Kyrgyzstan detains ex-PM in gold mine probe

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan said on Monday it had detained a former prime minister over corruption at the country’s largest gold mine, the centre of a legal dispute with Canadian firm Centerra.

The giant Kumtor gold mine is the Central Asian country’s largest foreign investment project and accounts for around a tenth of the economy.

Kumtor was operated by Centerra Gold but Kyrgyz authorities suddenly seized the mine, prompting the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company to turn to an international court. Kyrgyzstan’s rubber stamp parliament earlier this month passed a law allowing authorities to temporarily seize the mine and appoint "external management" to remedy address environmental and safety problems.

On Monday, the country’s security service said it had detained a popular former prime minister, Omurbek Babanov, as part of a probe into corruption "at various stages of the development" of the Kumtor project. Babanov, 51, served as prime minister in 2011-12.

Centerra said this month it was "no longer in control of the Kumtor Mine and can no longer ensure the safety of the mine’s employees or operations" after government officials entered the mine and raided company offices in Bishkek on the weekend of May 15-16.