The State Committee for National Security detained the head of the Tourism Development Support Fund Elena Kalashnikova in a corruption case

The State Committee for National Security detained the head of the Tourism Development Support Fund, Elena Kalashnikova, and one of the vice-presidents of the fund in a corruption case.

The State Committee for National Security said that the Tourism Development Support Fund was created with an authorized capital of 1 billion soms. But during the audit, the State Committee for National Security found out that the fund was a large-scale waste of funds, their misuse, and the management had unreasonably high salaries.

Based on these facts, the State Committee initiated a case under the article “Corruption”, and the Fund itself was searched and financial documents were seized. According to the investigation, out of 1 billion soms, the Fund disbursed more than 608 million soms for projects in the field of tourism development.

“According to the construction project of 21 recreation points (Rest Points) 100% of the contract amount was transferred to the contractors – more than 105 million soms, and not a single facility has been put into operation to date, there are no design estimates, acts of work performed and justification for financing,” the State Committee for National Security reported.

What other violations did the SCNS find?

In addition, the cost of these recreation points is almost doubled and amounts to more than 13 million soms.

Another violation of the State Committee for National Security was found in contracts with foreign companies for the preparation of “Conceptual Ideas” for the development of tourist facilities. The Foundation spent more than 715 thousand euros on them.

“The agreements do not provide for the development of any terms of reference, design and estimate documentation, but are limited only to the preparation of draft designs, which the Fund’s employees have not been able to provide to the investigation to date,” the State Committee said.

Another violation, according to the State Committee for National Security, is the issuance by the Fund of loans on favorable terms to private companies on the basis of only one application, in the absence of business plans and the uncertain prospects for these projects. For this, the Fund issued more than 65 million soms.

The State Committee for National Security also stated that the Fund’s management had excessively high salaries and had a practice of attracting foreign consultants with no experience in the tourism sector, but with a salary of $6,000 per month. To determine the exact amount of damage, the Fund conducts an audit.

Corruption case in the SCNS Tourism Development Support Fund aroused at the beginning of May this year. The fund was established in March 2022 to support the sustainable development of the tourism industry in Kyrgyzstan. The founder of the Fund is the Ministry of Economy.