Eldorado Gold began a years long decline as it committed to selling its mines in China in favour of developing its properties in Greece. At the time, during its economic crisis, Greece was actively seeking foreign investment and its Skouries project had the potential to be a high producing, long-lived (over 20 years) gold and copper mine. Other companies had previously attempted to develop the Skouries mine but the government had deemed it as not being in the national interest but the need for foreign investment reversed that decision. However, Eldorado's projects in the Chalkidiki region had long been controversial as other mining projects left locals with little confidence in the government's ability to effectively regulate mining and manage economic development. The company spent US$1 billion by 2017, mostly on the Skouries project, without completing a mine and experiencing protests against the project, due to land clearing in a popular forest and anticipated impacts to environmental values, tourism and agriculture, as well as protests in favour citing the number of jobs the mining project represented. Eldorado Gold's assets in China were sold to China National Gold Group Corporation and the Shenzhen-listed Yintai Resources Company for a cumulative US$900-million in 2016 resulting in its gold production falling to 292,971 ounces in 2017. Despite having gained the Lamaque mine in Quebec with the company's $590 million cash and stock acquisition of TSX Venture-listed Integra Gold, the company suspended dividend payments in 2018 and their stock briefly fell under CDA$1, all while company was accused of using Dutch subsidiaries for tax avoidance purposes and excessively compensating executive management for poor performance.