Mr O.A. Bektenov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Asset Recovery Commission.
To the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr B.N. Asylov.
To the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Mr A. Zhumagali A. Zh.
Mr N.M. Suindikov, Chairman of the Asset Recovery Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Public Foundation “Elge Qaitaru” appeals to you with a request to take measures regarding the actual loss of industrial assets of the former “Caspian Mining and Metallurgical Combine” for the Republic of Kazakhstan, which occurred after its illegal privatisation.
“Pre-Caspian Mining and Metallurgical Combine” was established in accordance with the decree of the Government of the USSR dated 8.01.1959 for mining and processing of uranium-phosphate ores containing rare earth elements on the basis of the Melovoye deposit on the Mangyshlak peninsula and since 1965 was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building of the USSR. The plant was one of the flagships of the USSR defence industrial complex.
The combine included two mines, several plants (sulphuric acid, chemical-hydrometallurgical, nitrogen-tuke, machine-building, repair-mechanical), the Caspian Construction Department and other subdivisions.
As a result of the activity of all these plants, production wastes (tailings, sludge, etc.) were formed over a long period of time. For example, only during the production of sulphuric acid about 12 million tonnes of pyrite cinders, which are valuable raw materials for cement production, were deposited. The volume of waste of the Chemical and Hydrometallurgical Plant is about 400 thousand tonnes. All these wastes also contain rare earth metals (scandium, etc.) and are worth tens of millions of US dollars today. According to the current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, such wastes, called technogenic mineral formations, are categorised as subsoil and are state-owned.
In August 1992, with gross violations of the legislation in force at that time, the combine was corporatised, transformed into JSC KASKOR and privatised.
Firstly, the combine was not subject to privatisation due to the nature of its activities. Secondly, the size of the state share was criminally reduced during privatisation. Thirdly, all procedures established by law were violated. Fourthly, significant state-owned assets of the combine were not accounted for and valued.
Despite the actions of almost all interested state bodies throughout the 1990s aimed at restoring the rule of law, the violations could not be eliminated due to the inexplicable actions of the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Subsequently, KASCOR was declared bankrupt, the sludge storage facility was illegally included in the bankruptcy estate and illegally sold to private companies by bankruptcy trustees.
In connection with the above-mentioned, we ask you to verify the above facts, take measures to return the tailings-technogenic mineral formations of the former Caspian Mining and Metallurgical Combine to the state and include them in the subsoil of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
However, we also request an inventory of all other tailings-technogenic mineral formations created before 1992 and an analysis of the observance of the State’s property rights.
Respectfully,
У. C. Yerzhanov
Director of the public foundation “Elge Qaitaru”