Court extends Ukrspetsexport employees' detention in Kazakhstan - Kozhara
KYIV. Feb 5 (Interfax) - A court in Kazakhstan has extended the custody of two employees of the Ukrainian state arms exporter Ukrspetsexport to two months, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara.
"These two citizens have been arrested for two months under a court order. Criminal charges are expected to be brought against them," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
ZN.UA online newspaper earlier reported, citing its source, that two high-ranking Ukrspetsexport officials were detained in Kazakhstan on suspicion of offering a large bribe.
The Kazakh newspaper Express K reported that Kazakh special services had detained Maj. Gen. Almaz Asenov, the chief of the Kazakh armed forces' armaments department, who figures in a criminal probe being conducted by national security services. Asenov was allegedly caught in the act of accepting a $200,000 bribe, according to Kazakh media.
No information is available about whether these two cases are linked.
Later, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed the detention of two Ukrspetsexport employees in Astana on January 26, 2013.