Hellas Gold: obstacles ‘technical,’ we issued no ultimatum

A day after the Canadian mining firm Eldorado Gold threatened to suspend its operations in Greece, the head of its Greek subsidiary Hellas Gold, Dimitris Dimitriadis, told Skai that the company's local activities are fully licensed and said no ultimatum has been issued. 

"We have 12 decisions on environmental matters from the Council of State and are fully covered," Dimitriadis said, noting that the only obstacles are "technical in nature."

The company received one fine for environmental pollution which it has paid and has appealed to an administrative court, Dimitriadis said, noting that the company was "100 percent certain" it would win the case "as we won all the others."

Earlier on Tuesday, Administrative Reform Minister Olga Gerovasili told Skai that the "government does not respond to threats or blackmail."

Responding to claims by Environment Minister Giorgos Stathakis that the company has not learned to operate in European countries, Dimitriadis countered that 100 million dollars have been invested in "the biggest environmental restoration project in Europe."

As for the government's claims that the company is threatening Greek authorities, Dimitriadis responded, "We did not issue an ultimatum," noting however that "there cannot be uncertainty about arbitration for eight months."