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Tinker, Tailor, Kazakh Ties: UK Spy Trial Reveals Moscow’s Long Shadow in Kazakh Politics

London's Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, is currently hearing the trial of several Bulgarian nationals accused by the British authorities of spying for Russia’s intelligence services. The case is likely being scrutinized not only in Moscow but also in Astana, as at least two of the six alleged operations relate to Kazakhstan. A Favor for Nazarbayev The defendants, five Bulgarian citizens, are accused of planning six espionage operations, one of which centers around Bergey Ryskaliyev, a former senior Kazakh official during the presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev.The accused filmed Ryskaliyev in his London home and plotted to alternately dress up as DHL or Deliveroo drivers, or use a fake ambulance as a cover to access his premises. Ryskaliyev served as akim of the oil-rich Atyrau region from 2006 to 2012, before leaving Kazakhstan amid serious corruption allegations. Both he and his brother Amanzhan - an ex-deputy of the Mazhilis - have been wanted in their homeland for over a decade, facing charges of large-scale corruption, organized crime, false entrepreneurship, and money laundering. Public opinion in Kazakhstan attributes the Ryskaliyev brothers’ prosecution to their alleged involvement in the December 2011 Zhanaozen uprising. According to reports, the uprising was intended to culminate in Nazarbayev’s resignation through a symbolic “march to Astana.” By the summer of 2012, Nazarbayev seemed wary of Ryskaliyev, publicly thanking him for his service during a visit to Atyrau. Shortly after, Ryskaliyev resigned for "health reasons,” while Amanzhan stepped down as a Mazhilis deputy. The brothers remained in hiding for years, with their lawyers claiming in a 2019 trial that their whereabouts were unknown. However, reports later surfaced that Ryskaliyev had filmed and leaked a video of Nazarbayev in London’s Hyde Park, allegedly using it to blackmail the former president. Ryskaliyev denied this, characterizing his actions as a “small rally” outside Nazarbayev’s residence. Despite these allegations, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court ruled in 2020 to return some of Ryskaliyev’s confiscated assets, including land, money, and shares in various companies, and to reverse property seizures which had affected their spouses. Prosecutors in the London trial allege that Ryskaliyev’s case was part of an operation to foster stronger ties between Moscow and Astana, with Russia suggesting that Kazakhstan might benefit from pursuing him. If accurate, this initiative likely predated January 2022, when Nazarbayev retained significant influence despite stepping down as president. Targeting Tokayev? The second alleged operation appears to have been directed at Kazakhstan’s current president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Prosecutors claim the defendants planned a staged protest outside Kazakhstan’s embassy in London in September 2022, intending to pass information about the “organizers” to the Kazakh authorities. This, they argue, was another effort to bolster Russian-Kazakh relations. However, details reported by Germany’s Der Spiegel suggest a more specific objective. According to the report, the FSB instructed the operatives to stage a protest and send a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, ostensibly from a fabricated group critical of Tokayev. Plans also included splashing fake blood or pig’s blood on the...

Ukraine Russia China Diplomacy Nazarbayev C5+1 Trump

Tracing Ties: Donald Trump’s Diplomatic Legacy with Kazakhstan

Away from his business dealings, the official relationship between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the Central Asian republic began under the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. On January 17, 2018, Trump received Nazarbayev at the White House on an official visit, praising the existing relations between the two nations. “I’m thrilled that you’re here. Everyone deeply respects you. We have a wonderful relationship between our countries. Now, Kazakhstan is in a perfect situation. It is a great honor for us to receive you. What you have done for your country is truly remarkable,” Trump stated. It is widely-believed that during this visit, Nazarbayev warned Trump of the upcoming transition of power in Kazakhstan, naming Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as his successor. On June 25, 2019, following Kazakhstan’s presidential election, Trump sent a congratulatory telegram to Tokayev. “We have made great progress in our bilateral relations over the years, and I am confident that the spirit of our cooperation will continue to strengthen. It is gratifying that American businesses continue to open new opportunities to expand economic cooperation with Kazakhstan,” Trump wrote. According to the Akorda press service, the White House head noted that the U.S. intended to continue collaborating to promote an expanded strategic partnership with Kazakhstan. “I look forward to working with you to advance our deepened strategic partnership to counter common challenges; the United States values a strong partnership with Kazakhstan. It will continue to work with you and the people of Kazakhstan to advance our shared interests in Central Asia and globally. I wish you every success in your work,” Trump said in his message. Summarizing the Trump presidency’s impact on Central Asia in February 2021, renowned Kazakh economist, Zhandos Temirgali, emphasized his opinion that the “Trump administration has been prudent enough to maintain and develop the C5+1 format for cooperation with Central Asia, initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration, which was established in response to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, and soon proposed a more global alternative: the Blue Dot Network. Over the years of Trump’s presidency, the C5+1 format has established itself as a reliable platform that unites the region’s states at the highest level in their pursuit of strategic cooperation with the leader of the [United States.].”

Strategy Rule of law Nazarbayev Justice Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nazarbayev’s Nephew Returns $1.6 Billion to Kazakhstan Following Embezzlement Conviction

Kazakhstan's Anti-Corruption Service has completed an investigation into the case of Kairat Satybaldyuly, the nephew of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Following the investigation, around 733 billion KZT ($1.6 billion) worth of assets have been returned to the state. In September 2022, Satybaldyuly was sentenced to six years in prison for embezzling funds, and causing damage to companies such as Kazakhtelecom and CTC. In 2023, the investigation was expanded to look into into other crimes that he committed. The full investigation revealed numerous cases of legalization of illegal income and evasion of customs duties. Satybaldyuly pleaded guilty and cooperated with the investigation, allowing the return of assets in Kazakhstan and abroad. Most assets were found in Austria, Liechtenstein, the UAE, and Turkey. The recovered assets included 28.8% of shares of the national telecom operator Kazakhtelecom, assets of CTC JSC, and stakes in four companies. The state has also recovered 115 real estate objects in Kazakhstan, including buildings, apartments, and land plots. The returned assets include luxury real estate and jewellery confiscated in various countries.

Social History Nazarbayev

Nursultan Nazarbayev Stripped of Academy of Sciences Membership

News that the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been stripped of his status as a member of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan, was announced by Minister of Science and Higher Education, Sayasat Nurbek. Nurbek explained that in 2023, Kazakhstan's current president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, decided to create a new Academy of Sciences with just nine members and in the process, 'reset' the status of former academy members. Nursultan Nazarbayev was awarded the status of academician of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan in 1995 and in 2011, whilst participating in a scientific forum at the academy, received the honourable title of “Scientist of the Century.” The loss of his membership of the academy is the most recent example of Nazarbayev's fall from grace. In July last year, he was deprived of his position as head of the supreme board of trustees of autonomous educational organizations. Then, this spring, a waxwork of the first president, installed six years ago in the State Military History Museum of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan in Astana, disappeared. Previously, the monument to Nursultan Nazarbayev, inaugurated on his 80th birthday in 2020, was dismantled from the territory of the National Defense University in Astana, in tandem with the removal of another memorial to the man from the National Museum.

Nazarbayev Corruption Rule of law Economy

Kazakh MP Accuses Nazarbayev’s Relatives of Raiding

MP Yerlan Sairov believes that relatives of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Rakhat Aliyev and Kairat Satybaldy are involved in a business seizure. The parliamentarian demanded that the General Prosecutor's Office return the property to the affected businessmen, Kursiv has reported. During a meeting of the Mazhilis, the deputy stated that representatives of the Old Kazakhstan, taking advantage of their impunity, had initiated a series of business takeovers. "Such a system was formed by Rakhat Aliyev (Nazarbayev's former son-in-law) and his supporters," Sairov stated. Now, the victims have begun demanding the return of seized property. According to him, Nurlan Bimurzin and Megdat Kaliyev lost their oil business worth 170 million tenge ($369,000) in 2003. Zharkyn Kurentayev and Sholpan Karaneeva also "fell victim to the greed of the above-mentioned persons. The same group selected several vacation spots in the town of Konaev and the Altyn Bulak sanatorium in the Turkestan region," Sairov specified. Referring to the victims' posts on social networks, Sairov said that a group linked to Nazarbayev's nephew, Kairat Satybaldy, and his former sister-in-law, Gulmira, allegedly annexed the Hilton Hotel in Almaty and German citizen Robert Schumacher's construction company. The latter is now considered bankrupt. "The Prosecutor General's Office needs to take steps to protect the economic interests of the victims from representatives of the Old Kazakhstan and return the property," added Sairov. Rakhat Aliyev, the husband of Dariga Nazarbayeva from 1983 to 2007, was one of the most influential people in Kazakhstan in the early 2000s. In 2007, he was charged with kidnapping and preparation for a coup d'état and sentenced in absentia to 40 years; Aliyev fled to Austria, where he was arrested in 2014, and found hanged in a cell in Vienna in 2015. The official cause of death was suicide. In late February 2024, businessmen Bimurzin and Kaliyev announced that they had applied with the Prosecutor General's Office to reclaim assets they claimed to have transferred under duress to the former president's daughter, Aliya Nazarbayeva, in 2003. Nazarbayeva sued them for libel and lost Furthermore, earlier this year, businesswoman Sholpan Karaneeva reported that the Hilton Hotel was taken by Kairat Satybaldy and his supporters in 2021. After the nephew of the former president was behind bars, the transfer of his assets to the state, among them the hotel, was initiated. Kairat Satybaldy and his former wife, Gulmira Satybaldy, have been sentenced under articles on laundering money and the embezzlement of others property.

Social Security Nazarbayev Nazarbayeva Legislation New Kazakhstan Rule of law

How Kazakhstan Is Cleansing Itself of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Legacy

“New Kazakhstan,” the term introduced by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev after the attempted coup d'état in January 2022, has also given birth to a thesis about “Old Kazakhstan." "Old Kazakhstan" is associated with the country's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and his numerous relatives, who penetrated all spheres of life in the country. So, which former head of state's relatives fell into the clutches of justice? Gulmira Satybaldy Gulmira Satybaldy, former wife of Kairat Satybaldyuly, nephew of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is currently on trial in Almaty. She is accused of locking up her relative and business partner, Abai Zhunusov, for 165 days and, after intimidating him, transferring his shares in various companies to her proxies. Damages are estimated at $2.2 million (1.4 billion KZT). The guilty verdict, which few doubt will be passed, will not be her first. On 4 May 2023, the Astana court sentenced Gulmira Satybaldy to seven years' imprisonment for self-rule and kidnapping. A month later, on 30 June 2023, the Kyzylorda court sentenced her to eight years in prison for embezzlement and misappropriation of other people's property. The new, harsher sentence absorbed the previous punishment. Kairat Satybaldyuly Next is Kairat Satybaldyuly, a rather grim figure from the Nazarbayev clan. In the early noughties, on the now defunct Internet site “Aziopa,” which was attributed to Nazarbayev's former eldest son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev, Kairat Satybaldyuly was painted black with hints of his handcuffing his wife to the radiator and beating her. It also pointed to Kairat's presidential ambitions. Satybaldyuly is the son of Nursultan Nazarbayev's younger brother, Satybaldy, who died in 1981 in a car accident. According to Forbes Kazakhstan, during his uncle's presidency, Kairat was listed as one of the country's most influential business people with a fortune of 163 million dollars. According to Kazakhstan's media, the nephew of the former president of Kazakhstan was listed as the sole founder of the offshore firm Skyline Investment Company S.A., which owns over 24% of the shares of Kazakhstan's telecommunications company Kazakhtelecom. In addition to working in the civil service, including in the National Security Committee, he was deputy akim of Astana, and held senior positions in national companies. Detained in March 2022 on suspicion of abuse of power and large-scale embezzlement of funds by Kazakhtelecom JSC and Transport Service Center JSC, Satybaldyuly was held in custody until the trial. In court, Satybaldyuly reached a mediation agreement with the injured parties and paid 40 billion tenge ($89.5 million) in damages. He also entered into a procedural plea agreement. In September 2022, he was sentenced to six years in prison. The court ordered the confiscation of his property and banned him from working in the civil service for ten years. A submission was also made to the President of Kazakhstan to strip Satybaldyuly of the title “Major General of the National Security Bodies of Kazakhstan,” as well as the state orders “Kurmet” and “Parasat.” Despite reports that the Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan is investigating criminal cases against Satybaldyuly involving tax...