Canadian mining company partly suspends investment in northern Greece

Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold announced on Tuesday the suspension of a major part of its operations in northern Greece amidst an ongoing marathon confrontation with the Left-led Greek government on the terms of the investment.

During a visit to Athens for a series of talks with the government and opposition parties Eldorado Gold CEO Paul Wright told media that the company freezes its operations in the Skouries goldmine and as a result 600 employees out of 680 will be dismissed.

Another 500 job positions were in jeopardy if the Greek authorities will not grant all proper licenses for the operation of the Olympiada goldmine by April, Wright said, according to the Greek national news agency AMNA.

The head of the multinational said that the four-year investment "has been treated as a political game" that the company did not anticipate and does not wish to participate.

Investors need clear rules and consistent partners to move forward with mutually beneficial projects, he stressed.

Eldorado Gold has already invested 700 million euros in the project, creating 2,000 job positions, according to Wright.

The Radical Left SYRIZA party which came into office a year ago had opposed the project for years citing environmental protection reasons in contrast to the previous conservative-led government which had welcomed the investment as an exemplary case for attracting foreign investments to boost growth, tackle high unemployment rates and exit the six-year debt crisis.

Throughout 2015 the Environment and Energy Ministry revoked and delayed several licenses.

Speaking to a Greek radio station on Tuesday Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis accused the multinational of attempting to "blackmail" the government and underlined that the Greek state will protect the environment and the interests of Greek people.

Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili added during an interview with another local radio channel that 10,000 job positions of the local tourism industry would be threatened if the investment continues without addressing the possible environmental hazards.

Both ministers argued that the company's decision was "most likely" linked to its financial problems and the decline of the price of gold in international markets lately.

Local community has been divided over the Eldorado Gold investment for years. Several protests in favor and against the project have been held around the goldmines and in Athens. Endit