Kazakh prosecutors consider bribery claim cited in paper against ex-PM
Kazakh businessman made the bribery public in interview

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow

Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax

Astana, 25th August: The Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office has assessed prominent Kazakh businessman (?Grigoriy Luchanskiy's) statement on him giving a 100m-dollar bribe to former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin as "official", Kazakh Prosecutor-General Yuriy Khitrin told a news conference in Astana today.

Luchanskiy made the bribery public in an interview with the Kazakh national newspaper "Express-K", noting that law-enforcement agencies can regard it as an official statement.

Kazhegeldin headed the Kazakh cabinet from October 1994 to October 1997. He has been living abroad for nearly two years, being apprehensive about returning to Kazakhstan. He now leads the opposition Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh law-enforcement agencies are charging Kazhegeldin with bribery, legalization of money and property obtained through illegal means, abuse of office, unlawful storage of weapons and tax evasion.