Former Deputy Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Zhumabay Karagaev was detained and taken into custody. This was announced on January 15 by the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) of Kazakhstan.
“The investigative team of the territorial department of the AFM for the Mangistau region detained the Vice Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhumabay Karagaev, the heads of electronic trading platforms and persons involved in the unreasonable increase in prices for liquefied petroleum gas in the Mangistau region,” the agency’s press service said. .
It is noted that in relation to Karagaev, by a court decision, a preventive measure in the form of detention for a period of two months, chosen by the investigating authority and supported by the prosecutor’s office of the region, was sanctioned.
“The investigation is ongoing. Other information in the interests of the investigation is not subject to disclosure,” the agency added.
Earlier in the day, the press service of the government of Kazakhstan announced that Karagaev had been relieved of his post. In turn, a number of media outlets, citing sources, reported on his detention.
On January 6, Kazakhstan introduced state regulation of prices for gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied gas for 180 days. In addition, in order to stabilize prices for socially important goods, the export of cattle and small cattle abroad was banned for six months, and potatoes and carrots for three months.
The day before, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev blamed the protests in Kazakhstan on the government. According to him, the Ministry of Energy, in particular, is particularly to blame for allowing a protest situation in connection with the increase in prices for liquefied gas.
At the same time, it became known that Nakbergen Tulepov, the director of a gas processing plant in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, who could have unreasonably raised prices for liquefied gas, had been subjected to a pre-trial investigation, and he was detained. There was also talk about the detention of the head of the site for electronic trading in this type of fuel.
On January 2, protests began in Kazakhstan. The protesters protested against the rise in prices for liquefied natural gas. The protests soon turned into riots.
The situation escalated especially in Alma-Ata. The protesters broke into the administration building, set fire to the prosecutor’s office and the office of the ruling party. Radical protesters armed themselves and began to loot, destroying shops, pharmacies and banks in the city. It was reported that during the riots in Kazakhstan, 17 security officials were killed, two of them were beheaded.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on January 5 that he had applied to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia) for help in overcoming the terrorist threat. All the CSTO countries responded to the request, they sent collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan and guarded a number of strategic facilities.
On January 10, Tokayev announced the restoration of constitutional order in Kazakhstan. The next day, he announced that the peacekeepers would completely leave the country in 10 days. The first units of Russian paratroopers from the CSTO forces flew out of Kazakhstan on January 13.
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