* Kyrgyz company to supply U.S. military air base
* Aims to supply up to half of contracted fuel
* Russian state firm seeks share of contracts
By Olga Dzyubenko BISHKEK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday unveiled a new state company to supply jet fuel to a U.S. military air base, overhauling an opaque contract system that provoked scorn from the new leadership of the volatile Central Asian state.
The state-run Manas Refuelling Complex plans to supply up to half of the fuel consumed by the air base, a key transit point for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, in a deal that could also see a Russian state company carve out a share of the contracts.
"This is the first step toward displaying this government's readiness to work transparently," said Amangeldy Muraliyev, Kyrgyzstan's deputy prime minister. Kyrgyzstan, which hosts both U.S. and Russian military air bases, is attempting to form the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, a region otherwise ruled with an iron fist by presidential strongmen. [ID:nRISKKG]
Leaders of the former Soviet republic are trying to form a coalition government to restore order to Kyrgyzstan in a year when the president was overthrown by a popular revolt and hundreds were killed in ethnic riots. [ID:nLDE6B301F]
Fuel contracts with the Manas base, which adjoins the international airport on the edge of the capital Bishkek, have been dogged by allegations of corruption ever since the former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was ousted.
The interim government that assumed power in April accused the Bakiyev family of profiting unfairly from the contracts. The prosecutor-general's office is conducting an investigation.
The United States in November awarded a new contract to Mina Corp, the Gibraltar-registered company that supplied fuel to the Manas base under the Bakiyev administration. The company has denied any links to the former president or his family.
At the time, the U.S. Department of Defense said the deal allowed for a future, second contract to supply between 20 percent and 50 percent of the base's fuel needs.
"Kyrgyz companies will sell up to 50 percent. This means Mina Corp's portion will be reduced by up to 50 percent," said Larry Memmott, deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy.
"We want all of Kyrgyzstan to understand our relations and to know where the money goes, and we are glad that this money will go into the budget," he said.
RUSSIAN ROLE?
The fuel contracts, worth millions of dollars, are a sensitive issue in Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished but strategic nation divided by political and clan rivalries where Russia, the United States and China vie for influence.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting the Manas air base on Dec. 2, offered U.S. assistance in creating a new body to manage part of the fuel supply contract. [ID:nLDE6B11CR]
Russia, however, may also have a role to play. The Kremlin views Kyrgyzstan as within its sphere of influence and was infuriated when Bakiyev extended the lease on the Manas base in 2009 only months after saying the U.S. military must leave. Manas Refuelling Complex is owned entirely by the government of Kyrgyzstan. But Valentin Vlasov, Russia's ambassador, said a unit of state-owned Gazprom Neft <SIBN.MM> was planning to team up with the Kyrgyz state concern to supply fuel to the base.
Manas Refuelling Complex plans to supply up to 20,000 tonnes to the base before the end of the year, rising to 120,000 tonnes next year and 180,000 tonnes -- or approximately half of all supplies -- in 2012.
"Today, we have 20,000 tonnes in our reservoirs," said Marat Malatayev, head of the state-owned company. "Everything is ready for work with the Manas transit centre and we can begin at any moment." (Writing by Robin Paxton)
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