Kyrgyz politician
Omurbek Toktogulovich Babanov
(
Kyrgyz
:
?м?рбек Токтогулович (Токтогул уулу) Бабанов
,
romanized
:
Omurbek Toqtoghulovich (Toqtoghul uulu) Babanov
,
[œmyr?b?k
t?qt???ul
uː?lu
b??b?n?f]
; born 20 May 1970) is a
Kyrgyz
politician who served twice as the
Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan
in 2011?12.
Political career
[
edit
]
Before his appointment as Prime Minister, Babanov was Deputy Prime Minister in the
government
of
Almazbek Atambayev
. He was also acting Prime Minister from 23 September 2011 until 14 November 2011, as Prime Minister Atambayev was a candidate in the presidential election.
[1]
He again became acting Prime Minister on 1 December 2011 when Atambayev took office as President. He was confirmed by
Parliament
on 23 December 2011.
[2]
On 1 September 2012 Babanov resigned as Prime Minister.
Babanov participated in Kyrgyzstan's
presidential election in 2017
as an independent. During a television debate, candidate
Sooronbay Jeenbekov
promised to imprison Babanov as part of a proposed fight against corruption.
[3]
He came second to Jeenbekov with 33% of the vote.
Family and wealth
[
edit
]
With an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion, he is one of the richest people in Kyrgyzstan.
[4]
Babanov is half-
Turkish
and half-Kyrgyz.
[5]
His mother was from the
Turkish Meskhetian
minority group in
Georgia
; she was forcefully deported from
Batumi
to Kyrgyzstan during
World War II
.
[5]
Babanov's wife is
Kazakh
. His family's ethnic background were used to smear him during the 2017 election.
[3]
Controversy
[
edit
]
On May 31, 2021, he was detained as part of an investigation involving the
Kumtor Gold Mine
.
[6]
On November 28, 2023, Kamchybek Tashiev, the Chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, stated that among all those accused in the course of the investigation, only Omurbek Babanov was not held accountable due to the absence of a criminal case against him.
[7]
[8]
[9]
Sanction evasion warehouse
[
edit
]
In 2023, Russian media reported that a firm linked to the Babanov family would build a warehouse for Russian companies, which would likely use it to circumvent sanctions.
[10]
Purchase of a passport
[
edit
]
The leader of the Ar-Namys faction in 2012, Felix Kulov, said that First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov admitted to him that he had purchased a Kazakh passport. “I asked Omurbek Babanov about the Kazakh passport and he admitted to me that he bought it because he was doing business in Kazakhstan, and could not return it because he acquired it illegally,” said the head of Ar-Namys.
[11]
Kazakh media found the passport in the database.
[12]
Raider takeover of the Kyrgyzstan Bank and NTS TV channel
[
edit
]
Babanov was repeatedly accused of raider takeovers, using connections with the authorities as the main way to enrich himself.
[13]
He was accused of the raider seizure of the Kyrgyzstan Bank[26] and the NTS TV channel. The ex-owner of the bank, Kalicha Umuralieva, stated:
“I will name the names of three people involved in the raiding: Maxim Bakiev (son of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev), Omurbek Babanov, Alexey Eliseev. We were offered to combine 60% of the shares and transfer them to Babanov. We refused. , but then they began to threaten our children. Babanov simply liked our bank, so he decided to take it into his own hands. I had to give it away. In our country there are no guarantees for domestic investors. But the shares were taken from us not by organized crime groups, but by people who held high posts in the Cabinet of Ministers. Babanov was prime minister"
[14]
The NTS TV channel was formed on the basis of the VOSST TV and Radio Company, which was owned by the famous businessman Valery Khon under President Askar Akayev. The entrepreneur said that his oil base and television channel were raided by Babanov’s people with the support of the presidential family. After the events of March 2005, the TV channel was re-registered to other persons. Those around Babanov claimed that control of NTS had passed into the hands of the Bakiyev family. And after the April events of 2010, he again returned to Babanov, who, as is known, was on good terms with the head of the “provisional government” Roza Otunbayeva. Parliamentarians stated that the TV channel should have been transferred to the state, and not handed over to Babanov.
[15]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Countries JK"
.
rulers.org
. Retrieved
Aug 8,
2019
.
- ^
"Babanov Elected Kyrgyz PM"
.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
. Retrieved
Aug 8,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Kyrgyzstan holds an election that was not a foregone conclusion"
.
The Economist
. 18 October 2017.
- ^
(KCHR), Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights.
"Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) - Who is part of the list of the richest people in Kyrgyzstan?"
.
www.kchr.org
. Retrieved
2017-09-22
.
- ^
a
b
Kırgızistan'da cumhurba?kanlı?ı secim yarı?ında iki eski ba?bakan one cıkıyor
,
Anadolu Agency
, 2017
, retrieved
20 December
2020
,
Babanov'un annesinin Kırgız olmamasını zaman zaman siyasi malzeme olarak kullanıyor. Babanov da durumu "Rahmetli annem, ?kinci Dunya Sava?ı doneminde Gurcistan'ın Batum ?ehrinden Kırgızistan'a suruldu. Uzun tren yolculu?u sırasında anne ve babasını kaybeden kucuk kıza bir Kırgız ailesi sahip cıktı. Ben Kırgız ailesinde buyudum. Annem Ahıska Turku'dur babam da Kırgız" sozleriyle acıklıyor.
- ^
"Kyrgyzstan: Former PM, ex-speaker of parliament detained in Kumtor investigation"
.
Times of Central Asia
. 1 June 2021.
- ^
"Глава ГКНБ: По делам, связанным с Кумтором, привлечены к ответственности около 20 должностных лиц"
.
Радио Азаттык (Кыргызская служба Радио Свободная Европа/Радио Свобода)
(in Russian). 2023-11-28
. Retrieved
2024-05-07
.
- ^
"≪Дело Кумтора≫: оправдан только Бабанов?"
.
Радио Азаттык (Кыргызская служба Радио Свободная Европа/Радио Свобода)
(in Russian). 2023-12-01
. Retrieved
2024-05-07
.
- ^
"≪Кумт?р≫ иши боюнча ?м?рбек Бабанов акталып чыкты, ? Ташиев"
(in Kyrgyz)
. Retrieved
2024-05-07
.
- ^
Шамшидинова, Медина (2023-08-09).
"Фирма, связанная с семьёй Бабанова, построит склад для российских компаний ? ≪Коммерсантъ≫"
.
KLOOP.KG - Новости Кыргызстана
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.
- ^
Акталов, Аскар (2011-06-15).
"Омурбек Бабанов признался в покупке казахского паспорта"
.
K-News
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.
- ^
"У кандидата в президенты КР Бабанова было казахстанское гражданство ? кыргызские СМИ"
.
informburo.kz
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.
- ^
"Рейдер вопит о рейдерстве! У Бабанова отняли то, что он сам когда-то отнял у других ≫ Белый Парус"
.
Белый Парус
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.
- ^
"Омурбека Бабанова обвинили в рейдерском захвате банка. Просят национализировать"
.
kaktus.media
(in Russian). 2019-04-12
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.
- ^
yad (2023-06-24).
"НТС: рейдерский захват или…? | Res Publica"
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2024-05-19
.