DUSHANBE, July 16, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Kont Investment Bank with headquarters in Dushanbe has denied information that it has allegedly decided to complete two of eight half-finished apartment buildings of Movarounnahr as unfounded.

“A meeting that took place on July 15 was initiated by representatives of Movarounnahr and they were received by the bank head as ordinary customers,” Daler Abdullo, a spokesman for Holding Cont Groups of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus.

He noted that Movarounnahr representatives had offered Kont Investment Bank to complete some of those half-finished apartment buildings.  “However, we do not intend even to consider these proposals,” Abdullo added.

We will recall that Buzurgmehr Yorov, an accredited representative of Movarounnahr said the Kont Investment Bank top managers met with representatives of Movarounnahr on July 15 and expressed wish to complete two of eight half-finished apartment buildings located at Bobojonghafurov and Ismoili Somoni streets.  According to him, Movarounnahr is currently seeking investors for finishing the remaining six apartment buildings.

Movarounnahr is Tajikistan’s largest real estate development company and its top manager Jourabek Okhonov was arrested on November 2010.  He was sentenced to 14 years in prison on July 5, 2012.  The sentence followed his conviction on charges of a large-scale fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and causing property loss by deception or abuse of confidence and misappropriation.

The appeals court of Tajikistan''s Supreme Court considered an appeal by Jourabek Okhonov’s lawyers and partially acquitted him.  The charge of causing property damage by deception or abuse of confidence was dropped and the court reduced Okhonov’s jail term by six months.

Eight half-finished apartment buildings, which were supposed to be put up for sale, were handed over to shareholders on May 20 this year as a court in Dushanbe’s Sino district ruled that the half-finished facilities should be handed over to Movarounnahr’s customers.  In a ruling handed down on May 20, the court also overturned the decision of bailiffs on seizing the company’s property.