Russian state-owned bank VTB completed the sale of Teghut, Armenia’s second-largest mining company, to Kuprar RA, a locally registered firm whose ultimate owner has not been publicly disclosed.

VTB’s Armenian subsidiary acquired Teghut in 2019 after the previous owner defaulted on a $400 million loan. The company operates the Teghut copper and molybdenum mine and processing plant in Armenia’s Lori province. Mining operations were suspended after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when Western sanctions targeted VTB, but production gradually resumed in subsequent years.

The bank announced earlier this year that it was in the final stages of divesting its controlling stake, and Armenia’s competition regulator approved the transaction last week. The buyer, Kuprar RA, was established in February by former Armenian government official and banking executive Sergei Virabian. Virabian said he sold the company to another entrepreneur earlier this month but declined to identify the new owner, citing commercial confidentiality.

Media reports have previously linked Russian-born businessman Konstantin Sokolov, a co-owner of one of Armenia’s mobile telecommunications operators, to interest in acquiring Teghut. However, Virabian declined to confirm whether Sokolov is the company’s new owner. The transaction transfers control of one of Armenia's strategically important mining assets while leaving questions over its ultimate ownership unresolved.