30/7 Tass 372 A
ASHGABAD, July 30 (Itar-Tass) — Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov suggested setting up financial police to fight corruption in Turkmenistan. The presidential proposal came in the wake of an open trial held on Thursday over a group of executives of the Turkmen Central Bank who extorted money from customers.
“Unfortunately, there are people in our ranks who hold responsible posts at state institutions but are more concerned with their personal interests rather than state ones,” the president went on to say.
“The bank employees used their position for personal enrichment. They took bribes, thus jeopardizing the country’ s image in the eyes of foreign companies,” Berdymukhamedov stressed.
“A company which was supposed to start the construction of a vital facility following a government decision couldn’ t get financing for the project until its representative didn’t bribe the bank employees,” the Turkmen head of state said, adding the prosecutor’s office was investigating plenty of corruption cases.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov promised to root out corruption in Turkmenistan and punish every person engaged in illegal activities.
The trial over the bankers was shown on national television last Thursday. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption. The damage to the Turkmen state caused by the Central Bank employees is estimated at more than 4.6 million dollars.
Police have confiscated eight apartments, nine cars and 17 pieces of various building equipment from the bank employees.