| Canadian authorities stand up for Archangel Diamond Corporation On the morning of October 5, five masked armed men burst into the Arkhangelsk office of the Canadian company Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC). The office employees were ordered to lie on the floor, they were handcuffed, the safe was emptied - and they were gone. It must have happened that just from October 4 to October 7, Linda MacDonald, the Consul General of Canada in St. Petersburg, as well as the head of ADC Timothy Haddon and the general director of the Almazny Bereg JV Michael Krel were visiting Arkhangelsk. Fortunately, at that early hour, together with the leadership of the Arkhangelsk region, they admired the seaport.
The main topic raised during Ms. MacDonald's visit was the situation with the license to develop the diamond pipe named after. Mushroom. Let us remind you that the license is held by the Russian OJSC Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (AGD). ADC demands that it be re-registered as the Almazny Bereg JV, but AGD refuses.
Mrs. MacDonald naturally supports the point of view of her compatriots. However, she failed to convey her opinion to the regional governor Anatoly Efremov. Although the visit of the Consul General was planned in advance, the governor left for Moscow, according to rumors, to buy fuel oil, which the region is in dire need of. Even in the absence of their head, the regional authorities gave the Consul General an excellent reception. The administration's press release says that the speech at the meeting of the Consul General with the regional leadership was devoted mainly to the license and that the parties intend to sit down at the negotiating table. In response, Ms. MacDonald promised “if the outcome is positive, she will continue to help attract Canadian investment to the Arkhangelsk market.”
But the leadership of the AGD responds that it did not take part in the meeting and does not bear any responsibility for the decisions made at it. As for investments, according to AGD Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs Alexander Vladimirov, “the Canadian side, contrary to legal realities, constantly sets the same condition, which has already set teeth on edge: to immediately reissue the license. Otherwise, everything will be done to prevent Canadian investment in Russia.” What follows is a decisive passage addressed to the Consul General: “The tactics of pressure and blackmail are well known to us...”.
According to some information, Ms. MacDonald really made it clear that the investment attractiveness of not only the region, but also the whole of Russia directly depends on the solution to the issue with the license, and that the pipe is to them. Grib could seriously spoil President Putin’s planned visit to Canada in December, or he could become the highlight of this visit. By the way, during it the parties will discuss not only the possibility of supplying feed grain from Canada to Russia, but also Canada’s assistance in Russia’s accession to the WTO. Anastasia NARYSHKINA |
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