He also mentioned that there are 108 tons of gold in the tailings storage facility, and a project to process 80 tons had previously been started, which, however, remained unfinished.
Bolturuk pointed out the difficulties the mine faced in 2022 due to protests in Almaty and the war in Ukraine, which resulted in the suspension of spare parts and fuel deliveries via railway. "I was forced to go to Iran to negotiate with the Deputy Minister of Railways about resuming supplies. We also managed to agree on renting the port of Bandar Abbas, which gave Kyrgyzstan access to global maritime routes," he wrote.
Nevertheless, according to Bolturuk, some officials began to act against him, and he expressed regret over the insufficient recognition of his contribution to the company's development.
It is important to note that in September 2022, the Prosecutor General's Office conducted an audit of the activities of CJSC "Kumtor Gold Company," revealing corruption schemes and damage amounting to 1 billion soms. As a result, three criminal cases were initiated, and on September 13, 2022, Bolturuk was detained.
The Accounts Chamber published the results of the audit of the company's activities during the period of temporary external management from May 2021 to June 2022, in which Bolturuk was accused of:
- allocating $1.9 million for the "Heritage of Great Nomads" projects that were not implemented;
- paying $1.7 million in salaries to local and foreign employees;
- transferring $51,000 to a Swiss company for services without supporting documents;
- renting office space in Bishkek for nearly $73,000 per month;
- misappropriating $2.3 million for setting up a new office, including a double design order for $46,000;
- unjustifiably increasing the staff by 37% and self-awarding bonuses;
- other financial violations.
Bolturuk's lawyer, Kaysyn Abakirov, stated that there is no criminal offense in his client's actions, and the results of Bolturuk's work should be considered in their entirety.
At the end of April 2023, Tengiz Bolturuk and other defendants in the corruption case reimbursed the budget 844 million soms, which is 80% of the total damage. The amount contributed by Bolturuk was not specified, but it was enough to satisfy the request of his lawyers, and he was released from pre-trial detention under house arrest. On July 4, the arrest was extended until August 10, and in mid-September, it became known that the criminal case was suspended due to Bolturuk's illness.
On November 21, 2023, the judge of the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek, Ilyazbek Tajibaev, issued a ruling in Bolturuk's case, imposing a fine of 800,000 soms and lifting the freeze on his accounts (with $2,065 and 5,601 soms). At the same time, 10 million soms received in the Prosecutor General's account as compensation were transferred to "Kumtor."
