Vladimir Dzhumanbaev, a Kazakh businessman, owner of Vertek Gold company and shareholder of the large gold mining company Altynalmas, who was previously put on the wanted list by the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS), told how he found himself at the center of a scandal with accusations of his links to a crime boss Kamchi Kolbaev in an interview with Forbes Kazakhstan magazine.
As the magazine notes, the news that a criminal case had been opened against him was unexpected for Vladimir Dzhumanbaev.
«I was actually on leave since June 1 and was vacationing with my family abroad, but not hiding somewhere in Dubai, as some might have guessed. I, like everyone else, learned about this news on June 5 from the media. That is, no one from the Kyrgyz side had contacted me about this in advance, and I had not received any official requests from the State Committee for National Security. Of course, I immediately contacted the Kyrgyz government agencies and expressed my willingness to assist the investigation. Upon returning home from vacation the next day, I flew to Bishkek, went to the State Committee for National Security and said: «Let’s look at everything in detail, I am open to dialogue. I have no connection to any organized crime group and have never had any connection, and I have never «checked in» with anyone. Two days of questioning, interrogations, confrontations — and all suspicions and charges against me were dropped. I was sure that this would be the end of it,» the businessman told.
He also added that his company has been engaged in the mining business in Kyrgyzstan since 2003.
«Over more than 20 years of doing business in the Kyrgyz Republic, we have repeatedly witnessed a change in the power structure, accompanied by social unrest, attacks in the south by militants, who even came to our mine. Taking all this into account, we understood that it would definitely not work out to affiliate with anyone or negotiate anything, be it government agencies or, even more so, criminal groups. Therefore, we chose complete political apathy. That is, please understand, if we did not collude with anyone even in those harsh 2000s, then in our time it would be ridiculous to do so. Moreover, I do not participate directly in the company’s activities, but only act as a shareholder. I visit Kyrgyzstan at most once a year,» Vladimir Dzhumanbaev said.
On the other hand, everyone sees that Kyrgyzstan is now trying to strictly build a legal state, and we absolutely welcome this, understanding that it is high time to restore order there and create a normal system based on the rule of law.
Vladimir Dzhumanbaev
«I think all this is being done to show that there are no untouchables,» he added.
According to the Kazakh entrepreneur, over the entire period of activity in Kyrgyzstan, his business has paid about $75 million in taxes.
«This is a significant contribution. But again, we must understand that business in Kyrgyzstan is not the largest for us, we produce only about a ton of gold there per year. At the same time, our company has never paid dividends there, has not extracted income from there, and the proceeds were reinvested in exploration and search for new deposits. That is, all the money actually remained in the economy of this country,» he noted.
The businessman was asked whether the employees of the State Committee for National Security apologized to him for damaging his reputation.
«You know, it is silly to demand some kind of official apology from government agencies, especially from such as the State Committee for National Security. When I met with the management of the SCNS after all these inspections and expressed bewilderment about what happened, I received the answer that there were no more questions for me, the case was closed. Probably, this was enough for me to end this story,» Vladimir Dzhumanbaev said.
He also explained that he does not intend to shut down his business in Kyrgyzstan.
According to him, of course, the mood was spoiled, but they continue to work.
The SCNS put the foreign businessman on the wanted list, accusing him of financing organized crime group of Kamchy Kolbaev. The security officers assured that from 2021 to 2023, Dzhumanbaev’s company transferred 1 million soms monthly to Kamchybek Kolbaev to finance the activities of the organized crime group. On June 19, the businessman himself arrived at the SCNS, where he took part in a number of investigative and operational activities with investigators. The state committee noted that Dzhumanbaev presented all the evidence of his non-involvement in Kolbaev’s organized crime group. All charges against him were dropped, the criminal case was closed.
