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THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Highly Experienced & Majority Independent Board

Martin Andersson

Executive Chairman of the Board

Appointed October 2016

  • Company's largest shareholder and since becoming Chairman, has reset the strategy under a new management team
  • Co-founded Brunswick Brokerage – a Moscow based investment bank that was later sold to UBS
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Artem Volynets

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

Appointed March 2018

  • Senior mining executive with over 20 years of experience and $30 billion in closed transactions
  • Played a key role in the consolidation of Russian aluminium sector into one company and led UC Rusal IPO at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
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Gordon Wylie

Sr. Independent Director

Appointed November 2017

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Robert Edwards

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed September 2018

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Warren Gilman

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed March 2019

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Robert D Benbow

Non-Executive Director

Appointed June 2019

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Dr Hussein Barma

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed December 2018

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Patrick Henze

Vice President for Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Appointed January 2020

Mr. Henze has more than 10 years of mining investment, M&A, corporate and project finance expertise in the metals and mining sector, gained in corporate roles, private equity and investment banking. He was previously Investment Manager of Swiss based Fusion Capital AG where he played a major role in the management and sale of Lynx Resources Ltd. for USD 403m, a JV with Orion Mine Finance and led all investment activity for the Fund. Prior to that, he was responsible for the London based origination of natural resources financing & advisory at UniCredit Bank AG within the corporate & investment banking arm of the group completing transactions from USD 20m to USD 750m. Mr Henze holds a M.Sc. In Finance & Economics from Technical University GSO Nuremberg and University Malaya Kuala Lumpur.

Vyacheslav Pilipenko

Vice President for Government Relations and Security

Appointed July 2019

Mr. Pilipenko’s experience involves working for the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation during 7 years, as well as for the Russian largest enterprises like Rusal and InterRAO. Vyacheslav was directly involved in a number of GR projects for Russian and international companies, including development of GR strategies. Mr. Pilipenko was responsible for maintaining effective interaction with state authorities and political organizations and has organized public lobbying of the interests of companies and access to the desired levels of government in Central Asia. Vyacheslav has successfully prevented and settled undesired consequences of hostile actions of competitors or authorities. Mr. Pilipenko has built strong working relations with representatives of state authorities of the Russian Federation (at the level of Governors and deputy governors) and in the former Soviet Union (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan – at the level of the Presidents, the Prime Ministers and the Ministers), and secured favorable regime of operations in supervisory and tax regulatory bodies.

David Tovmasyan

General Director Kapan (Armenia)

Appointed November 2018

20 years of operations management and engineering experience, including leadership roles and oversight of open pit, underground mining and ore processing operations. Previous experience with Freeport McMoRan, Zangezur CMC and Dundee Precious Metals (Kapan).

Davron Vakhabov

General Director (Kyrgyz Republic)

Appointed May 2017

20 years of experience in both greenfield and brownfield project development. Formerly a senior project team member during construction of Amulsar Gold Mine in Armenia. Previous experience in original mine construction at the Çöpler mine and subsequent plant and heap leach expansion projects.

Dimitar Dimitrov

Senior Vice President, Exploration

Appointed January 2021

  • Over 30 years of experience in greenfield, brownfield exploration and development projects
  • Former VP Exploration of Euromax Resources with a major role in target generation, exploration and development of variety of projects in SE Europe as Ilovica porphyry copper-gold, KMC scarn gold-copper, Trun IRG gold, Breznik epithermal gold-silver, Babyak IRG gold-silver
  • Previously extensive exploration management experience with companies as Royal Gold Inc, Phelps Dodge, Silver & Baryte in SE Europe, Caucuses and Russian far east
  • Recently providing principal consultancy for Eldorado Gold, Assarel, Teck Cominco, Tara Resources

Darin Cooper

Chief Operating Officer

Appointed June 2019

Mr Cooper joined Chaarat with more than 30 years’ experience in the metals and mining industry spanning operations, projects, restructuring and culture change. Immediately prior to joining Chaarat, Darin was Head of Mining at Fusion Capital, a Swiss investment firm, where he was responsible for due diligence of potential projects, assessment of early stage exploration projects, and development of capital and operating plans for proven development assets. Darin held senior roles at Nyrstar, the global multi-metals business, from 2012-2017, latterly as Vice President, Zinc Smelting. He has also served as COO of Talvivaara Mining Company (Finland) where he worked with the Finnish government, creditors and investors to secure financing options during their restructuring. Darin started his career at the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation. He obtained a BEng in Metallurgy from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and an MBA from the Open University Business School, Great Britain.

Dr Hussein Barma

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed December 2018

Past roles
Dr Barma has significant FTSE-50 senior executive experience, gained through over 15 years at Antofagasta plc, where he led its UK presence through a period of change and growth as the UK-based Chief Financial Officer. He has also had earlier careers in professional services and academia. Dr Barma is a qualified lawyer and chartered accountant. He holds a doctorate in corporate law from the University of Oxford.

Brings to the Board
Dr Barma is Chairman of Chaarat’s Audit Committee and is a member of each of Chaarat’s Remuneration Committee, and Nominations Committee.

Other commitments (non executive)
He is currently an independent non-executive director and audit chair of Atalaya Mining plc and is a principal at Barma Advisory where he has worked on various assignments within the natural resources and other sectors. Dr Barma also holds a number of other directorships.

Robert D Benbow

Non-Executive Director

Appointed June 2019

Past roles
Mr Benbow’s responsibilities include oversight of the Company’s operations and project development. During his 45 year career, Mr Benbow has taken three green field gold developments into production, including Alacer Gold Corp.’s Çöpler Gold Mine in Eastern Turkey which has produced over 1 million ounces as one of the lowest cost producers in the world. The Çöpler mine is now moving into development of the refractory ore contained within the deposit.

Brings to the Board
Mr Benbow’s responsibilities include oversight of the Company’s operations and project development. Mr Benbow is Chairman of Chaarat’s Technical Committee. Mr Benbow is also a member of Chaarat’s Nominations Committee and HSE Committee.

Other commitments (non executive)
Mr Benbow is also a director of Powderhouse Gulch LLC (Colorado).

Warren Gilman

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed March 2019

Past roles
Warren was Chairman and CEO of CEF Holdings Ltd, a mining focussed investment company jointly owned by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from 2011 to 2019. He is a mining engineer and co-founded CIBC’s Global Mining Group in 1988. During his 26 years at CIBC he ran the mining investment banking teams in Canada, Australia and Asia, serving as Managing Director and Head of the Asia Pacific region for 10 years and latterly as Vice Chairman for CIBC World Markets.

He has acted as advisor to the largest mining companies in the world including BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Noranda, Falconbridge, Meridian Gold, China Minmetals, Jinchuan and Zijin and has been responsible for some of the largest equity capital markets financings in Canadian mining history.

Other commitments
Warren founded Queen’s Road Central Capital Ltd, where he is Chairman and CEO, in 2019. He is also a Board member of NYSE/TSX listed NexGen Energy Ltd, a uranium exploration and development company, and private mining company, Niobec Inc, which jointly owns the Niobec niobium mine in Canada with CEF, Temasek of Singapore and Magris Resources of Canada.

Robert Edwards

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed September 2018

Past roles
A mining engineer with a degree from the Camborne School of Mines, Mr Edwards is the former chairman of Global Mining at Renaissance Capital and has also worked for HSBC and the Royal Bank of Canada. He has worked in the global natural resources industry for 27 years, primarily in frontier and emerging markets, advising the managements of numerous companies on a range of industrial issues. As well as bringing deep sector knowledge, he has played a central role on multiple IPOs, capital raisings and M&A transactions.

Brings to the Board
A deep sector knowledge of the FSU mining sector. Robert has played a central role in multiple IPOs, capital raisings and M&A transactions and is a well-known figure across the global mining investor base.

Mr Edwards chairs Chaarat’s Remuneration Committee and is a member of each of its Technical, HSEC and Nominations Committees.

Other commitments (non executive)
Mr Edwards is currently an independent non-executive director and member of the audit and corporate governance and remuneration committees of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, and an adviser to several private natural resource companies. Mr Edwards also holds a number of other directorships.

Gordon Wylie

Sr. Independent Director

Appointed November 2017

Past roles
During his eight years as a member of AngloGold Ashanti’s senior management team, Mr Wylie was responsible for their global exploration programme, part of which included moving into new prospective, higher risk geographical regions. Mr Wylie has been a non-executive director of numerous junior exploration companies operating globally since leaving AngloGold Ashanti. He was previously the chairman of Lydian International. Lydian International has been constructing a mine at the Amulsar open pit, heap leach gold project in Armenia.

Brings to the Board
Mr Wylie brings to the Board of Chaarat 42 years’ experience in the mining industry and directly relevant experience of growing companies from exploration to production.

Mr Wylie chairs Chaarat’s HSE Committee. Mr Wylie is also a member of each of Chaarat’s Audit Committee, Technical Committee and Nominations Committee.

Other commitments (non executive)
Mr Wylie does not currently hold any other directorships.

Artem Volynets

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

Appointed March 2018

Past roles
From 2003 to 2013 Artem was a key executive in the Russian aluminium and energy sectors, including CEO of En+ Group, Deputy CEO and Director for Corporate Strategy at UC RUSAL, and SVP Strategy at SUAL International. In 2009 and 2010 he also served as Chairman of the International Aluminium Institute. From 1997 to 2003, Artem was a management consultant and corporate finance advisor with Monitor Group in London. Artem also served as independent director of Norilsk Nickel in 2018-19.

Brings to the Board
Mr Volynets’ leadership drive to build Chaarat into a leading gold company in the FSU region. His hands-on experience in managing large mining businesses in the region, track record of M&A-led sector consolidation, combined with his local knowledge and network, together with global industry and investor connections, will be invaluable to the execution of Chaarat’s growth strategy.

Other commitments
Mr Volynets founded ACG Amur Capital Group Ltd which is an advisory and investment management firm in 2014.

Martin Andersson

Executive Chairman of the Board

Appointed October 2016

Past roles
A graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics and HEC Paris, Martin worked in mergers and acquisitions at Booz Allen Hamilton and advised the Russian Government on its privatization programme. In 1993 he co-founded Brunswick Brokerage – a Moscow based investment bank that was later sold to UBS – initially holding the position of CEO and from 1999 as Chairman of the joint venture, Brunswick UBS Warburg. Between 2006 and 2013 he was a shareholder and served on the Board of Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), one of the largest thermal coal producers in Russia.

Brings to the Board
Mr Andersson first invested in Chaarat in 2011 and he intends (via Labro) to be a long term and supportive shareholder.

Mr Andersson chairs Chaarat’s Nominations Committee.

Other commitments
Mr Andersson manages an active portfolio with an interest in real estate, financial services and information technology.

Chris Eger

Chief Financial Officer

Appointed July 2018

Mr Eger has extensive financial, M&A and commercial expertise in the metals and mining sector, gained over a 20-year career in investment banking, metals trading and private equity. He was previously the chief financial officer of Nyrstar NV, where he played a major role in developing and implementing the Company’s transformation strategy in addition to strengthening the balance sheet. Prior to that, he was M&A director at Trafigura AG and a member of the investment banking group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he worked with metals and mining companies on debt and equity financing and M&A. He also worked as a director in the global metals and mining group at BMO.

General inquiries

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  • info@chaarat.com

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  • +44 (0)20 7499 2612
  • IR@chaarat.com

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  • media@chaarat.com

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