ATHENS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government will respect the ruling of the arbitration process between the Greek state and Canadian gold mining company Eldorado Gold, which ended in favor of the latter in a dispute over operating licenses in mines in northern Greece, Greek Environment and Energy ministry said on Wednesday.
Last September, the government had referred to the State Council, Greece's supreme administrative court, to resolve through the arbitration process a long standing row over the terms of construction of a plant at Chalkidiki peninsula, arguing that the investors' technical study was flawed.
Greek Environment and Energy minister Giorgos Stathakis had said that licenses the company had requested had not been issued, because contractual obligations had not been met.
The minister had cited concern over the "environmental and ecological footprint that would affect the health of residents and the economic activities of the wider region".
The arbitration panel dismissed the government's arguments, it was announced on Wednesday.
"The Greek state is now obliged to ensure that 'clean gold' will be produced, fully respecting the limitations posed by European legal framework for environmental protection, the commitments undertaken in favor of public interest," a ministry press statement said.
The investment at the Greek mines is one of the largest made in debt-ridden Greece in recent years.
Eldorado has invested 2 billion U.S. dollars to acquire the mines in 2012, an additional one billion dollars in various projects ever since, and employs over 1,000 workers.
