The Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan commented to journalists on the results of negotiations with management of the Canadian company Centerra Gold Inc., which took place in Geneva (Switzerland).
According to him, Centerra Gold Inc. is ready to give the Kumtor gold mine to Kyrgyzstan, but asks Bishkek to give up its share in the company.
«We are developing the mine ourselves and will continue to do it ourselves. During negotiations with Centerra, we signed papers stating that we would not disclose their results. The negotiations were initiated by Scott Perry (CEO of the company). They announced a decision to leave Kumtor, but ask for our 26 percent [in Centerra] in return. But we said that it wouldn’t work that way, we have a lot of complaints. The parties expressed their claims, but the main thing is that we listened to each other. We exchanged not only requirements, but also discussed mechanisms for resolving the issue. Let’s see what the next steps will be,» Akylbek Japarov told Azattyk radio.
Centerra Gold Inc. did not comment on the outcomes of the negotiations.
On July 8, 2021, the Chairman of the State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev said that, taking into account the established facts of corruption and the terms of corrupt agreements with Canadian investors that do not meet the interests of the people of Kyrgyzstan, the investigators, together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, initiated the process of denunciation of all agreements on the Kumtor project.
Earlier, the Parliament, having considered the interim report of the state commission, introduced external management at Kumtor. The Canadian investor was threatened with legal proceedings. Centerra Gold Inc. announced that it had initiated proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Tengiz Bolturuk, a former member of its Board of Directors, in response to flagrant breaches of his fiduciary duties to the company related to the recent seizure of Kumtor mine by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Tengiz Bolturuk has been appointed an external manager of Kumtor.
