Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov instructed the heads of law enforcement agencies to introduce amendments and additions to the national legislation in order to strengthen the fight against corruption. Illegal profits seized from corrupt officials will be used to build social facilities, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported on Friday.
The head of the republic's order was announced at a meeting of the State Security Council, which discussed the results of the law enforcement agencies' work over four months. Serdar Berdymukhamedov said that measures should be taken to further strengthen public administration, as well as improve the integrity of civil servants. "No one has the right to steal the property of the people, of the state, and to earn money by dishonest work," the agency quotes the president as saying.
Serdar Berdymukhamedov pointed out that the illegally obtained proceeds confiscated from the corrupt officials will be used for the construction of social facilities.
The reaction of the republic's leader followed the report of Turkmen Prosecutor General Batyr Atdaev, who reported at a meeting of the State Security Council on the discovery of a number of corrupt schemes in the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations.
The day before the Prosecutor General's Office revealed the corruption schemes used by some heads of consumer cooperatives, as well as markets and stores in Ashgabat and Akhal velayat (region). In particular, they were engaged in the resale of overpriced flour and vegetable oil, for which preferential prices were set. They were also accused of other corruption crimes.
According to the prosecutor general, the guilty leaders were sentenced to 20 years. Their accomplices from among their subordinates received 8 and 15 years each.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/TASS
Based on materials from TASS