YEREVAN. – Transition of Shahumyan mine in Armenia from Canadian to Russian ownership has no political connotations, Canada’s Ambassador to Armenia, John Kur—whose diplomatic residence is in Moscow—, told Armenian News-News.am, at the sidelines of Monday’s Armenian-Canadian mining forum in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.

“Of course, I cannot comment on their business decisions, but what I will simply say is that this type of transaction has been very much an example of the way in which the mining industry operates around the world,” he said. “In this case, a Canadian company has been making important investments in initial exploration and development, and then of course, further along the lifecycle of the project. To the best of my knowledge, there are no political connotations to that transaction whatsoever.”

This is rather a matter for economics, finance, and business in which, of course, all parties are trying to maximize the value of the assets at hand, Ambassador Kur added.

To remind, on March 1, Canada-based Dundee Precious Metals announced concluding a definitive agreement for the sale of its interest in Shahumyan polymetallic mine in the south of Armenia to Polymetal International Plc from Russia. The license for the mine is to be sold for US$25mn—of which $15mn in Polymetal ordinary shares—, and a 2 percent net smelter return royalty on future production, capped at $25mn.

Dundee is listed on the Toronto stock Exchange (TSX:DPM), and Polymetal is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:POLY) and the Moscow Stock Exchange and is traded in the US through ADRs (American Depository Receipts).