The head of state noted that the process of returning Jeruy cannot be similar to what happened with Kumtor and explained his position.
“The following situation occurred with Centerra Gold regarding Kumtor: they acquired the deposit and took a loan of $475 million secured by the mine. Of this amount, $275 million went towards the construction of a plant, while the remaining $200 million ended up in their pockets. Later, after processing the gold, they paid off the loan. Since they did not invest a single tyiyn of their own funds, we were able to return the deposit to the state,” he said.
Japarov also pointed out that Jeruy had been resold 4-5 times, making its return to the state balance impossible.
“The state alternately took and sold Jeruy again, resulting in losses of about $500 million. At some point, in 2014 or 2015, it was sold again. The state received $100 million, but this money quickly disappeared. This is undoubtedly our mistake and the mistake of previous leaders — the control was insufficient.
Moreover, in addition to these $100 million, investors invested an additional $350–400 million and built a plant. In the year I came to power, Vladimir Putin and I inaugurated it via video link. Thus, total investments amounted to about $1 billion, and the enterprise is operational. To simply take it away now would be wrong.
Secondly, you should know that there are opinions that we have less than 1% stake in Jeruy. However, we benefit in other ways. Every year, the company pays about 5 billion soms in taxes and payments. Additionally, there is a development fund in the Talas region to which funds are also directed. There are also allocations to the budget of the ayil okmotu where the deposit is located.
During the period of 2022–2023, 1.5 billion soms accumulated in this ayil okmotu. Local deputies and leadership could not agree on how to distribute them, leading to disputes. As a result, we changed the leadership of the ayil okmotu and began the construction of social facilities. Thus, even without an official stake, we are extracting benefits for the country,” President Japarov concluded.
The company "Alliance Altyn" subsequently reported that they pay about 13 billion soms annually in taxes and payments.
