CENTERRA GOLD IS SUING THE AUTHORITIES OF KYRGYZSTAN OVER THE KUMTOR GOLD-MINE

CENTERRA GOLD IS SUING THE AUTHORITIES OF KYRGYZSTAN OVER THE KUMTOR GOLD-MINE

CENTERRA GOLD IS SUING THE AUTHORITIES OF KYRGYZSTAN OVER THE KUMTOR GOLD-MINE
The Canadian Gold Mining Corporation has accused the Kyrgyz government of the illegal expropriation attempt. We are talking about Kumtor, a gold deposit located in the Tien Shan Mountains.  According to the geological prospecting data, gold reserves in it reach 700 tons.

The processing of gold-bearing ore in Kyrgyzstan is monopolized by the state-owned

company Kyrgyzaltyn. Now Centerra accuses Kyrgyzaltyn and the government of the Asian republic of the actual take-over of the mine, carried out under the guise of ‘external control’. It is curious that Kyrgyzstan, represented by Kyrgyzaltyn, owns more than 26% of the shares (over 77.4 million) of Centerra.

On May 16, 2021, the company filed an initiative with the Stockholm Arbitration.

The company intends to apply the rules established by UNCITRAL. According to the investment agreement, on the basis of which the company worked with the Kyrgyz authorities, the law of New York should be applied to the disputes between the parties. What is more, the company also filed a petition with the Permanent Arbitration of The Hague to appoint a body to select an arbitrator.

The president of the company, Scott Perry, said that the company would like to resolve the dispute constructively, through open arbitration. Instead of it, the republic's authorities refused to enter into dialogue with the company, intending to nationalize the mine without paying any compensation. The basis for the ‘external management’ of the state in the Kumtor subsidiary of Centerra was the tax violations in the amount of 460 billion soms.

On June 8, representatives of two Kumtor subsidiaries, owned by Centerra Corporation, filed a complaint with the New York bankruptcy court with reference to Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code. It is known to allow the companies to obtain protection from possible claims from third parties and to carry out the necessary restructuring. The corporation hopes that such a measure will make it possible to conduct a dialogue with the Kyrgyz authorities more confidently. It is important that now the court's decision will not allow a legal change or termination of any transactions related to the mine.

According to experts, representatives of Kyrgyzstan are planning to challenge the claims in court.

At the same time, the company's website kumtor.kg published an open letter on behalf of the Kumtor labor collective, in which Perry's behavior is condemned, the presence of the company in Kyrgyzstan is explained by the crimes of the former republican authorities, and at the end there is a demand to “return the loot”.


09.07.2021