Kyrgyzstan calls on Pentagon to suspend fuel deal

[News_Editor]

Kyrgyzstan calls on Pentagon to suspend fuel deal

2010-11-06 08:44:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Kyrgyzstan on Friday called on the United States to suspend its renewed transit center fuel contract with the Gibraltar-based Mina Corp.

Minas Corp. had supplied jet fuel to the Pentagon's transit center in Bishkek for the last six years. However, Kyrgyzstan alleges that Mina Corp. was reportedly in close relation with ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's son Maksim.

The son of the former ruler controlled most of the fuel contractor firms in the country during the presidency of his father. The Kyrgyz government initiated an investigation into the ways in which fuel was delivered to the center under Bakiyev's watch.

"In relation to this The Kyrgyz governments calls on the United States to suspend cooperation with Mina Corp. until the country's prosecutors have not completed an investigation," the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Defense Department announced a $315 million one-year contract with a one-year option with Mina Corp. to supply 96 million gallons of jet fuel to the Bishkek transit center which serves as a key logistical hub for the war effort in Afghanistan.

The U.S. are aware of the ongoing investigation into allegations that contracts to Mina Corp. to supply fuel to the Transit Center substantially enriched family members of Maksim Bakiyev. However, th Defense Department said that they did not receive any information on Mina Corp. that would prevent awarding a contract to the company.

Kyrgyzstan claims that if the fuel deliveries are organized according to the state structures and transparently, the Kyrgyz budget could receive up to $60 millions per year.

“It is a priority of the United States to ensure a secure, reliable and uninterrupted supply of fuel to the Transit Center to enable us to sustain our critical operations in Afghanistan," said Derek Mitchell, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.

The Kyrgyz government expressed their confidence that the U.S. will take all necessary efforts to provide transparency and remove doubts on the fuel deliveries to the transit center.

"At the same time we recognize the importance of a fuel contract process that is publicly transparent and fully in compliance with U.S. and Kyrgyz laws and regulations," Mitchell added.

The transit center in Bishkek is a fundamental part of the Northern Distribution Network, a series of commercially based logistic arrangements connecting Baltic and Caspian ports with Afghanistan via Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus region.

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