Kyrgyz President orders suspension of Transport Minister after bribery scandal

Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov ordered the Prime Minister to suspend Minister of Transport Jamshitbek Kalilov after his deputy was caught red-handed taking bribery, Kyrgyz media reported.

It was announced during the Security Council meeting held on Friday.

“What a shame,” President said commenting on the bribery scandal. “If I were you, I would immediately step down. $500,000 is a lot of money,” Jeenbekov said addressing to Kalilov.

“Everyone must be held accountable. Prime Minister must suspend him, but he is sitting here, in the Security Council meeting. What a shame!” the Kyrgyz President exclaimed.

On December 5, Deputy Transport Minister Azimkan Jusubaliyev was arrested red-handed while taking $50,000 in bribe from a foreign company, whose name was not made public, in exchange for lobbying the company’s interest in the tender for construction of the CAREC 1 and 3 road sections.

According to the National Security Committee, the detainee has previously received $120,000 from the company through the intermediaries, who were his relatives. He was supposed to get in total of $520,000 from the foreign company.