Mina Corp, the holder of a lucrative fuel-supply contract for the strategically important Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan, has accused Kyrgyz authorities of attempting to "disrupt and seize the fuel supply chain" at the base outside Bishkek.
Amid an ongoing Kyrgyz government probe into fueling practices at the Manas Transit Center near Bishkek, investigators are examining the relationship between Red Star Enterprises Ltd and Mina Corp, the former and current holders of a Pentagon supply contract, and entities once allegedly controlled by Maxim Bakiyev, the son of fo
A US Congressional investigation into the operations of Mina Corp, a Gibraltar-registered company that holds the Pentagon’s fuel-delivery contract at Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan, is drawing to a close, having found no evidence of wrongdoing. But US officials are not ruling out the possibility of a follow-up investigation at a future date.
It seems the $315 million contract awarded by the Pentagon to a controversial and secretive fuel-supplier is only part of the story about future operations at Kyrgyzstan’s Manas Transit Center.
Three to four times a day, every day, cargo trains carrying thousands of gallons of jet fuel roll across the Kazakh border into Kyrgyzstan, making their way across the flat, barren landscape toward Bishkek. These shipments are vital to keeping US and NATO military operations in Afghanistan going.
Mina Corp, the controversial supplier of jet fuel at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan, is getting a double-dose of good news. Not only has the company secured a new supply contract worth over $315 million, a Kyrgyz government investigation into possible improper business practices concerning Manas fuel operations has stalled.
In a move that could strain Washington’s relationship with Kyrgyzstan, a key Central Asian ally, the Pentagon opted November 3 to award a new fuel-supply contract to a company that is already at the center of a US congressional probe.
The holder of the main fuel-supply contract at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan, a critical logistics hub for the US and NATO war effort in Afghanistan, operates in a “thick fog of mystery,” according to a report published by the Washington Post.
Representatives of the Russian energy giant Gazprom confirm that the company is poised to participate in a joint venture to supply fuel to the US-run Manas Transit Center, a key logistics hub for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
As talks to shape Kyrgyzstan’s next government get underway, the United States has fashioned a compromise fuel-supply arrangement that US officials hope will ensure American and NATO access to the Manas transit center outside Bishkek for at least two more years.
