Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement made by the former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia, as reported in the press release of Geotim Company, published 26 June 2013, that Amulsar is the biggest British investment in Armenia, what level of contribution from the public purse has been invested directly or indirectly in Amulsar; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the merits to UK interests of that investment.

No direct investment from the British public purse has been made in the Amulsar mine project in Armenia, owned and operated by Lydian International Ltd. Both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have invested in Lydian in the past. As a member of those two international financial institutions, the United Kingdom’s overall financial contribution is channelled to their investments in countries where they operate. The United Kingdom’s membership and support for international financial institutions helps advance sustainable and inclusive growth in developing economies.