The investigation revealed a connection between a high-ranking official and the construction of a new presidential residence in Kyrgyzstan
After becoming president of Kyrgyzstan in 2021, Sadyr Japarov refused to work in his official residence, choosing an old Soviet-era building nearby. Perhaps the reason is that the White House has been the epicenter of protests since the country gained independence.
Japarov announced that a new building would be built for him and his administration against the backdrop of the beautiful mountains that frame Bishkek.
According to the president, the new White House of Kyrgyzstan will be built on the site of the former Issyk-Kul hotel, which stood abandoned for many years. The building, with an area of about 30 thousand square meters, will house the presidential administration and the Cabinet of Ministers.
The most important thing, Japarov added, is that “we are only exchanging 16 hectares of land that is on the balance sheet of the Presidential Administration.” It is assumed that no budget money will be spent on construction.
However, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Liberty conducted an investigation and revealed links between one of the government officials and the Inshaat Construction Building (ISB) company, which undertook the construction of the residence in exchange for land in Bishkek. The results of the investigation indicate a serious conflict of interest.
It also turned out that the ISF received from the government of Kyrgyzstan not 16, but 25.7 hectares of state land. It is not known why the companies allocated almost 10 hectares more; The cost of the new presidential building has also not been reported.
According to experts, the picturesque plot allocated to the ISF in the southern part of Bishkek costs about $77 million.
Deputy Dastan Bekeshev criticized the authorities’ decision to transfer the site to a private enterprise. According to him, such land should be allocated for the construction of schools, parks and other public facilities.
HMB was created in 2020, then re-registered nine times, changing the name, founders and management. The last changes were made on June 28, a few days before the enterprise received land from the state.
The company is registered in a residential building on Arashan Street in the Bakai-Ata microdistrict of Bishkek. When a representative of Radio Azattyk visited there, the residents told him that they had nothing to do with the construction company.
It is also noteworthy that three of the former ISF leaders are associated with Kanybek Tumanbaev, the chief of staff of the President of Kyrgyzstan.
His name appeared in investigations by independent media Temirov LIVE and MediaHub on corruption.
Alleged connections between the official overseeing the construction of the presidential building and former executives of the company that received the land raise questions, such as why ISF was chosen as the contractor.
The Law “On Conflict of Interest” is in force in Kyrgyzstan. It states that in the event of a conflict of interest, “personal interests may affect the performance of official duties, which leads or may lead to a violation of the rights and interests of citizens, organizations or the state.”
