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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Kyrgyzstan's prime minister resigned Monday amid corruption allegations involving a road construction project in the ex-Soviet nation.
Temir Sariyev stepped down after less than a year in office, saying he decided to leave the post to help "preserve stability in the country." President Almazbek Atanbayev quickly accepted his resignation.
Sariyev's departure comes two days before a parliamentary commission was to present the results of its probe into a road construction project that was marred by allegations of graft. Sariyev's critics, including the nation's transport minister, have claimed that he personally profited from the $100 million project that has been carried out by a Chinese construction company.
Transport Minister Argynbek Malabayev claimed that his deputy had teamed up with the prime minister's entourage to lobby the interests of the Long Hai company that won the tender.
Sariyev has dismissed the accusations, saying that his detractors have failed to prove their claims.
It wasn't immediately clear who would succeed him.
Sariyev was the 28th prime minister in the impoverished Central Asian nation since it became independent in 1991 amid the Soviet collapse. Since then, two Kyrgyzstan presidents have been driven out by violent protests.
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