Former Airport Official Faces Corruption Charge in Kyrgyzstan

The former head of Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan is facing a corruption charge in connection with the sale of Aalam Services, the main fuel depot at Manas Airport, to Manas Aerofuels, a company allegedly controlled by Maxim Bakiyev, the son of the Central Asian nation’s ousted president.

Bakytbek Sydykov “entered into a criminal conspiracy” with other board members to sell Aalam to Manas Aerofuels in June 2009 for just under $6 million, according to a May 13 statement issued by Kyrgyzstan’s General Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors suggested the sale price was grossly undervalued, noting that the airport earned close to $4.5 million per year in rent for the facility prior to the sale.

Manas Aerofuels shared office space in the Hyatt Hotel in Bishkek with Red Star Enterprises/Mina Corp, the affiliated fuel companies at the center of a US Congressional investigation into contracting practices at the Manas Transit Center, the US military’s main logistical hub in Central Asia. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

On April 19, Kyrgyz authorities opened a separate investigation into alleged fraud and corrupt practices carried out by the previous board of Manas International Airport. Kyrgyz prosecutors are alleging that members of the airport board made improper payments to Manas Aerofuels, but did not elaborate on the exact nature of the charges.

Manas Aerofuels was registered as a business entity with the Kyrgyz Department of Justice in Bishkek on April 10, 2008 by Nurbek Tashibekov. However, investigators believe the company has been operating since 2004.

The company is reportedly controlled by Maxim Bakiyev, the son of ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].Eugene Gourevitch, a US citizen closely tied to Maxim Bakiyev and currently wanted in Italy on charges of Mafia-related telecoms fraud, was elected to the airport’s board of directors in April 2009. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

Maxim Bakiyev is currently the subject of an Interpol arrest warrant. Red Star/Mina Corp representatives have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and have sought to play down alleged links with the former Kyrgyz administration. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

Aalam Services was reportedly owned by relatives of Askar Akayev, the Kyrgyz president deposed by the Tulip revolution that brought Kurmanbek Bakiyev to power in 2005.

Both US and Kyrgyz sources allege that in the aftermath of the 2005 revolution, Bakiyev family members managed to take control of corrupt enterprises that had been established by the Akayevs.