JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Bulgarian authorities have detained former Centerra Gold president and CEO Leonard Homeniuk, apparently at the request of Kyrgyz Republic authorities.
The Canadian miner said on Monday that it was concerned about the detention of Homeniuk while on a family holiday and supported his efforts to review the legality of his detention. Homeniuk had been Centerra president and CEO from 2004 to 2008.
Centerra advised that it was not aware of the reasons for the reported detention and had not received notice from either the Bulgarian or Kyrgyz authorities regarding the matter.
However, the detention appeared to be related to claims by the Kyrgyz Republic authorities of alleged improper transactions between 2003 and 2004 with Kyrgyz officials in connection with the restructuring of the Kumtor project, in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Centerra had repeatedly stressed that it was not aware of any valid basis for the allegations, which it believed to be entirely unfounded and had previously reviewed and found no basis for.
Meanwhile, the company had repeatedly requested information from Kyrgyz Republic authorities as to the factual basis for the allegations but no information had been provided.
Centerra had been engaged in extensive discussions with the Kyrgyz Republic government over the last two years with the objective of restructuring the Kyrgyz Republic’s interest in Centerra.
Such a restructuring would preserve the existing comprehensive project agreements negotiated between Centerra and the Kyrgyz Republic in 2009, which were approved both by the government and the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic. These agreements were also supported by a judicial opinion from the Kyrgyz Republic Ministry of Justice and by a decision of the Kyrgyz Republic Constitutional Court.
Centerra had confidence in the continuing validity of the 2009 agreements, which provided for disputes concerning the project to be resolved by international arbitration, if necessary.