U.S. Company Becomes New Owner of Armenia’s Teghut Copper-Molybdenum Mine

YEREVAN — The new owner of Armenia’s Teghut copper-molybdenum mine is a U.S. company headed by Konstantin Sokolov, who was recently appointed by the U.S. State Department to lead the TRIPP+ commercial fund associated with the “Trump Route” through Armenia.

Documents from Armenia’s electronic registry of legal entities show that the new shareholder of Cuprar RA, the company operating the Teghut mine, is Dynamic Frontier Holdings.

The company is not registered in Armenia. According to publicly available information, it was established in the U.S. state of Texas in August 2025.

Documents obtained by Azatutyun from the Texas tax registry indicate that the company is managed by Konstantin Sokolov, a Florida resident.

Before becoming involved with TRIPP, Sokolov was already known in Armenia as a co-owner of telecommunications operator Viva Armenia. In 2024, he acquired a 20 percent stake in the company.

In April, VTB Bank President and Chairman Andrey Kostin announced that the bank was in the final stages of selling an asset involved in copper production in Armenia.

The Teghut mine has Armenia’s second-largest copper and molybdenum reserves, with estimated deposits totaling approximately 450 million metric tons of ore. The site also includes a mining and processing plant that was commissioned more than a decade ago.

The mine was previously operated by Vallex Group, owned by businessman Valeri Mejlumyan. In 2018, it emerged that Vallex Group was unable to repay its loan obligations to VTB Bank. The mine was subsequently transferred to the Russian state-affiliated bank in exchange for approximately $380 million in outstanding debt.

According to Teghut’s 2024 financial report, its unpaid loan obligations to VTB exceeded AMD 162 billion, equivalent to approximately $440 million.