BISHKEK -- The Bishkek City Court has rejected an appeal filed by the former interim manager of Kyrgyzstan's Kumtor gold mine against his arrest.
The court ruled on October 3 that Tengiz Bolturuk, a Canadian citizen, must stay in pretrial detention until at least November 10.
Bolturuk was arrested on September 13 along with his two subordinates, Aisha-Gul Janalieva and Ryspek Toktogulov, on suspicion of financial mismanagement.
They were fired in late August after the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) launched a probe against them, saying that the auditing chamber found financial violations in their activities.
The UKMK said at the time that Bolturuk and his assistants allegedly caused financial damage to the State Treasury assessed at 1 billion soms ($12,472,400).
Bolturuk rejects the charges.
Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz state-owned gold mining company regained full control of the Kumtor gold mine earlier this year under the terms of a deal with the Canadian company Centerra Gold signed in April.
Bolturuk, who previously represented Kyrgyzstan at Centerra Gold, was interim manager of Kumtor at the time.
Kumtor had been the target of financial and environmental disagreements for years before turning into the subject of a control battle between the Kyrgyz state and Centerra Gold.
The Kyrgyz government has insisted that Centerra's operations endangered human lives and the environment, which the company denied.
In May 2021, the Canadian firm said it had "initiated binding arbitration to enforce its rights under long-standing investment agreements with the government."
Many Kyrgyz lawmakers have expressed concern about an alleged lack of transparency at Kumtor since the Kyrgyz government took control of the gold mine in April.