ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN - Kazakhstan will review all previous deals made by state-owned firms in the wake of a multi-billion dollar scandal at the country's state nuclear fuel company, the state welfare fund said Tuesday.

The Samruk-Kazyna fund that manages state enterprises said it would begin by carrying out an audit at state energy giant Kazmunaigaz, a day after security officials accused the former chief of the nuclear firm Kazatomprom, Mukhtar Dzhakishev, of stealing half the country's uranium deposits.

"In order to discover possible similar infractions to the law in this sphere, the decision was taken to take measures to defend the interests of the state," said the fund, which manages the proceeds from state asset sales.

"The board of the fund has decided to carry out complex investigations... with the purpose of revealing possible similar infringements of the law," it said in a statement.