BISHKEK, May 31 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Centerra Gold
CG.TO , whose main asset is the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan,
has taken to international arbitration its dispute with the
Central Asian state over profit sharing, the company said on
Tuesday.
Kyrgyzstan had long sought to renegotiate its agreement with
Centerra and secure a bigger share of income, but said last
December that negotiations had fallen through.
This month, a local court fined Kumtor Operating Company,
Centerra's local subsidiary, about $100 million following a
lawsuit from an environmental safety regulator. Another
regulator has filed a $230 million lawsuit against the firm.
Kyrgyz prosecutors raided the company's offices last month
to collect documents related to a separate criminal case
alleging financial violations by the firm - which Centerra said
was related to a $200 million inter-corporate dividend.
Finally, last week Kumtor Operating Company said it would be
forced to halt operations at the mine unless it receives
environmental permits to continue beyond June.
In a statement on Tuesday, Centerra said its arbitration
filing covered all those issues.
"The arbitration proceedings will be held at Stockholm,
Sweden and will be conducted under the UNCITRAL rules of
arbitration and the governing law will be the law of the State
of New York," it said.
UNCITRAL is the core legal body of the United Nations system
in the field of international trade law.
"Despite the commencement of arbitration proceedings, the
Company has re-iterated to the Kyrgyz Republic Government its
openness to receive and discuss proposals to resolve all
outstanding matters affecting the Kumtor project in a manner
that is fair to all of Centerra's shareholders," it added.
Kyrgyz officials in charge of Kumtor operations could not be
reached for comment on Tuesday.