Vladimir Putin to step into $450m Kazakh gold feud

From the UK Telegraph: Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is today expected to intervene in a $450m (£292m) corporate battle over prize Kazakh gold fields.

The row is currently being thrashed out in London's High Court between Russia's second richest oligarch, Mikhail Prokhorov, and a powerful Eurasian family, the Assaubayevs. According to sources, the disputed gold fields are on the agenda at a meeting between Mr Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kazakh president, taking place on Tuesday.

The case centres around the $500m company KazakhGold, whose international shares, known as global depositary receipts (GDRs), are listed in London. It started last year after the founders of KazakhGold, the Assaubayevs, sold a majority stake in the company to Polyus, a $10bn Russian gold giant chaired by Mr Prokhorov, the metals tycoon, for $254m. The Russians now claim they were deceived over the sale, according to the London lawsuit.....read on