00:21
USD 87.45
EUR 91.60
RUB 0.96

Kyrgyzstan launches lawsuit against Centerra Gold over cybersecurity

Kyrgyzstan launched legal proceedings against Centerra Gold company over cybersecurity and employee rights violations at Kumtor gold mine. Mining Weekly reports.

The criminal lawsuit alleges that Centerra has blocked user and administrator access to Kumtor’s computers since May 2021, shortly before the government appointed a temporary external manager at the mine.

At the media outlet notes, this led the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic to open the criminal case against Centerra.

«Centerra’s actions represent a gross violation of the rights and safety of our employees, showing contempt for the laws of Kyrgyzstan,» Kalysbek Ryspaev, Chairman of Kumtor Gold Company workers’ union, said in a statement.

Spokesperson for Centerra Gold commented to Mining.com on the lawsuit.

«Once again, it appears that the Kyrgyz government is trying to divert attention from the fact that it sent secret police to seize the Kumtor gold mine. As we have said previously, when government authorities confiscated computers and passwords of individual Kumtor employees, Centerra’s global IT systems restricted user access to preserve the integrity of the organization’s global IT infrastructure and its confidential information. The mine’s safety systems were not impacted,» he said in a statement.

Popular