BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 21. Kazakhstan’s
National Security Committee has stopped the activities of an
organized group involved in the illegal export of petroleum
products outside Kazakhstan, with the total value of the operations
estimated at around 45 billion tenge (about $99.8 million),
according to the committee.
According to the investigation, the organizer of the scheme, an
entrepreneur from the Mangystau region, entered into contracts with
subsoil users to purchase crude oil. The oil was subsequently
processed at the Standart Petroleum and Mangystau Oil Refining
mini-refineries, with fictitious quality certificates issued, the
committee said.
The products were then exported abroad by tanker through the
Aktau seaport under the guise of heating fuel.
From 2019 to 2023, more than 160,000 tons of petroleum products
were illegally exported abroad through Batys Nefte Trade LLP alone.
The total value of the operations was estimated at around 45
billion tenge.
As part of a set of procedural measures carried out this year,
the assets of individuals involved in the criminal case, as well as
the mini-refineries, a tanker and other property, were
confiscated.
More than 2 billion tenge (over $4.4 million) in illegally
obtained proceeds and unpaid taxes was recovered for the state.
Earlier, five members of the organized criminal group, including
the heads of the mini-refineries and the trading company, were
sentenced by the Aktau City Court to eight years in prison under
Part 3 of Article 234 and Part 2 of Article 262 of Kazakhstan’s
Criminal Code.
The organizer of the scheme is on an international wanted
list.
Currency conversions are based on the National Bank of
Kazakhstan exchange rate: $1 = 450.69 tenge.
