The authorities in Kyrgyzstan will spend 1.6 billion som ($18m) to pay the Kara-Balta Mining Combine’s tax debts. In addition, the enterprise’s specialists will be paid wages they have yet to received in years.
Earlier, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov instructed the government to take measures to preserve jobs and assets. He also demanded that all the plant’s facilities be restored for fully-fledged work with uranium.
“Thus, the enterprise has created favorable conditions for sustainable work, and most importantly all unique specialists have been preserved,” the General Director of the Karabalta Mining Company LLC, Kubanychbek Risbaev stated.
The Kara-Balta Mining Combine was built in 1955 and was one of the largest uranium processors for the nuclear industry of the USSR. In the 1990s, the plant was privatized and sold to a foreign company. Unsuccessful management by the new investors led to a sharp decline in production, and in 2016, the mill suspended its uranium operations and was declared bankrupt in 2022.
In 1998, Combine’s laboratory was accredited by the UKAS service and was tested by the London Precious Metals Association a year later. Since then, Kyrgyzstan has officially become a trading participant at the London Metal Exchange. The ongoing modernization work includes the launching of additional facilities, and the introduction of new technologies and modern equipment.
