Photo courtesy of utrk.kg
Kydykbek Kydyrov, the acting head of Kyrgyzstan's Tax Service, who was appointed just two weeks ago, has been accused of concealing electronic waybills (ETTN). The revelation was made to journalists by Kamchybek Tashiyev, the chairman of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB), Kloop reports.
Tashiyev clarified that the official implicated in corruption will soon be dismissed from his position by President Sadyr Japarov. The GKNB has already submitted a corresponding proposal to the president, and a search is currently underway for a candidate to replace Kydyrov.
According to the security chief, the corruption scheme involving excisable goods was carefully planned and concealed. In total, tax inspectors failed to review approximately one million returned ETTNs, while collecting a specific amount for each waybill.
Tashiyev added that the financial turnover in question amounted to 464 billion soms ($5.3 billion), resulting in an estimated loss of around 30 billion soms (approximately $345 million) in unpaid taxes. The general emphasized that this was a highly professional and well-organized crime.
Kydykbek Kydyrov assumed the position of head of the State Tax Service following the arrest of his predecessor, Altynbek Abduvapov, who was also suspected of manipulations involving the ETTN system. The former official and his deputy were detained on December 6 and placed in pretrial detention until January 20 during the investigation.
Shortly before this, on December 3, alcohol importers and producers were required to replace old excise stamps with new ones. Subsequently, the GKNB conducted searches in regional tax offices, uncovering concealed violations related to the supply of excisable goods into the country. Several tax officials were summoned for questioning and later arrested.
At that time, Tashiyev stated that officials had created a corruption scheme linked to the use of ETTNs. According to his earlier data, these actions caused the state an estimated loss of 3.2 billion soms ($36.8 million).
