Two more Russian mines close due to US sanction

Two mining companies operating in Guatemala announced the temporary cessation of all their industrial operations as of this week, after being sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in November 2022 for allegedly bribing officials of the Central American country.

The Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN) and the Izabal Nickel Processing Company (ProNico) announced in a press release on Tuesday night their temporary cessation and the termination, by mutual agreement, of the labor contracts with more than 600 employees, as they try to roll back US sanctions.

The two companies are subsidiaries of Solway Investment Group, a company that, according to the United States, is Russian-owned and has exploited Guatemalan mines in the Izabal department area, in the north of the country, since 2011. Solway has refuted that it has a commercial relationship. with Russian.

The US sanction included a third mining company, Mayaníquel, which operated in the departments of Izabal and Alta Verapaz, and which also announced the suspension of its work in December 2022.

The two mining companies that confirmed their closure on Tuesday said that a small number of personnel will remain who will work to guarantee effective control of environmental risks, safety and the conservation of existing infrastructure.

The sanction was made under the Global Magnitsky Law that persecutes those who commit serious violations of human rights and corruption around the world. As a consequence, all properties and interests of those sanctioned that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to the Asset Control Office.

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