Officials and Businesses Face Charges Over Illegal Gravel Mining in Kyrgyzstan

The Osh environmental prosecutor's office in Kyrgyzstan has initiated a criminal investigation into officials and businesses involved in the illegal extraction of gravel and sand in the Noocat district. The probe uncovered that resource extractors were operating quarries beyond the depths stipulated in their technical projects and environmental assessments.

One individual entrepreneur, identified as O.M., deepened a quarry to nine meters, illegally extracting 13,100 cubic meters of sand and gravel. Similarly, the company "ZhBI M-A" extracted 20,000 cubic meters of materials from a quarry dug to a depth of 10 meters. In total, an estimated 33,100 cubic meters of sand and gravel were extracted illegally.

The estimated value of the illicitly obtained materials is approximately 16.75 million Kyrgyz soms. Furthermore, the actions of these extractors resulted in tax losses for the state, amounting to 1.4895 million soms. The total damage inflicted upon the state is calculated at over 18.2395 million soms.

Investigators discovered that responsible officials within the relevant state bodies were aware of these violations but failed to take action to stop them. Consequently, the prosecutor's office has opened a criminal case under Article 337 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan, pertaining to "Abuse of official position." The investigation is ongoing.