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KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakh president faces lawsuit in Switzerland

A group of Kazakhs has filed a lawsuit in Switzerland against Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his son-in-law for having allegedly embezzled 400 million francs ($435 million), news agency ATS reported on Monday.

Published: 14 February 2012 08:37 CET

The case comes on top of an ongoing probe by Swiss prosecutors against Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev for having allegedly laundered 600 million francs.

The first part of the latest lawsuit is once again targetted at Kulibayev.

It claims that when he was deputy chairman of the state-owned KazMunaiGaz, Kulibayev had purchased part of the company for $30 million before selling it on later for $340 million, said Bruno de Preux, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, confirming a report in Matin Dimanche.

According to the newspaper, the profits from that transaction were banked at the Geneva branch of BNP Paribas on the account of a company called Oilex, which is controlled by one of Kulibayev’s men.

The second part of the lawsuit concerns Nazarbayev, and claims that he pocketed $100 million in 2006 by appropriating the satellite television company Khabar Agency.

The transaction was completed through a member of Kazakhstan’s mission to the UN in Geneva, who was also an appointee of Nazarbayev. Funds from this transaction have been deposited at Credit Suisse in Zurich, said the lawyer.

Swiss public prosecutors would neither confirm nor deny the case, but de Preux said that investigations were ongoing.

OSLO

Stockholm joins race for 2012 Winter Olympics

Stockholm has jumped into the race to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics, immediately becoming Oslo's biggest bidding rival.

Published: 12 November 2013 09:19 CET
Stockholm joins race for 2012 Winter Olympics
AP
In a joint statement issued by members of the Swedish Olympic, Paralympic and the Swedish sports federation they said that a successful bid was only possible if it was "economically feasible."
 
"We could give the world an exciting, innovative project that is both spectacular and be a unique way to bring winter sports into a big city," said the Swedish Olympic Committee in the joint statement.
 
The bid is at a preliminary stage and it is understood that an official bid won't be lodged with the International Olympic Committee until next March.
 
Stockholm's plans come as a blow to Oslo, which yesterday looked the clear favourite after Munich and Davos – its two main competitors – dropped out. 
 
If Stockholm wins, it will be Sweden's first Olympics since it held the summer event in 1912. 
 
It plans to hold the majority of events in the city, with alpine skiing taking place in Åre, 610 kilometres away in the mountains. 
 
A report commissioned by the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) estimates that holding the games would cost 9.79 billion kronor ($1.5 billion). 
 
"It (the report) showed that the possibilities are very good  financially, technically and in terms of snow to stage the Games without state funding," added the SOK in the statement.
 
Under IOC rules a certain level of government involvement is required for any country that hosts an Olympic games in order to cover costs if the budget overruns.
 
"It must be economically feasible and does not take resources away from other important areas of society,"  the SOK wrote.
 
A decision as to who hosts the 2022 Olympic Games will be made on July 31st next year in Kuala Lumpur. 
 
Other cities planning to bid include the Ukrainian city of Lvov,  Krakow in Poland, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Beijing in China.  Of those only Almaty has a reputation as a winter sports capital. 
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