On August 30, 2006, CAO Ombudsman closed the mediation of the Karachaganak complaint dated September 10, 2004 and transferred it to CAO Compliance for appraisal.

CAO Compliance concluded in its appraisal report dated April 17, 2007, that the issue regarding IFC compliance with its requirements related to emissions to air merited an audit.  The audit was commissioned on June 1, 2007 and audit report published on April 25, 2008.

The CAO received a complaint regarding the impact of the Karachaganak project on villagers’ health and quality of life, particularly related to the effects of emissions to air and quality of drinking water. The complaint was filed by villagers in Berezovka, Kazakhstan.

CAO Compliance determined that the issue related to emissions to air fulfilled the criteria for further investigation in the form of an audit of IFC. CAO Compliance determined that the other issues related to the complaint did not fulfill the criteria for further investigation in the form of an audit.

The audit report, published on April 25, 2008, found IFC to be out of compliance:

Stack emissions: The audit found the monitoring program and data reported on stack emissions insufficient in order to verify compliance with IFC requirements.

Ambient air quality: The audit found the monitoring program and data reported on ambient air quality insufficient in order to verify compliance with IFC requirements.

The full audit and appraisal reports are available below.