Timur Kulibayev, one of the richest people in Kazakhstan and Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, sued the Committee for the Return of Assets of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Orda.kz reports on what property the oligarch lost in "New Kazakhstan" .

Journalists from the Nege.kz portal drew attention to the lawsuit in the court office, which was filed by Kulibayev’s representative Bakhyt Tukulov in March 2024. 

Tukulov is one of the successful commercial litigators. He is a partner of Tukulov and Kassilgov Litigation LLP. He resolves litigation disputes both in Kazakhstan and abroad. He represented the interests of large oil and gas companies, automakers, banks and other enterprises.

The claim to the Asset Recovery Committee was drawn up under a power of attorney from Ainur Shanenova. But it turned out that she herself received this power of attorney from Kulibayev and had no right to transfer the document to the lawyer without notarization.

Since July 2023, Ainur Shanenova  has been working as the CEO of the private investment holding company KIPROS, which manages assets in various sectors of the economy. The founder of the company is Timur Kulibayev. 

Ainur Shanenova. Photo Inbusiness.kz

Since the original power of attorney was not attached to the claim, the court did not grant it.

A power of attorney is a document certifying the authority of a representative and confirming the circumstances on which the plaintiff bases his claims.

What was taken from Kulibayev?

What exactly the Kazakh oligarch was trying to challenge, the Orda.kz editorial team finds out. In the meantime, we tell you what was taken from Kulibayev in "New Kazakhstan".

In May last year, by a court decision, 50% of LPG Storage Park was taken away from the businessman . The ex-president’s son-in-law became the owner of this share in 2021, when the company was sold at auction to Joint Technologies LLP. After the January events, an investigation was launched into the LPG Storage Park. 

The initiator of the return of the asset was the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition (APDC), which filed a lawsuit in the specialized inter-district economic court of the Atyrau region in February 2023.

In July 2023, the Supreme Court returned another asset belonging to Timur Kulibayev to KTZ. 27 years ago, the government of Kazakhstan signed a decree on the phased transfer of social facilities to local executive bodies. In October 2001, then Minister of Transport and Communications Karim Massimov approved a list of facilities in KTZ that were subject to privatization. On October 24, 2001, KTZ General Director Ablai Myrzakhmetov signed a document "On the sale of facilities of the Directorate of Material and Technical Supply". Thus, the fuel depots of the national railway operator were sold at an auction at a reduced cost. 

According to the report, when using fuel depots, KTZ paid an additional 149 billion tenge from July 2011 to December 2022. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy reported that, according to the court decisions, they accepted the property of TEK-Kazakhstan LLP, but have not yet accepted it onto the balance sheet.

In addition, at the end of last year, the court ordered the demolition of the guest house of the Kipros company in the Bolshe-Almatinskoye forestry of the Medeu branch of the national park , and the transfer of the land to the state. The environmental prosecutor’s office found that the site was not used for its intended purpose. Instead of a tourist center, there was a luxurious mansion on the site. The Ile-Alatau National Park eventually terminated the contract with Kulibayev’s holding. 

In addition, Kulibayev’s company  was deprived of land on the territory of KazNU this year . The land was illegally transferred to Omirex LLP in 2007, which is part of the Kipros structure.

The Almaty Department of Land Management checked the legality of the seizure of land in KazNU for state needs and its transfer to private ownership. As a result, it turned out that the Akimat violated the law.

The private owner filed an appeal, which the Almaty City Court recently reviewed. But the verdict was still left unchanged.

Richer every year

In recent years, Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law has consistently been second on the list of the richest Kazakhs. $4.9 billion is Timur Kulibayev’s fortune as of May 2024. Last year, his fortune was estimated at $4.3 billion.

The most famous joint asset of the Kulibayev couple - Timur and Dinara - is banking. Through Almex, they control 69.52% of Halyk Bank.

In addition, the ex-president’s son-in-law owns TOO Kipros, which manages assets and investments in a wide range of business areas, as well as JSC Joint Resources, which includes several companies. 

An important part of Kulibayev’s development business is the controlling stake in Mercury Properties LLC. This company is engaged in the development, leasing and management of commercial real estate with a total area of almost one million square meters.

Read more about Timur Kulibayev’s assets and why he doesn’t become poorer from selling them in our article .