Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company, Ltd.

Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company, Ltd. (AIMROC) was an Azerbaijani joint-venture gold mining consortium between four companies: Londex Resources, S.A; Willy and Meyris S.A.; Fargate Mining Corporation; and Globex International LLP.[680] [855] Globex International was registered in the UK and had three corporate officers: Hising Management S.A.; Lynden Management Group, Inc.; and Arblos Management Corp.[681] All three were registered in Panama and had as their directors Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva, as well as the sisters’ Swiss business associate Olivier Mestelan.[21] [29] [27] [301] [32]

In 2007, the Azerbaijan government awarded AIMROC a 30-year concession to mine gold and silver in six contract areas, including one in the mountainous village of Chovdar, west of Baku.[680] [855] [548] [818] Chovdar was estimated to contain 44.61 tons of gold and 164 tons of silver,[547] worth $2.5 billion by 2012 prices.[680] Under the agreement, AIMROC controlled 70% of the mines, while the government of Azerbaijan owned 30%.[858]

None of the four companies comprising AIMROC had any mining experience, and Azerbaijani officials said that they had been set up specifically for the deal.[680] [855] In parliamentary hearings in 2007, Azerbaijani lawmakers objected that no one knew who really owned the consortium, the concession was awarded in breach of bidding rules, and the contract went against Azerbaijan’s national interests.[855]

AIMROC began producing gold from Chovdar in 2012, and was described the following year as Azerbaijan’s second largest gold producer.[857] [548] One joint-venture partner, Londex Resources, reportedly spent almost $230 million setting up mining operations, including a factory in Chovdar. It produced as much as two tons of gold worth $30 million before abruptly ceasing all operations in May 2014.[548] In the aftermath, approximately 300 mine workers were placed on unpaid leave, and a group of them marched on AIMROC’s headquarters in Baku in January 2016, demanding their unpaid wages.[818] [819] They were told that the company had vacated the building, placed its shares up for sale in 2014, and had “virtually ceased to exist.”[818] [819]