Ömürbek Babanov

Ömürbek Babanov
Өмүрбек Бабанов
Babanov in 2011
14th Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan
In office 24 December 2011 – 1 September 2012 Acting: 1 December 2011 – 24 December 2011
President	Almazbek Atambayev
Preceded by	Almazbek Atambayev
Succeeded by	Aaly Karashev (Acting)
In office 23 September 2011 – 14 November 2011 Acting
President	Roza Otunbayeva
Preceded by	Almazbek Atambayev
Succeeded by	Almazbek Atambayev
Personal details
Born	(1970-05-20) 20 May 1970 Shymkent, Kazakh SSR, USSR
Political party	Respublika-Ata-Zhurt
Alma mater	Russian State Agricultural University

Ömürbek Toktogulovich Babanov (Kyrgyz: Өмүрбек Токтогулович (Токтогул уулу) Бабанов, romanized: Ömürbek Toqtoghulovich (Toqtoghul uulu) Babanov, [œmyrˈbɛk tɔqtɔˈɣul uːˈlu bɑˈbɑnəf]; born 20 May 1970) is a Kyrgyz politician who served twice as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan in 2011–12.

Political career

Before his appointment as Prime Minister, Babanov was Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Almazbek Atambayev. He was also acting Prime Minister from 23 September 2011 until 14 November 2011, as Prime Minister Atambayev was a candidate in the presidential election. He again became acting Prime Minister on 1 December 2011 when Atambayev took office as President. He was confirmed by Parliament on 23 December 2011. On 1 September 2012 Babanov resigned as Prime Minister.

Babanov participated in Kyrgyzstan's presidential election in 2017 as an independent. During a television debate, candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov promised to imprison Babanov as part of a proposed fight against corruption. He came second to Jeenbekov with 33% of the vote.

Family and wealth

With an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion, he is one of the richest people in Kyrgyzstan.

Babanov is half-Turkish and half-Kyrgyz. His mother was from the Turkish Meskhetian minority group in Georgia; she was forcefully deported from Batumi to Kyrgyzstan during World War II. Babanov's wife is Kazakh. His family's ethnic background were used to smear him during the 2017 election.

Controversy

On May 31, 2021, he was detained as part of an investigation involving the Kumtor Gold Mine. On November 28, 2023, Kamchybek Tashiev, the Chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, stated that among all those accused in the course of the investigation, only Omurbek Babanov was not held accountable due to the absence of a criminal case against him.