Former ANPZ General Director Handed Sentence

Court No. 2 in Atyrau has sentenced Murat Dosmuratov, the former general director of the Atyrau Oil Refinery.

The former head of the critical enterprise was found guilty but did not face punishment. Orda has investigated the matter.

Accused, Convicted, No Punishment 

Murat Dosmuratov was tried under Part 2 of Article 371 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan - improper performance of authority. Initially, he was accused of abuse of authority, but some of the charges fell apart during the trial, and he was ultimately charged with negligence.

Atyrau City Court No. 2 of Atyrau informed an Orda.kz correspondent about the charges against Dosmuratov.

The Prosecutor's Office believes Dosmuratov "failed to ensure compliance with legal requirements and the company's charter for the effective functioning of systems and decision-making on production issues."

Instead of repairing the plant's heat exchanger, as it should have been, he held a separate tender and allocated about two billion tenge for repair work.

The former head was found guilty but faced no punishment, as the statute of limitations is two years and has already expired.

In this regard, the defendant was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 371 of the Criminal Code and, on the basis of Part 1 of Article 71 of the Criminal Code, was released from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. At the same time, he was ordered to pay the state about two billion tenge in damages,  the court reported.

The court's decision will require Dosmuratov to pay hefty compensation.

Although the verdict has not yet entered into legal force, many questions have already arisen, including from former and current ANPZ employees.

And was there any need for this trial at all?

"Facts Are Facts"

Nurgul Dosmuratova is sure that the case against her husband was fabricated. She emphasizes that almost all the charges fell apart during the trial.

The investigation ignored the facts and circumstances, and it is possible that the trial against the former head could have been "ordered."

We categorically disagree with the court's decision. Not a single argument of the prosecution was confirmed, this is the most important and frightening thing. There were a huge number of gross violations of the law on the part of the investigation. The investigative bodies showed a complete lack of understanding of the provisions of the law, Nurgul Dosmuratova says.

The investigation lasted nine months, and there were many questions about how the Prosecutor's Office handled things. 

Dosmuratov's defense has already clarified that they intend to appeal the court's decision and, if necessary, in international judicial bodies.

There will definitely be an appeal, because from the first to the last word and actions of the investigative body and the prosecutor's office do not correspond to reality! You can't just make up facts on the fly, interpret the law at your own discretion, and blame a person who has proven in practice that it is possible and necessary to work honestly; that the enterprise's expenses can be lower; that plant downtime can be stopped; that workers can be trained; that not taking bribes and not participating in schemes is normal and right,
 Nurgul Dosmuratova said.

Murat Dosmuratov's former colleagues and subordinates also speak out in his support.

During the trial, Dosmuratov was isolated and had no contact with the ANPZ employees.

However, 12 plant employees who were called to court as witnesses for the prosecution acted as witnesses for the defense.

They spoke well of him, stating that Dosmuratov had not violated the law during the heat exchanger repair.

The plant workers also thanked the former manager for contributing to the ANPZ's operations.

I am very surprised that the court, without proving Murat Dosmuratov's guilt, convicted him. What guilt? It is unclear. That he repaired the equipment and launched the unit? All corporate decisions were made on the repair of the heat exchanger, an investigation was conducted, the cause of the breakdown was established, everything was fixed. Dosmuratov acted within the law and KMG regulations. All materials were provided to the court, but poorly studied. With this approach, it turns out that if the equipment breaks down, then there is no need to repair it. I hope the appellate court will review Dosmuratov's case and he will be acquitted,  A former employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The investigators confiscated all documents related to the heat exchanger from the plant, leaving no copies.

The employees had to restore the documentation themselves. The ANPZ employees were puzzled by this approach: if these papers had been lost somewhere in the prosecutor's office archives, there would have been no evidence of Dosmuratov's guilt or innocence.

Other oddities occurred during the trial, but the higher court will have to look into them when the verdict is officially appealed.

Original Authors: Nikita Drobny, Daniel Arturov

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