Ex-Kazatomprom Executive Sentenced Over 20.1 Billion Tenge Uranium Deal Losses

Former Kazatomprom commercial director Askar Batyrbayev has been sentenced to prison, stripped of state honors, and had his property confiscated after causing over 20.1 billion tenge in damages to the state, Orda.kz reports.

The Astana court found Batyrbayev guilty of abusing his position while overseeing uranium sales in 2021–2022.

According to case materials, he signed 13 contracts for uranium supply at prices below market value.

Three contracts were executed in violation of the deadlines – after the end of the allotted period. Another ten – at a cost significantly lower than the average market price. Only one of the transactions, with the British Yellow Cake plc, assumed the sale of two million pounds of uranium at $32.23 per pound, with the current price of $45.5. According to the court's assessment, the total amount of damage from all agreements amounted to 20.1 billion tenge,
the court documents read. 

For these deals, Batyrbayev received a bonus of 54 million tenge.

During the trial, he denied the charges, claiming the contracts were approved by company leadership and the board of directors. However, the court found no evidence in the board minutes or meeting recordings.

Batyrbayev was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The court also upheld a civil claim for 20.1 billion tenge in favor of Samruq-Qazyna and requested to revoke Batyrbayev’s Yeren Yenbegi Ushin medal.

The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov