Kazakhstan Investigates Ex-Vice-Minister of Energy

On January 18 the court hearing on Anatoliy Shkarupa, Kazakhstan’s former vice minister of energy, has begun in the town of Karaganda. The ex-official is accused of bribery and theft; the prosecutor’s office demands a ten-year sentence for him.

During the hearing, the state prosecutor Medeu Zhakanov has accused Anatoliy Shkarupa of embezzlement of public funds. He’s asked the court to sentence him to 10 years in maximum security prison and to ban him from work in state organizations for the rest of his life. The other two defendants, Kaysar Baydaly, former head of the Foundation for Housing and Utilities Development and Erlan Nabiyev, CEO of ENERCO company, both are also accused of embezzlement and may be sentenced to eight years each.

According to the prosecutor, in 2015 the group of plotters stole the money that the Foundation for Housing and Utilities Development Foundation allocated for acquiring heat meters in the town of Saran. Even though there is no centralized heat supply system in the town, the foundation illegally transferred more than 215 million tenge ($512,465) to ENERCO.

In October 2018 Anatoliy Shkarupa was appointed as a vice minister of energy. Earlier, he served as Karaganda region deputy head for housing and utilities issues. In 2015-2017 he took the position of akim (mayor) of Saran.

In November 2018 the ex-prosecutor general Kayrat Kozhamzharov said at the Security Council meeting that the new vice minister of energy was a participant in the 215 million tenge steal. The court prosecution against Anatoliy Shkarupa began in November 2019.