Nur-Sultan: Tokaev family empire

The Kazakh president presents himself as a moralizer of Kazakh society, but his family members occupy key positions in the public and private sectors. Tokaev accused of owning princely villas. The government brands the accusations as "fake news". Pressure from the press.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - After having "cleaned up" Kazakhstan from the dominance of the omnipresent family of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, his successor Kasym-Žomart Tokaev presents himself as the true reformer and moralizer of Kazakh society. Lately, however, a number of information sources have been investigating the ramifications of his family, which, although in less visible roles, has participated for years in the sharing of the cake.

Tokaev was a loyal servant of Nazarbaev for years, eventually becoming head of the Senate and finally president in 2019. Even at the beginning of this year, however, he was considered a "semi-president," having left many decision-making powers to the "eternal president." Now, however, he is recognized in the "fullness of powers", and inevitably his family members are also in the crosshairs of the news, since the fight against corruption also includes a "de-familiarization" of the country, against the Central Asian traditions that usually exalt nepotistic participation in the management of public affairs.

In the style of the Russian dissident Alexei Naval'nyj, Azattyk has published photos from drones showing luxurious buildings in the residential area of the powerful in Almaly, Almaty's VIP district. The great former capital is the true center of Kazakhstan's life. Tokaev himself is credited with a mansion of over 1,500 square meters with huge semicircular windows, set on 30 hectares of land. Next to it there is a former home of Nazarbaev, now returned to the Directorate for Construction Administration: it is used as a residence "for guests" who reach it by landing on one of the two helicopter pads.

The Tokaev family also controls another "hospitality building" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a historical monument built 115 years ago by tobacco merchants. Since 2000, all the departments have been transferred to Astana (now Nur-Sultan), and the building came under the control of the president's younger sister, Karlyga Izbastina Tokaeva, who took it over for a little more than a symbolic sum, just when her brother was at the head of diplomacy.

A very close partner of Tokaev's is the head of his presidential administration, Murat Nurtleu, who has been working alongside him in politics as well as business since the 1990s. His 38-year-old son Timur Tokaev administers with his younger brother Šalkar Nurtleu the company "Fortius", active in many branches of trade.  Together in 2017 they also founded the Unitary Energy Services Company, which privatized the supplies of the entire eastern part of the country in a complex financial operation, the operations of which are still to be clarified.

In July 2019 Tokaev appointed Temirtau Izbastin, husband of his sister Karlyga, as ambassador to Sofia. The couple's children are already many placed in high levels of the administration. The 43-year-old eldest daughter, Dana Medeudova, controls all of Kazakhstan's business in Bulgaria, with three different companies in the capital, all registered at the same address. Dana also owns with her brother Beket Izbastin a couple of companies in the Czech Republic.

Another of the president's nephews, Kaniš Izbastin, participates in management roles in the affairs of various companies and is very close to another very talked-about figure, his brother-in-law Korpeš Karbuzov, former deputy director of the Bureau of Customs Control, from which he resigned in 2011 after the discovery of a large smuggling ring from China. Now Karbuzov is enjoying the sun in Miami, Florida, in a villa that is very popular with all the family members. His other nephews, 37-year-old Beket and 39-year-old Mukhamed Izbastin, who recently contributed large sums to the new anti-corruption foundation set up by their uncle, the president, are also involved in the business.

Members of the Tokaev family, of course, have many open accounts in Switzerland, and inquiries date back to 1998, when Kasym-Žomart's wife, Nadežda, deposited her first million dollars in a Zurich bank. Some of these accounts were later closed, and the Tokaevs opened several off-shore companies in the British Virgin Islands.

The presidential administration rejects all allegations, branding them "fake news," but journalists insist with official requests to the government and the Bulgarian embassy, hoping to inspire a real renewal of Kazakhstan's politics and society.