BISHKEK, February 28. /TASS/. The US returned to Kyrgyzstan $4.6 million that were stolen by its former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the Kyrgyzstani Ministry of Finance told TASS on Thursday.

"The funds in the amount of $4.6 million were transferred to the republic’s account," the Ministry of Finance stated. According to the ministry, pursuant to the agreements previously reached with the US, Bishkek will spend this funds on the medical equipment for hospitals located in areas far from the capital and water purification systems for some regions.

The US and Kyrgyzstan signed the agreement on the return of assets stolen under Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s regime on February 25, 2019, during US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells’ visit to Bishkek. Kyrgyzstani Minister of Finance Baktygul Jeenbaeva signed the agreement from the Kyrgyzstani side.

The money of the former Kyrgyzstani president were found during an investigation in the US into the criminal case against Yevgeny Gurevich, who was close to the Bakiyevs family. As a result, the American court decided to confiscate these funds.

Bakiyev was removed from power in 2010 in a revolution, after which he had to flee the republic out of security concerns. He is currently living in Belarus. The Kyrgyzstani authorities repeatedly demanded his extradition, but received refusal from Minsk. In his motherland the president was sentenced in absentia to the supreme penalty - life imprisonment with the confiscation of property.