Photo from personal archive. Melis Turgunbaev
Kabybekov pointed out that in the context of investigations into multi-billion embezzlements, law enforcement agencies usually interrogate all individuals who had any connection to the subject, making Turgunbaev's summons to the investigator almost inevitable, considering his long tenure at "Kyrgyzneftegaz".
“The figure of the head of the National Bank cannot escape a criminal case, even as a witness, as this seriously undermines the reputation of the country's financial regulator. It is likely that his resignation was initiated in advance so that the upcoming investigative actions would not affect the image of the National Bank,” noted the political scientist.
Turgunbaev resigned after serving more than a year as the head of the National Bank (appointed on June 26, 2024). His professional career is closely linked to the oil industry: from 2013 to 2020, he held positions on the Board of Directors of OJSC "Kyrgyzneftegaz", including the position of chairman. In 2020-2021, he was the chairman of the board of this enterprise. Earlier, several media outlets reported that he had close ties with the former head of the State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev.
It is worth noting that the State National Security Committee identified a corruption scheme in "Kyrgyzneftegaz" that caused damage of over 4 billion soms. Former top managers of the company and private firms associated with it have been detained in connection with this case.
