"Atameken" is trying to rescue the businessman from the web of unjust accusations

The dike burst at night on 31^st of March 2014. Water covered the sleeping villagers at midnight. The level of the flow of melted water, which was running for few hours, stood at a height of two meters, then it began to decline. Five people drowned, over three hundred units of cattle were killed, 300 homes were damaged by the flood.

Currently, the case of the tragic victims of last year's floods in the town of Bukhara-Kokpekty of Zhyrau district of Karaganda region has finally came to an end. The regional prosecutor's area has approached the deadline allotted to the investigation. The court will deal with the gaps in the logic of the prosecution.

Considering the initially accusatory investigation on the part of the prosecutor's office, the suspected person – the founder of LLP "Tabigat XXI” (and LLP "Santechprom"), Vladimir Kryuchkov - in a "criminal negligence" does not see any prospect of a fair trial.

"Initially, I was accused of that, what I could not be guilty of ", violation of safety rules during mining or construction works that caused a person's death. "But the problem is that our company has been a tenant of Kokpekty reservoir. We took it at the request of the Association of sport fishing, to implement a pilot project to build a green recreation area for residents of the region. We really built around the dike a nursery for reforestation, infrastructure for fishing and recreation. But, not being the owner of the dike - which for a long time belonged to LLP "Agri" Shanyrak "- I did not have a right to make any changes to the design. All I was doing – I put soil and rubble, strengthening the base of the dike. And, of course, I wrote and wrote and wrote, hoping to reach out to the Office of Emergency Situations and local executive bodies", - says Vladimir Kryuchkov to palata.kz.

It is estimated that within nine years, the leadership of LLP "Tabigat XXI” sent more than 60 letters to state agencies, which signaled the poor condition of the dike, which has long been worn out. Neither, the local executive bodies, nor the owner of the dam did not do anything for its reconstruction.

"In 2008, there was done a feasibility study, which proved the need of complete renovation of hydraulic structures", - said Vladimir Kryuchkov. - "Why this has not been done? Yes, because the owner of the dike had a responsibility for his property! In 2009, the dike was 50 years old. To prolong its operation, a number of serious and costly measures should have been conducted..."

Meanwhile, the leadership of the company, the former owner of the dike - JSC "Agri" Shanyrak" - "retroactively "found that during the transfer of the hydraulic object on the balance of the enterprise there have been violated procedures, which make the claim unjustified. It has allowed the former owner to avoid responsibility and to blame it on the tenant of the reservoir.

"I would like to note that the commission, composed of local authorities, accepted our work. And there were no claims – the acts were signed! But they discouraged us from a serious reconstruction. In general, it is not clear - why charges are applied specifically to us? After all, there is no contract, which would spell out our responsibility for the condition of the dike, or that we have any rights and must ensure its safety! "- Says the businessman.

During the year, the businessman sought the appointment of expertise. Finally, he held it at his own expense, inviting hydraulic engineers from St. Petersburg. According to them, a breakthrough of the was provoked as well by the clutter of the drainage channel. Throughout the course of the river you can see illegal dumps. No action were undertaking on clearing of the channel. And one more thing. Oddly enough, but the local executive bodies generously handed out a building permit directly at the security zone. At one spot, there is even a road. As a result, in March 2014 out of two dozen dikes broke 12 (!).

Conclusions of hydraulic specialists during the independent expertise are as follows: the break of the dike was inevitable, because it is in a disrepair state. But the regional prosecutor's office doesn’t agree with these arguments. "The text of the prosecutor's conclusion states the following:" The examination statements are incorrect. "However, it doesn’t specify what exactly is incorrect", - the entrepreneur drew attention to this fact.

The Prosecutor's Office is guided by the expertise of the Research Center, which has no relation to the hydraulic engineering. But the opinions of its experts perfectly coincides with the opinion of the prosecutor’s office, even in terms of spelling mistakes. According to the lawyers of the businessman, it seems that the expert report was written under their dictation.

Another detail surprises us. The damage suffered by the residents of the village, is estimated at over one billion tenge. Property of LLP "Tabigat XXI” is not sufficient to cover the losses. And then the regional prosecutor's office has been taken an unprecedented legal action in Kazakhstan by arresting a completely different business, that can’t be liable, as it is located hundreds of kilometers from the scene.

LLP "Santechprom", where Vladimir Kryuchkov is a  co-founder, one of the leading exporting companies.

"The plant, which employs more than three hundred people, is a leader in the economy not only in Karaganda region, but also throughout Kazakhstan. It is included in the top twenty companies of our country under the program "Baiterek". It is obvious that the cost of the seized property is artificially adjusted to the amount of damages asserted by the case of the tragedy in Kokpekty. But as it was made so rough and clumsy, one can’t exclude attempts to implement some raider scheme", - says the businessman.

It is noteworthy that Vladimir Kryuchkov, who is blamed in the tragedy at Kokpekty, took an active part in the aftermath of the floods. This really angered the business community of Karaganda, which expressed its full solidarity with their colleague. Most entrepreneurs see Kryuchkov’s case as an attempt to divert responsibility from the real perpetrators of the incident.

The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken" undertook an attempt to rescue the businessman from bias attitude and partiality. Department of legal protection of entrepreneurs came out with an official letter to the Prosecutor General’ Office. And what happens? Employees of the General Prosecutor’s Office, being guided not by the Civil Procedure Code, but by the Law on the hierarchy of legal acts and internal order, in violation of all legal norms, redirected the protest of NCE ... to Prosecutor’s Office of Karaganda region. Indeed, "One hand washes" the other.

However, the NCE will continue to work to protect the rights of the entrepreneur. "Atameken" believes that the illegal actions distort the investigation, as all the arguments of the case are construed exclusively on accusations.