Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijani investors have been invited to participate at the tender for the sale of licenses on the development of Jerooy gold deposit in the Talas oblast of Kyrgyzstan, which will be announced later this year.

Information on the tender will be available on the website of the State Agency for Geology and Mineral Resources of Kyrgyzstan, www.geology.kg, the website of the Azerbaijan Foundation of Export and Investments (AZPROMO) said on Monday.

The minimum threshold price at the tender is $100 million, Kyrgyz Economy Minister Temir Sariyev announced at a government meeting on January 12.

Sariyev noted that a commission comprising heads of state bodies and parliamentary factions, ministers, security officers and representatives of local governments will be set up to conduct the tender.

"The contest will be carried out in two stages. Within 30 days of the first stage commission members will receive documents, on the basis of which within 10 days they will select candidates for the second stage," he said.

Sariyev said further that investors will be required to build a gold extracting factory in two years after obtaining the licenses, employ new technologies, and focus on environmental issues and creation of a reclamation fund.

"When building the factory, in the early stages the investor will be able to use no more than 30 percent of foreign labor out of the total number of workers, and no more than 10 percent of foreign employees when exploiting the deposit. A social package has to be taken into account, and investors will have to purchase only local produce," he said.

The minister noted that only investment groups or unions registered in Kyrgyzstan may participate in the tender. The winner will need to register in Talas official bodies for making tax payments.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy forecasted tax incomes from the Jerooy project at 3 billion soms (around $63 million) per year.

Head of the ministry's environmental resources policy department, Almaz Alimbayev, told a news conference on January 15 that 2.5 billion soms will be transferred to the state budget and the remaining 500 million soms will go to the Talas oblast administration's budget.

"Operation of Jerooy gold deposit will become a significant factor in the economic development of the country," Alimbayev said.

According to the government's plans, the Jerooy gold deposit will be commissioned in mid-2014.

In early 2010, the Kyrgyz government revoked the mining license held by Jerooy Altin over failure to meet the terms of the standing agreement and a number of commitments.

The Jerooy deposit was discovered in 1968. With reserves of nearly 90 tons of gold and 13 tons of silver, it is the Central Asian state's second-biggest gold field after the Kumtor deposit.