ZCMC еstablishes Sustainability, ESG and Risk Committee

A Sustainability, ESG and Risk Committee has been established within the Board of Directors of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine CJSC (ZCMC). The announcement has been published on the Company’s official website.

The Board of Directors has appointed Artyom Petrosyan, Member of the Board, as Chair of the Sustainability, ESG and Risk Committee.

We asked Mr. Petrosyan to comment on the Committee’s role.

The establishment of this Committee is an important step towards implementation of international-level corporate governance standards. I should also note that the RA State Property Management Committee, as the body responsible for managing the state-owned shares, also initiated the establishment of the Committee. In my view, this illustrates the Government’s attention to modern corporate governance standards. In this sense, the shareholder’s initiative and the Company’s internal efforts aligned and led to the establishment of the Committee.

The Committee will oversee the Company’s risk management framework, sustainability strategy, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. It will also review relevant ESG ratings, support their selection and implementation, and study international best practices in corporate governance to help the implementation and application them within the Company.

Nowadays, a company’s success is measured not only by financial results, but also by the impact it has on the environment, its employees, and society as a whole. Unfortunately, in Armenia, profit is still widely regarded as the primary indicator of business success. However, modern economies evaluate companies in a broader way. What matters is not only how much profit a company makes, but also what kind of corporate governance system it has built: whether standards are followed, how risks are managed, and how responsible the company is toward the society. In this context, ESG is not a trend or a fashion. It is an important indicator of business maturity and the quality of corporate governance. This is why ZCMC established the Sustainability, ESG and Risk Committee - to ensure that these principles are implemented in a structured and effective way across the Company.

In my view, ESG and corporate governance standards are sometimes considered as obstacles or as something that distracts companies from their core business. I strongly disagree with this view. In reality, these standards help build stronger management systems and allow companies to better understand and manage their risks. In the long run, success belongs not to companies with fewer rules or standards, but to those that demonstrate higher quality and balanced management. 

Risk management is not about problems - it is about being prepared for the future.

This is especially important in our region, where the geopolitical environment is rapidly changing and can be quite turbulent. In such conditions, strong governance means the ability to identify risks early, assess them accurately, and make decisions that help the company remain stable even in times of uncertainty. 

Ultimately, a company’s resilience is defined not by the absence of risk, but by the effectiveness with which those risks are managed.

I would also like to mention that the Committee has already started working on its first case. We are currently preparing an analytical review of the possible impact of regional developments around Iran on the Company’s operations. Even at this early stage, this work helps us better analyze the external environment and make timely and well-balanced management decisions. Overall, this is a standard element of modern corporate governance and risk management aimed at ensuring the Company’s long-term stability. 

More information regarding the Committee and its members are available on the ZCMC website.