Gazprombank consolidates 100% of Vasilyevsky Mine
MOSCOW. Oct 6 (Interfax) - Gazprombank, which previously controlled CSJC Vasilyevsky Mine, has become the gold miner's sole shareholder and, according to unofficial reports, is considering acquiring other gold mining assets.
Angara Mining plc, which previously held a stake in the mine, as well as the associated Brownypool Trading plc and LLC Angara Management are no longer affiliated with Gazprombank, according to the list of the lender's affiliated entities as of the end of the third quarter. However, Vasilyevsky Mine itself is still listed as an affiliate of the bank.
Sources familiar with the situation told Interfax that the mine's former owner, Angara Mining is no longer a shareholder of Vasilyevsky Mine.
Interfax sources in the mining industry confirmed that the bank was preparing a deal to consolidate 100% of the miner. One source said the Gazprombank group is interested in further developing Vasilyevsky Mine. Another source said Gazprombank is also considering acquiring other gold assets throughout the country and has recruited a geology expert.
Vasilyevsky Mine and Angara Mining, which was previously the mine's sole shareholder, became affiliated entities of Gazprombank on September 14, 2010. The bank acquired shares in Vasilyevsky Mine as a result of the restructuring of the mining company's debt, and as of October 2010 owned 62.5% of shares. However, Gazprombank was not a shareholder of Angara Mining, which was listed as an affiliated entity because Vasilyevsky Mine's general director at the time was also general director of LLC Angara Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Angara Mining. According to the SPARK database, Angara Management's current general director Alexei Dydychkin headed Vasilyevsky Mine until August 5, 2011, when he was replaced by Vladimir Bukin.
Vasilyevsky Mine was founded in 1992 to develop the Vasilyevskoye and Nikolayevskoye deposits in the Motygin district of Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 2005, the company acquired the licenses to the Ilyinsky, Nizhne-Talovsky and Gerfed properties, and in early 2011 it won tenders for the rights to develop several other properties in this region. At the end of 2010, the regional authorities announced that Vasilyevsky Mine would invest 2.95 billion rubles in 2010-2014 in the development of Gerfed, which would enable it to increase gold production to 4.5 tonnes from 1 tonne in 2009. The regional industry minister said that about 1 billion rubles had already been invested by the end of 2010.