Kumtor Operating Company, which is owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold, said the company has been “constantly receiving threats of possible road blocks in the event of non-compliance with various kinds of demands.”
By David Trilling
EurasiaNet.org
For years industry observers have asserted that environmental protests outside the Canadian-run Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan’s eastern mountains were part of an elaborate shakedown scheme. Now a video has emerged that appears to substantiate this view.
Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee on National Security (GKNB) announced the opening of a criminal investigation after the video appeared on state television 28 August, purporting to show two men who had previously voiced environmental concerns demanding $3 million from a Kumtor representative in exchange for an apparent guarantee not to orchestrate protests. The video purportedly has a time stamp of 31 July.
The video’s appearance on state television suggests that central government officials in Bishkek are intent not only on solidifying their hold on power, but also want to forge a stronger working relationship with Kumtor’s operators, and, more broadly, boost foreign-investor confidence shaken by regular mining-related riots. GKNB representatives declined to address the video’s provenance.