By L. Kalamara
[email protected]
Greece’s Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, has reportedly ruled in favor of the most important points in a motion filed by the Hellas Gold mining company to overturn a 2016 development ministry decision to derisively reject a necessary technical study.
Hellas Gold, a subsidiary of Canadian mining giant Eldorado Gold, submitted the study in order to commence operation of its metallurgical unit at the Skouries gold mining concession, in the eastern part of Halkidiki prefecture.
At the time, the leftist SYRIZA government and relevant energy minister Panos Skourletis returned the study, without approval, to the company “for reasons of substantive deficiency and inaccuracy.”
Four years later, and now with pro-market and pro-business New Democracy (ND) party in power, a majority of CoS justices again ruled in favor of Hellas Gold – the latest legal victory for the concessionaire, which has racked up consecutive legal judgments in its favor against the central government, regional authorities and numerous lawsuits by individuals and groups of plaintiffs.
The metallurgical unit in question is the main processing plant, where mined deposits yield the final raw material, gold in this case.
