Eldorado Gold enters ‘constructive dialogue’ with Greek government
Canada’s Eldorado Gold, which earlier this month said it would suspend operations in Greece unless it received all of its pending licenses, issued an announcement on Thursday saying it has entered “constructive dialogue” with the Greek government and will be postponing its decision.
“Eldorado Gold Corporation… has entered into constructive dialogue with Greece's Ministry of Energy and Environment in respect to the development of the company's subsidiary, Hellas Gold SA’s Kassandra Mine assets in Halkidiki, northern Greece,” the statement said.
“We are very pleased with the constructive dialogue that is underway with the Ministry of Energy and Environment,” said Eldorado President and CEO George Burns. “Furthermore, last week the ministry issued a number of long overdue routine permits for our Olympias project. As a result of these developments we have decided to temporarily postpone our decision to place our assets in Halkidiki on care and maintenance.”
Burns, however, added that Eldorado Gold preserves “the right to place our assets on care and maintenance and to take prompt legal action to protect the company and its assets in Greece should our dialogue with the Ministry of Energy and Environment prove unsuccessful.”
The news of a possible breakthrough was met with cheers in Athens by miners who launched a 48-hour strike and were protesting in front of the prime minister’s office over fears that they would be left without jobs.
