Armenia has received the status of a candidate of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the press office of the Armenian government reports.
Armenia has received this status on March 9, 2017 at an EITI board session in Columbia.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard to promote the open and accountable management of oil gas and mineral resources.
The Standard seeks to address the key governance issues of the oil, gas and mining sectors.
The EITI Standard requires information along the extractive industry value chain from the point of extraction, to how the revenue makes its way through the government, to how it benefits the public.
Armenia has become the 52nd country to introduce EITI Standard.
David Harutyunyan, the minister–head of the Armenian government’s staff and the chairman of Armenia’s group in the EITI, said that the introduction of this standard in Armenia will make the country’s mining industry transparent.
Thanks to EITI Standard, a huge volume of information will be available to concerned entities, and the most valuable aspect of the process is that a stable involvement of many concerned entities will strengthen mutual trust and cooperation among all the sides,” he said.
According to the official reports, the mining industry’s share in Armenia’s GDP is 4 to 5 percent.
The National Statistical Service says, the mining industry’s output grew 8.3% in 2016 to AMD 256.4 billion.
Mining industry’s products dominate Armenia’s exports – they make up 26% of the country’s exports and total $470.8 million.
