"I heard this rumour. But my country has no contract with any Russian private security company. All we did was sign a military cooperation deal with Russia. There are only instructors in our country who are helping us build a defence and security forces", he told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
His statement comes shortly after France and the UK criticised a Russian private security group's involvement with another African country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a UN briefing last week that Mali asked a Russian private firm to assist in its counterterrorism efforts after France announced a troop drawdown. He said that the Russian government was not part of the deal.