Note: Read the comments following this news article — a reminder of the troubles Newmont Mining Corp. had in Uzbekistan several years ago.
UzNews.net
Alexander Pozdeev, head of Zapadno-Uralsky Machine-Building Concern, a major Russian company, was arrested in Uzbekistan according to reports in the Russian media.
A criminal case has been opened against Pozdeev.
In addition to being the president of the Zapadno-Uralsky Machine-Building Concern (ZUMK), Alexander Pozdeev is also the director general of the company’s subsidiary – ZUMK Engineering – which in 2007 signed a contract with the Uzbek government to develop a potash mine.
Officials have not yet released the reasons for the arrest.
The company’s hometown newspaper Mestnoe Vremya writes that the head of the company was in charge of overseeing last year’s accidental flooding at the mine that was developed and built by ZUMK-Engineering.
The Moscow-based newspaper Ekho Moskvy claims that Alexander Pozdeev is suspected of inflating contract prices. The company had a potash fertilizer factory and it was planning to expand its presence in Uzbekistan.