| Notes |
August 2005: Canadian mining executive Frank Giustra directs his newly formed company, UrAsia Energy Ltd., to send an engineering consultant to Kazakhstan to assess several uranium mines.
Sept. 6, 2005: Giustra, on his private jet, flies former President Bill Clinton to Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Republic. After landing in the city of Almaty, Giustra and Clinton have dinner with Kazakhstan’s authoritarian president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. During the visit, Giustra reportedly speaks about his mining interests with Nazarbayev.
In Almaty, Bill Clinton praises Nazarbayev for “opening up the social and political life of your country,” and he endorses Kazakhstan’s bid to head the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a view in contrast with the U.S. government’s position.
Clinton’s remarks hand “the Kazakh president a propaganda coup” and Kazhakhstan highlights Clinton’s endorsement in news releases.
Sept. 8/9, 2005: Guistra’s “fledgling company, UrAsia Energy Ltd., signed a preliminary deal giving it stakes in three uranium mines controlled by the state-run uranium agency KazAtomProm.”
KazAtomProm had to approve the deal, according to its then-CEO Moukhtar Dzhakishev and, he added, President Nazarbayev ultimately signed off on the transaction.
The deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world’s largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra. |