Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC), the company that manages the gold mining project at Rosia Montana, which has been halted by the Romanian authorities, should pay some USD 8.6 million worth of taxes to the Romanian state.

The company received a payment assessment from the tax authority ANAF on the VAT deduction that the company has asked for the 2011-2016 period.

Canadian company Gabriel Resources, RMGC’s majority shareholder, replied that the assessment was incorrect and contrary to the fiscal laws in Romania and the EU laws, and that it would challenge it.

The payment note was issued despite the fact that it contradicts the 18 VAT audits previously carried out by several ANAF departments at RMGC, according to Gabriel Resources. The amount needs to be paid by August 5, 2016.

Gabriel Resources also claims that the tax authority’s decision is an abuse of power by the Romanian state aimed at discouraging the company’s legal actions against the state at an international arbitrage court. The Canadian company went to court against Romania after the mining project at Rosia Montana was halted asking for damages.

editor@romania-insider.com