Nazarbaevs' empire in Kazakhstan remains intact

Markets, palaces, buildings and thousands of hectares of land: after the clashes of January 2022, their power was formally stripped of all honor, but a long list of assets that should have been requisitioned are still firmly in the hands of the family that dominated “old Kazakhstan”.

Astana (AsiaNews) - More than a year has passed since the death of Bolat Nazarbaev, the brother of the former eternal president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who passed away in November 2023. He was in charge of the many subdivisions of the economic empire of the ruling dynasty since the dissolution of the Soviet Union: markets, palaces, buildings and thousands of hectares of land. An investigation by Radio Azattyk tried to understand in whose hands all this feudal wealth has ended up today, and what has been “returned to the State”.

The Nazarbayevs' original land is the Ukonšir plateau, in the Almaty region, where an immense territory of 9 thousand hectares has long remained completely inaccessible not only to citizens and journalists, but also to deputies and politicians not directly linked to the family. In January 2024, the deputy Maksat Tolykbaj officially declared that “the entire plateau is in a state of private property”, where hunting and fishing are prohibited to mere mortals. The former president's regal palaces and those of his nephew Kajrat Satybaldy, sentenced to six years in prison in 2022 for money laundering, rise above the territory. Some land next to the villas has been returned to the State, while the nephew's palace has been donated to the “Elbasy Fund” of the “father of the nation” Nursultan himself, even though it should have been requisitioned due to the sentence.

Another building in the area, which was referred to as a madrasa, now belongs to Bolat's son, Nurbol Nazarbaev, who has also grabbed most of the still fully undeveloped building areas. After the clashes in January 2022, Nazarbaev's power was formally stripped of all honor, and even his relatives were accused of having imposed an oligarchic power on Kazakhstan. After a long procedure, 244 hectares of land in various regions, worth a few hundred million dollars, were confiscated from Bolat. And yet, despite the fact that almost a year and a half has passed since his death, many properties are still named after the ex-president's brother.

In addition to the palaces on the Ukonšir plateau, other luxurious residences belong to Bolat Nazarbaev's family, above all in the village of Šamalgan, where his younger brother was born and raised. In addition to the palace, the course of the local river has also been surrounded by walls and gates, to prevent its waters from flooding the fields and vegetable gardens of the local inhabitants. Three other palaces are located in the metropolis of Almaty, the one in the central ulitsa Ondasynova that occupies 2.8 hectares of land, with gardens, greenhouses and three areas covered by domes, where it is thought the Hammam spa complex, the swimming pool and the relaxation area are located. In the Medeusk neighborhood stands another large building, where it is said there is a large private cinema and an entire casino, and near the Botanical Garden is a new building constructed in 2020, which was allegedly donated by Bolat to his son Nurbol.

Nurbol Nazarbaev, who until 2022 worked as a simple policeman, is also the current owner of the company Prime Capitale RE Plaza, the main financial agency of the family empire. According to Forbes, the capital of Bolat's son is close to 200 million dollars. An important property that has remained in the family's hands is the Altyn Orda market in Almaty, which the former akim of the region, Kanat Bozumbaev, described as “a place where there isn't a single law that hasn't been broken”: after the events of January 2022 it was returned to its previous owners, whose founder Altynbek Alpiev was killed in 2007 in a settling of scores, but in fact it would still be controlled by the Nazarbaevs. After all, it is not the only large family market, and we must add the Tastak also in Almaty and the Barys in the Žambyl region, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, as well as other smaller ones.

The list of properties also includes factories, service companies and various shops throughout the country, again starting with the fiefdom of the southern region. They often change hands to confuse the various controls, but they remain available to Nazarbaev's empire, what is called the “old Kazakhstan” compared to the “new” one that is being built during the presidency of Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, also the “spiritual son” of Nursultan Nazarbaev, the eternal master of the old and new country.