The share of Kyrgyzstan in Kumtor project decreased by 6%. The Canadian company Centerra Gold Inc. in 2016 bought Thompson Creek, which also specialized in gold and metal mining.
The financial operation is estimated at a little more than $1 billion. To ensure a successful deal, additional shares were issued. A total of 26,599,500 new shares for $141.4 million were issued.
This allowed Centerra to ensure a loan reservation from the syndicate of banks in the amount of $ 325 million. Centerra shares were also raised for the payment, which were exchanged for shares of Thompson Creek. One share of the newly acquired company was valued at 0,0988 shares of Centerra.
As a result of this transaction and additional issue of securities, the share of Kyrgyzaltyn OJSC, which amounted to 32.7% before 2016, decreased to 26.28%.
Today’s market price of Kyrgyzaltyn’s shares is $412 million. The number of shares remained the same – 77,401,766.
The Kyrgyz side also has several major institutional partners of the country’s largest Kumtor gold field.
BlackRock Inc. has 36,604,246 shares, that is 12.57%. Centerra today holds 28,320,104 shares, or 11.69%. The 4th major shareholder is Van Eck Associates Corporation, which holds 25,210,193 shares and, respectively, 8.66% of the stake.
In 2003, the share of Kyrgyzstan dropped from 67% to 33%. A year later, it decreased to 16%. Only in April 2009, the country managed to sign a new agreement with Centerra and return to 32.74% of the shares.
Negotiations between the Kyrgyz and Canadian sides have been taking place with varying success for more than 10 years. And ultimatums are heard increasingly from both sides.
It seems that the gold field itself has turned into a political project during this time.
Moreover, each new government accused the former of selling the interests of the country and promised to restore the initial distribution of shares in Kumtor.
In May, the deputies of the Parliament accepted the report of the government of Sooronbay Jeenbekov. His supporters noted that the Prime Minister worked openly and operatively resolved all internal problems.
But for some reason, in his speech, the head of government did not say a word about the losses on the external front. It seems that the officials have not yet seen the losses of Kyrgyzstan in the gold project.
Almazbek Atambayev, who headed the government under Kurmanbek Bakiyev, increased the share of Kyrgyzstan to 32.74%.
Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, who became a presidential candidate applauded by the SDPK congress, has managed to reduce the merits of his vis-à-vis by 6% in just one year. (24.kg/Ukrainian metal)