BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan has filed a lawsuit against Canada's Centerra Gold company, accusing it of violating the rights of employees at the Kumtor gold mine, which the Canadian firm ran for many years.
Kumtor officials told RFE/RL on December 16 that the lawsuit was filed over Centerra's alleged blocking of user and administrator access to Kumtor's computers from May 2021, just after the Kyrgyz government took what it calls "temporary" control of operations at the mine.
Centerra Gold has not commented on the Kyrgyz government's lawsuit.
Kumtor has been the target of financial and environmental disagreements for years and is currently the subject of an ongoing battle for control between the Kyrgyz state and Centerra Gold.
The giant gold project has been the focus of international attention since a new Kyrgyz government moved to take over operations at the mine in what President Sadyr Japarov said was a necessary move to remedy environmental and safety violations.
In May, the Kyrgyz government adopted a law allowing it to take control, for up to three months, of any company that operates under a concession agreement in Kyrgyzstan if that firm violates environmental regulations, endangers the local environment or the lives of people, or causes other significant damage.
Centerra has called the Kyrgyz actions "wrongful and illegal" and said in July that it had filed additional arbitration claims against the government in Bishkek over Kumtor.
Many Kyrgyz lawmakers have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in the operations at Kumtor after the Kyrgyz government took the gold mine under its control.
At a parliamentary session on December 13, Kyrgyz Finance Minister Almaz Baketaev was unable to answer a lawmaker's question about the amount of gold produced at Kumtor while it's under government control and where and for what price it has been sold.
On September 22, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov told RFE/RL that after the Kyrgyz government took over the gold mine, Kumtor produced 4.1 tons of gold bringing $62 million to the State Treasury. Three days later, UKMK Chief Kamchybek Tashiev said that Kyrgyzstan gained $90 million in profit via Kumtor's operations from the time the government took over operations at the gold mine.
