Dzhakishev made $103,000 in the deal!!!Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee says nuclear industry deal illegal Mukhtar Dzhakishev, the former head of state-owned uranium miner Kazatomprom, a long-serving head of state Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom, along with seven other executives, was
| | |
 | |
| KNB emblem | |
arrested and fired a few days ago by Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB), news agencies are reporting.
The National Post reports that Kazakhstan’s authorities accused Dzhakishev of illegally selling stakes in uranium deposits to foreign companies. "Preliminary results of the investigation show that Mukhtar Dzhakishev and other managers ... squandered state property in the form of Kazakhstan's largest uranium fields by handing them to a number of offshore companies," The Guardian cites KNB. The National Security Committee singled out the sale of a 30 percent stake in the Kyzylkum uranium joint venture — partly owned by a subsidiary of Canada’s Uranium One - which runs the country's largest uranium mine, Khorasan, as an example of an illegal transaction. The statement did not accuse the Canadian firm of any wrongdoing in the case. It said Dzhakishev made $103,000 in the deal. The KNB said there were other cases of illegal asset sales in the uranium sector but gave no details.
Kenzhebulat Beknazarov, a spokesman for the National Security Committee, declined to comment or to provide information about Dzhakishev’s legal representation, citing the ongoing investigation, Bloomberg reports.
Vancouver-based Uranium One Inc., one of the miners doing business in Kazakhstan, called it a big misunderstanding, and its chief executive Jean Nortier pointed out that Uranium One twice had got government approval for the US$75-million deal.
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev has allowed the KNB to arrest many people in government-owned industry, according to The National Post.