BISHKEK – Kyrgyz gold miner Kyrgyzaltyn has not yet seen or studied an offer by Chaarat Gold to take over the Kumtor gold mine, its deputy CEO, Bektur Sagynov, said on Wednesday.
Chaarat Gold on Tuesday made a proposal to buy Kyrgyzstan's largest gold mine, Kumtor, from Canada's Centerra Gold for an undisclosed cash sum, in a deal that would also involve Kyrgyz state firm Kyrgyzaltyn.
"We cannot say we are ready for the deal," he told Reuters by telephone, referring to the surprise bid by the London-listed miner.
Kumtor's current owner, Centerra Gold said this week it was not interested in a proposed three-party deal under which it would receive cash and its own stock held by Kyrgyzaltyn.
The mine, valued at about $1-billion, is the biggest industrial enterprise in the former Soviet republic and accounts for about 10% of its domestic product.
The Central Asian country's government and the Canadian company have repeatedly clashed over how to share Kumtor's profits and the sacking of the Kyrgyz cabinet this month could disrupt their latest plan to settle mutual claims agreed last year.
Chaarat Gold is an exploration and development company operating in the Kyrgyz Republic and it has the Chaarat gold project, which is in the north-west of the country.
Edited by: Reuters
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