The Washington Post has a fascinating article on the uranium market in Kazakhstan, complete with extensive photo galleries. The most illuminating aspect was the arrest of Mukhtar Dzhakishev, the former chief executive of the state nuclear firm Kazatomprom. According to the Post, “the KNB, local successor to the KGB, accused him of transferring the rights to 60 percent of the nation’s uranium deposits — worth billions of dollars — to offshore companies under his control. Dzhakishev, 45, denied the charge and remains in prison. But in a remarkable breach of security, somebody leaked a 64-minute video of him speaking to KNB investigators where he accused Russia of benefiting from his arrest in order to Kazakhstan from becoming a more independent and formidable competitor.”
The videos are broken up into 10-minute blocks, but here is the first:
Dzhakishev’s story shows how Kazakhstan is run by bureaucratized clan relations, with Russia benefiting from the fallout- pun not intended.