Armenia

Analysis of MSG meeting minutes and stakeholder consultations confirmed that the government is fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process.

Metal mining companies are fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. In addition, the government has ensured an enabling environment for company participation by adopting the legislation on mandatory EITI reporting starting from 2017 fiscal year.

The government has ensured an enabling environment for civil society and civil society is fully, actively and effectively engaged in all aspects of EITI implementation in Armenia. Stakeholders, including but not limited to members of the MSG, are able to freely express their opinions on transparency and natural resource governance issues, are substantially engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process, and have the right to communicate and cooperate with each other.

The MSG has been established to oversee the implementation of the EITI and all constituencies are actively and equally engaged in the EITI process. The invitation to participate in the group was open and transparent, and all constituencies are adequately represented. Clear MSG Terms of Reference were agreed after the establishment of the MSG and are followed in practice.

The publicly-accessible Armenia EITI work plans covering 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 reflect the national priorities and provide measurable and time-bound activities. In addition, according to Requirement 1.5.a, the country has gone beyond the minimum requirements by ensuring that national priorities and the work plan extend EITI implementation to responsible mining.

In accordance with Requirement 2.1.a, Armenia has comprehensively disclosed all required information related to the fiscal regime and information on the roles and responsibilities of the relevant government agencies. In addition, in accordance with Requirement 2.1.b, Armenia has gone beyond the minimum requirements in the comprehensiveness of its overview of anticipated reforms.

Information about the permits for exploration and production awarded in 2016 and 2017 is publicly available. Moreover, the permit register includes historic data starting from 2012. The process for awarding and transferring licenses as well as applicable technical and financial criteria are well described, and no significant non-trivial deviations were noted beyond delays in the permitting process.

All information listed under Requirement 2.3 is publicly available for metal mining exploration and production permits.

The EITI Report as well as the legislative and scoping studies provide a detailed review of the relevant legislation and conclude that there is some degree of ambiguity with regard to what information can be considered a commercial secret. Prior to the deadline set by the 2019 EITI Standard, Armenia has systematically disclosed all production metal mining contracts.

The Validation of Requirement 2.5 in 2021 focused only on assessing the country’s progress in meeting the initial criteria. Armenia has leveraged the EITI to pilot disclosures in the extractive sector. Beneficial ownership data has been requested from all extractive companies, and first disclosures have been published online in PDF format. Beneficial ownership disclosures cover all extractive companies holding or applying for a mining permit.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

The EITI Report provides a detailed overview of the extractive industries, including any significant exploration activities.

The EITI Report provides a comprehensive overview of production data reported by the companies and publicly available on government websites. The 2016-2017 EITI Report notes the limitations related to the level of disaggregation of government production data for precious metals. At the same time, the report provides comprehensively disaggregated information as reported by companies.

The EITI Report provides export volumes and values for all major minerals exported. The report also provides an overview of data provided by different sources of information, is transparent about the limitations of official export data and comments on the possible reasons for differences.

The MSG’s decision on material revenue streams and material companies is clearly justified and resulted in comprehensive disclosures. In addition, the online portal includes disclosures from all metal mining companies disaggregated by company and by revenue stream. Corresponding data is disclosed by the government. Although this data is not reconciled, the disclosures are exceptionally comprehensive and backed by legislation.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

The MSG established that rent payments from companies to subnational government entities are material and ensured that these payments and the receipt of these payments are disclosed and reconciled in the EITI Report.

The EITI data is presented by an individual company, government entity and revenue stream, albeit not consistently by project.

The first EITI Report covering 2016 and 2017 was published in January 2019 and before the deadline set in the EITI Board’s extension to Armenia’s EITI reporting deadline.

Reconciliation was undertaken by a credible Independent Administrator, whose appointment was endorsed by the MSG. The IA’s ToRs for the 2016-2017 EITI Report followed the standard template and was approved by the MSG. Data quality assurances are described in the 2016-2017 EITI Report, and they were followed by the reporting entities. The report includes the IA’s assessment of the reliability of data.

The 2016-2017 EITI Report and the scoping study disclose which revenues are recorded in national and community budgets and which are directed to special extra-budgetary funds, with an explanation of the use of extractives revenues not recorded in the national budget. Revenue streams are classified according to the IMF Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001.

Armenia has disclosed the basis for calculating the total amount of environmental payments to be redistributed to communities and the resulting amounts by year for 2016-2019. Armenia has also disclosed the proportions reserved for each community in 2016-2019. The total amounts assigned for each community, the actual transfers and discrepancies are also provided.

It is commendable that the MSG has included information about the budgeting and auditing processes in the scoping study and the 2016-2017 EITI Report.

Armenia has disclosed the nature of in-kind social expenditures and information about third-party beneficiaries by year for 2016-2018. This information includes both disclosures by companies and by beneficiary communities.

This requirement is not applicable in Armenia in the years under review.

The information provided by the EITI Report exceeds Requirement 6.3 in scope and detail. The disclosures and the visualisations of data provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the contribution of the extractive sector to the Armenian economy.

EITI data is easily accessible in an open format and a wide range of both digital and paper-based communications materials have been produced and disseminated. The national secretariat and the MSG are engaging with media across the country, and several outreach events have been organised in key mining regions. EITI implementation is embedded in public debate about the mining sector and contributes to policy-making.

It is commendable that Armenia has undertaken activities to ensure that extractives data is accessible.

The 2016-2017 EITI Report was published in January 2019. Its recommendations have been mostly followed up on by the MSG and relevant government agencies. Concrete changes include improvements to the reporting template.

The 2018 annual progress report includes all required elements and reflects stakeholder views. Follow-up of recommendations from EITI reporting or Validation is not included, as the first 2016-2017 EITI Report was only published in January 2019. In addition, quarterly progress reports help the national secretariat and the MSG to monitor progress against the work plan.