Centerra Gold Inc. subsidiaries Kumtor Gold Company (KGC) and Kumtor Operating Company (KOC) on August 25 filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York demanding to impose a fine of $ 1 million per day on the government of Kyrgyzstan in connection with illegal seizure of Kumtor mine. Stretto website says.
It is noted that the government of the Kyrgyz Republic «grossly and consistently» violates the automatic stay and «continued and intensified» its efforts to deprive KGC and KOC of the protection afforded to them under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, acting in much the same way as that it has illegally seized control of the Kumtor gold mine.
The purpose of the motion is also to achieve a ruling ordering the Kyrgyz government to cease efforts to close the case.
The companies are demanding to impose a fine of $ 1 million per day on the government of the Kyrgyz Republic in connection with the illegal seizure of the Kumtor gold mine.
The petition mentions «ongoing and willful» violations of the automatic stay in relation to Centerra’s subsidiaries, including ongoing litigation.
Extension of the powers of the so-called «external manager», termination of all contracts of KGC and KOC with the government of Kyrgyzstan and related entities, as well as laying the groundwork for the conversion of the Kyrgyz Government’s unfounded and inflated environmental and tax claims against the KGK and KOC into equity with the effect of giving the Kyrgyz Government complete ownership and control over the KGK and KOC are also mentioned in the motion. The latter, according to the lawyers of the companies, is possible in case of the introduction of a state of emergency in the economy in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Lawyers defending the interests of KGC and KOC will submit their motion at the hearing on September 15.
Kumtor Gold Company (KGK) and Kumtor Operating Company (KOC) are subsidiaries of the Canadian mining company Centerra Gold. The first was previously engaged in production activities, the second — in general economic planning and management. After the introduction of external management at the mine, full control was handed over to the company, which is also called Kumtor Gold Company, but works under the leadership of the temporary external manager Tengiz Bolturuk.
