Kandymov (Gandymov), Seitbay

Date of Birth: 1949, from a village in the Krach Farab district of Charjou Oblast.

Biography: He graduated from the Turkmen Agricultural Institute Kalinin (1974), the Moscow Plekhanov Institute of National Economy (1987), and is a graduate of the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan (1995).

Since 1968, he worked as an accountant in the Deynaus branch of the State Bank, and later as Deputy Chief Accountant. Since 1969 he was the Chief Accountant of the Farab branch of the State Bank. From 1973 he was the Chief Accountant and acting manager of the hydrocarbons branch of the State Bank. Since 1983 he served as the head of the city administration of the Charjou regional office of the State Bank. From 1987 he was the Head of Zhilsotsbank, and head of the regional department of Chardzhou Turkmenbank. From 1992-1998 he served as Chairman of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank “Turkmenistan” in Ashgabat. From 1999 he was the Chairman of the State Commercial Bank of Turkmenistan. From May 24, 1999 he was the Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of Turkmenistan. At the same time from January 6, 2000, he was the Deputy Chairman of the Сabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan. Simultaneously, from January 7, 2000 he served on the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development of Turkmenistan. From January 7, 2000, he was also the national coordinator for international technical assistance for the International Monetary Fund of Turkmenistan.

Simultaneously, from January 31, 2000 he served as the Executive Director of the bank “Prezidentbank.” From March 3, 2000 he was also the Chairman of the Economic Coordination Council of Turkmenistan.

He was relieved of his posts on May 6, 2002 for “abuse of power.”

He was awarded the medals “Bitaraplyk” (December 1999), “Galkinish,” “Ghairat,” and “For the love of the fatherland.” He received the honorary title “Honored Economist of Turkmenistan,” and authored several books.

Arrest and Conviction: He was arrested in May 2002 (shortly after the arrest of the head of the Committee on National Security, M.Nazarov.) He was convicted by the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan no later than September 2002, and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years. According to unconfirmed reports, in 2012, he was kept in a prison in Bairam-Ali (Varna, 2014, Gundogar, October 2004). According to unconfirmed reports, he died in custody on Aug. 20, 2011. On July 4, 2002, Niyazov said that Kandymov joined the “conspiracy” with the Head of the National Security Committee, M. Nazarov, who illegally gave him US $1 million, which he did not report, and Nazarov helped convert large amounts of currency received from banks “Senegat” and “Russian Credit” for “personal needs” (Neitralnyi Turkmenistan, 24.07.2002). Kandymov was also accused of abuse of power and the lack of proper control over the circulation of hard currency (Turkmenistan.ru, 07.05.2002).