Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev’s nephew was detained
The Anti-Corruption Agency detained Kairat Satybaldy, the nephew of the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.
As noted in the message, Satybaldy is suspected of abuse of office and embezzlement of funds of the national telecom operator, Kazakhtelecom joint-stock company, on an especially large scale.
“The involvement of Satybaldy in other crimes that undermine the security of the state is being checked,” the Anti-Corruption Agency reports.
Kairat Satybaldy is included in the ranking of the 50 most influential businessmen in Kazakhstan, as well as in the ranking of the 50 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan according to Forbes. As of May 2018, his fortune was estimated at $163 million.
Satybaldy is one of the main shareholders of Kaspi.kz joint-stock company (30%), through which he owns a stake in Kaspi Bank. Through another company, Alatau Capital Invest, he has a stake in Kazakhtelecom JSC. He also owns the companies Amir LTD, Dunie Corporation, Dunie-Kuzet, Dunie-Agro.
In addition, he is an independent Director of the Group of companies Allur JSC (the largest auto importer in the republic) and President of the International Association of Traditional Sports of the Turkic peoples.
Kairat Satybaldy’s career began in 1998 with the position of vice-mayor of the capital. In 2000, he became Vice-President of Kazakhoil national oil and gas company. In 2002, he was appointed Managing Director for Social Affairs, Strategic Planning and Telecommunications of the national company KazMunayGas. In 2002-2003, he was a member of the political council of the party of President Nazarbayev “Otan”.
In 2003, he became the head of the personnel service of the National Security Committee. In 2005, he was appointed First Vice-President of the national company “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy” (Kazakh railways).
In 2010, he became the secretary of Nur Otan presidential party. And since 2016, he has become the managing partner of Alatau Capital Invest.
It’s clear that such a rich career, consisting entirely of leading positions in national companies, as well as a huge financial fortune fell to Kairat Satybaldy not by chance. The fact is that his father was Satybaldy Abishevich Nazarbayev (who died in 1981) – the brother of Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kairat Satybaldy has long been seen as Nazarbayev’s successor as President of the country. However, due to various scandals, including those related to his wife Gulmira Satybaldy, the idea of transferring power to his nephew had to be abandoned.
According to some Kazakhstani experts, the detention of Satybaldy is most likely connected with the January riots, and the accusation of embezzlement is just an excuse. It should be noted that according to the official version of the authorities, foreign extremists and terrorists, including religious ones, were seen in the riots. And Kairat Satybaldy was seen more than once in connection with them.
It’s worth recalling that after the January riots in Kazakhstan, a number of high-ranking officials were detained, including the Chairman of the National Security Comm/wp
