In Greece, 600 protestors demonstrate against Eldorado Gold, April 2012.

Eldorado Gold Corporation announced the Council of State of Greece – the country's Supreme Administrative Court – issued a "Provisional Order" on June 29, 2012 suspending any intervention in a forest area in Halkidiki owned by Hellas Gold S.A., a 95% owned subsidiary of Eldorado in Greece. Hellas Gold has a 100% interest in the Stratoni Mine, as well as the Olympias and Skouries projects in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece.
 

On May 28, 2012 a lawsuit was filed before the Council of State challenging the legality of the decision #7633/29-3-2012 of the Secretary General of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace, which gave Hellas Gold the right to acquire the forest land necessary for the development of its projects in Halkidiki (as per the Environment Impact Assessment approved by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change and four other Ministries of Greece in 2011). A court hearing to discuss this lawsuit has been scheduled for the end of the fourth quarter of 2012.
 

On June 27, 2012 the plaintiffs filed before the Council of State a petition for suspension aimed at preventing the cutting of trees on the forest land acquired by Hellas Gold. On June 29, 2012 the President of the Fifth Section of the Council of State issued the above mentioned Provisional Order. The Provisional Order states the order "is valid until the issuance of a decision by the Committee of Suspensions on the pending petition for suspension".

The Provisional Order prevents Hellas Gold from continuing with tree cutting activities at the Skouries project and in certain areas of Stratoni. The other operational, development and exploration activities of Hellas Gold at the Stratoni Mine, Olympias, Skouries and Piavitsa Projects remain unaffected and will continue to advance according to plan. The Provisional Order does not provide any specific reason for the temporary suspension of the tree cutting activities.
 

Hellas Gold is preparing – together with the office of the Secretary General of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace, the forestry authorities, and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Greece – all of the documentation required to demonstrate to the Council of State that the Company is in possession of all the permits required to legally continue with its tree cutting activities in Halkidiki. Once this documentation is filed before the Council of State the Company expects the Provisional Order to be revoked.
 

"The timing for the revocation cannot be precisely determined at the present time, however, the Company expects the Council of State to issue a positive decision on this matter within the next two to four weeks," stated Paul N. Wright, Chief Executive Officer.
 

About Eldorado Gold
 

Eldorado is a gold producing, exploration and development company actively growing businesses in Turkey, China, Brazil, Greece and Romania. With our international expertise in mining, finance and project development, together with highly skilled and dedicated staff, we believe that our company is well positioned to grow in value as we create and pursue new opportunities.

Eldorado Gold Corporation's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD); New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO). Eldorado CDIs trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: EAU)