from Russia, France, and India. The Canadian companies Canadian First Dynasty Mines Ltd and Dynasty Mines were direct participants, while the Indian company Indian Sterlite Gold Ltd took over the provision of equipment in Vejnali. Vibrotechnik company operating in St. Petersburg of the Russian Federation has partnered with Base Metals in Agdere in the field of supply of necessary technical equipment. The Australian company International Base Metals Limited provided transport and logistics services for the export of natural resources to the European markets. All these activities are a clear international crime and violate the requirements of the IV Hague Regulations adopted in 1907 and the IV Geneva Convention of 1949. In order to transport the natural resources of Karabakh, in 2012 Khojaly airport was reconstructed and made usable for the landing of cargo planes.

Sirmakes is also the owner of Swiss watch manufacturer Franck Muller. A large part of the gold he stole from Vejnali was used to make Franck Muller watches, which are considered a brand in the world.

The head of Vallex Group, the ‘godfather’ of economic looting in Zangilan, Kalbajar and Agdere, Vartan Sirmakes, visited ‘Artsakh,’ made continuous visits to the areas where the mining industry is located, and gave assignments to Araik Arutunyan. reference

Sirmakes founded Artsakh Bank in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, opened a jewelry factory in Karabakh, and built the Vallex Garden hotel in Khankendi. Along with members of the Armenian lobby living in the US, France, Canada and Lebanon, representatives of the state and parliament of those countries also came to the hotel, which was opened in 2012, and engaged in activities against Azerbaijan.

Sirmakes’ illegal activity in Karabakh was not limited only to the field of mining industry, in 2015 he also built a fish breeding plant for the production of caviar in Sugovushan settlement. The farm was expected to bring income from 2021, but the Azerbaijani army canceled these ideas. For information, let’s say that Sirmakes was the main investor in the construction of the 80 km Agdere-Kalbajar-Zod road, which is an alternative to the Lachin road connecting Khankendi with Armenia.

It is interesting that one of the closest partners of the Mejlumyan-Sirmakes ‘laundering gang’ was the Russian VTB Bank financial group. Teghout JSC, one of Mejlumyan's subsidiary companies, received financing from VTB Bank for the exploitation of the famous Teghout field in Zangazur and Vejnali field in Zangilan. In this cooperation, the former president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, received a large amount of ‘fees’ as a mediator. It turns out that in December 2007, Russia signed a $250 million agreement on the Tegout project with the former head of Russia’s VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin, and the ex-president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, also took part in the project. source

Thus, VTB Bank, which entered the mining industry with generous financial allocations, turned Teghout CJSC into its subsidiary. Some 49.95% of the shares of CSC registered in Greek Cyprus belong to Nairi Infrastructure Capital Ltd legal entity of VTB. In short, VTB Bank has been one of the main players in the looting of Zangilan’s natural resources for many years.

Valery Mejlumyan’s close accomplice in the looting of Azerbaijan’s natural resources were the former presidents of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. In particular, Valery Mejlumyan’s ‘business empire’ was managed by Sargsyan, and no one knew exactly with whom he shared the profits. source

Sargsyan’s continuous presence in mining fields belonging to Azerbaijan and giving instructions confirms his legal responsibility as a criminal. source

Sargsyan also visited the Demirli (Armenians call it Kashen) field in Agdere together with Mejlumyan and personally supervised his ‘business.’ source

It is no coincidence that in 2014, Sargsyan awarded Mejlumyan with the first-class ‘Services to the Motherland’ medal ‘for exceptional services and important personal contribution to the development of the economy’, it is the special ‘value of courtesy’ of Serzh Sargsyan, who considers money more than the motherland of this professional thief.

Serzh Sargyan did not forget the ‘services’ of another partner in crime, Vartan Sirmakes, and appointed him consul general in Marseille (France). In 2011, he was awarded the first-class medal of Armenia ‘For Service to the Motherland.’

The biggest crime of this gang was supporting the terrorists of the separatist regime, providing them with weapons and other military equipment. Reference

Sirmakes has a close relationship with the current government. Today, the big economic criminal is also helping Pashinyan’s family business. His warm relationship with Anna Hakopyan is not a secret, it has become a habit for Hakopyan to be with her often and to receive expensive gifts and large amounts of funds from Franck Muller. Reference

Thus, Vallex Group CJSC, Base Metals and their subsidiaries looted the wealth of Karabakh and earned currency worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They paid a part of their income to the budget of the criminal regime in Khankendi, bribed Serzh Sargsyan, and now they allocate funds to the Yerevan government under the ‘curation’ of Pashinyan’s wife. The source of all this money is Azerbaijan’s natural resources.

However, after Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation in the Second Karabakh War, the ‘long-term projects and programs’ of Mejlumyan and Sirmakes were also ‘stopped.’ This criminal network retreated after the materials of the criminal case initiated against them by the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan were formalized at the international level. Criminal cases were initiated on the facts of the illegal business activities of persons of Armenian origin in the territories of Lachin, Kalbajar and other districts, which resulted in gross violations of the rules of ecology and subsoil exploitation. According to the criminal case initiated by articles 3 (illegal entrepreneurship) and 318.2 (illegally crossing the state border), Vartan Sirmakes, a financial investor of Vallex Group, a citizen of the Swiss Confederation, as well as the head of Base Metals Valery Mejlumyan and the head of JSC Director Artur Mkrtumyan were charged and a criminal case was opened. All three persons are wanted internationally. source

As a result, the Sirmakes-Mejlumyan-Mkrtumyan criminal network decided to protect their ‘investments’ through Ruben Vardanyan, fearing the wrath of the Azerbaijan Commando. It is not an exception that Vardanyan, who was appointed ‘state minister’ by Moscow to Khankendi, agreed with the Base Metals company. There is no doubt that the commander of the peacekeepers, Andrey Volkov, was involved in this trade. Information about Ruben Vardanyan’s gift of an expensive apartment in the center of Moscow to Volkov was spread on social media.

The apartment given to Volkov

With his ‘blessing’, the peacekeepers are allowing criminal Armenian businessmen to exploit the Gizilbulag mine. The video footage of those looting facts is known to the public. It goes without saying that the government of Azerbaijan has the ability to monitor the movement of people and vehicles moving in that area and to see the number plates of cars through the most modern technical means, including satellite imaging. It is also possible to see from the video surveillance materials that KamAz vehicles, accompanied by a Nissan Patrol car with Armenian registration number, carry goods from Khankendi to Armenia every day via Lachin. Those cargoes are gold resources extracted from the precious and non-ferrous metal deposits Gizilbulag, Mehmane, Demirli, Janyataq-Gulyataq, Heyvali (Drmbon) located in the north of Karabakh, in the Agdere zone. Reference

Sergey Markov, a Russian political scientist and director of the Institute of Political Studies, does not rule out Vardanyan’s connections with Moscow in these crimes. The political scientist reports that Vardanyan (minutes 2:59-3:28 in the video) managed to capture some politicians in Karabakh to carry out his dirty and insidious plans, his close friend Sirmakes provides the gold reserves of his company in Switzerland at the expense of the mines he exploits in the territories of Azerbaijan, now Vardanyan using his authority, took over the supply of raw materials.

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, insists that it will restore control over the gold deposits in its territory, including in Agdere, and that the peacekeepers temporarily controlling the territory should know their limits. Because those fields were officially given to foreign investors by Baku and their activities must be ensured. On September 28, 2021, the government of Azerbaijan renewed the agreement signed in 1997 with the British company Anglo Asian Mining PLC and gave the operation of the Vejnali and Gizilbulag fields to this company on the basis of production sharing. In September 2022, Anglo Asian Mining PLC started intensive exploration work in the Vejnali gold deposit located in Zangilan district. source

Currently, the company wants to start contractual obligations for the Gizilbulag and Demirli fields in Karabakh. In a statement released some time ago, it was noted that the development of the Gizilbulag and Demirli fields located in the Karabakh economic region is one of the main plans, and all opportunities will be used to ensure the Company’s physical access to this region, where Russian peacekeepers are currently stationed. source

Anglo Asian Mining PLC has the right to carry out exploration and future production potential assessment for five years, and then to develop and operate for 15 years with two extensions of 5 years. In this regard, the government of Azerbaijan wants to accelerate the activities of the British company in Agdere, and the decision of representatives of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Service of Real Estate Affairs and AzerGold CJSC to conduct a monitoring visit to Agdere on December 3 and to prepare a Road Map is precisely to stop this illegal economic activity.

It is not an exception that all necessary measures will be taken for this, for now a civilian mission has been sent to Agdere and the result is obvious. Azerbaijan is already preparing to build mini customs posts in the Lachin corridor. The customs checkpoint is the first step to defeat the robbery plans of Vardanyan and his peacekeeping friends, as well as the Sirmakes-Mejlumyan-Mkrtumyan gang, which is internationally wanted by the Azerbaijani government. It is an ecological anti-terror operation, a mini warning.

The scale of the Road Map is wide and it is not an exception that macro-posts will be established in the near future. In short, Azerbaijan insists on taking all measures to prevent both illegal economic and armed activities in its territory.