Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (LON:CGH) has appointed Artem Volynets as chief executive, replacing Robert Benbow, who becomes chief operating officer and is appointed to the board.
Volynets is a principal architect of Chaarat’s expansion strategy, under which the company aims to become a regional gold mining champion in Central Asia.
READ: Chaarat Gold has ambitious plans to become a major regional player in Central Asia
Volynets has more than 20 years' experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and senior corporate management roles. He has led private and public transactions worth more than US$30bn and managed leading businesses in the metals and mining industry.
He founded ACG Amur Capital Group Ltd in 2014, as an advisory and investment management firm with a particular focus on driving gold consolidation strategy in the Former Soviet Union countries.
In conjunction with Volynets’ appointment, the gold mining team at ACG will also join Chaarat, and all ACG projects in the gold sector will be formally transferred to Chaarat and combined with the company's existing M&A pipeline.
"After several months of productive work with the great team at Chaarat Gold, I am excited to be taking this new role at the company,” said Volynets.
“The opportunities to consolidate assets in central Asia and the CIS are significant and tangible. I and my team have been engaged for several years in evaluating these opportunities, deepening our relevant relationships and developing propositions that will create value for investors, business partners, communities and national economies across the region. Our vision is to build a leading emerging markets gold company."
Benbow’s move, meanwhile, makes a lot of sense. His expertise as a mine builder and operator makes him more suited for the operations role, as he continues to focus on the development of Chaarat’s Tulkubash project.
In addition, as part of the board reshuffle, Martin Andersson, Chaarat’s chairman and major shareholder, becomes executive chairman.