Forbes reveals its fresh list of the richest people in Kazakhstan

The list includes 75 businessmen / Collage by Kursiv.media, photo editor: Denis Andreev 

Forbes Kazakhstan has published its annual rating of the richest Kazakhstani businessmen. This year, the list includes 75 people with a combined fortune of $46.6 billion. This figure is equal to 17.65% of the country’s GDP. 

In the global list of the richest people the «national team» of Kazakhstani moguls would take 26th place right after American billionaire Charles Koch and his family, who made their fortune in oil trading and refinery. 

Even though the current rating of Kazakhstani rich people includes many of those who pop up on the list every year, ten newcomers were added, like Arsen Tomsky, the founder of InDriver. This year, the list is headed by Vyacheslav Kim, chair of the board of Kaspi.kz, who has made it for the first time as his fortune increased by $2.2 billion, reaching $5.8 billion in total. This figure is slightly lower than the combined wealth of the participants ranked from 35th to 75th on the list.

Timur and Dinara Kulibayev have been ranked second and third richest in the country with a fortune of $5 billion each. The couple reported a $700 million increase in their wealth as the value of their stakes in Halyk Bank has risen. According to data from the London Stock Exchange, the bank’s market value rose by $1.8 billion, reaching $4.9 billion over the past twelve months. The Kulibayev spouses control Halyk Bank through the Holding Group Almex.

Vladimir Kim, who controls a 63.5% stake in KAZ Minerals Ltd, 70% in Kazakhmys Copper and 89.79% in Bank RBK, has been ranked fourth in the Forbes ranking. His fortune has decreased by $1 billion to $3.6 billion over the past year because KAZ Minerals has sold GDK Baimskaya, which it acquired from Roman Abramovich for $900 million. The asset was sold to Trianon Limited, controlled by Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk (34th in the ranking) for $200 million. As a result, KAZ Minerals reported $2.67 billion in losses over this project. 

The fifth place has been taken by Timur Turlov, the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. Over the past year his fortune has risen by $200 million, reaching $3.3 billion. In Kazakhstan, the group is represented by Freedom Finance (it operates under the Freedom Broker brand), Freedom Bank, Freedom Finance Insurance, Freedom Finance Life, an online supermarket Arbuz.kz and a flight booking service Aviata.kz, among others. The group also runs representative offices in 18 countries (including the U.S., Germany, Uzbekistan and Cyprus).

The top ten rankings also include: 

Bulat Utemuratov, owner of Forte Bank with a fortune of $2.7 billion;  The Ibragimov family with a fortune of $1.5 billion. They control 20.7% shares of ERG; Nurlan Smagulov, the founder and owner of Astana Group with a fortune of $980 million. The group includes Astana Motors, the MEGA network of shopping and entertainment centers and the Mycar ecosystem;  The Sarsenov family with a fortune of $970 million. The family controls Nurbank, the Viktoria insurance company, a gas station network Helios, the Aksay baked goods factory and many other companies; Arsen Tomsky, the founder and shareholder of InDrive with a fortune of $920 million. In 2022, the businessman relocated his company from Yakutsk to Almaty. At the end of 2023, he obtained Kazakhstani citizenship.

Apart from Tomsky, there are several more newcomers in the ranking: 

Suhrab Makhmudov (No.23), who together with his brother Farrukh Mahmudov owns Orbis Kazakhstan, a group of companies;  Alexander Chukreev (No.32), who owns Stell and Dalproduct, two companies in the sphere of wholesale food trading;  Marat Zhuman (No.35), the founder and owner of the transport and logistical company Atasu Group; The Alimzhanov family (No.37), co-owners of the ALSI group of companies, which is an official distributor of various office appliances and computer brands;  Ayzhan Yessim (No.44), with a stake in Kazphosphate; The Zhakulin family (No.49), controlling As Ay, a distributor of Chinese construction machinery;  Almaz Alsenov (No.53), the founder of Switzerland-based Harvest Group, an international distributor of agricultural products;  Vladimir Denisov (No.56), a major shareholder and the president of SCAT airline;  Dulat Kozhamzharov (No.57), owner of Hill Corporation, a large producer of greasing materials with production in Shymkent;  Vladimir Sidelkovsky (No.59), who owns shares in Rakhymzhan Petroleum, AIFN TsUM (Central Universal Department Store in Almaty) and Almatygorsvet; Yerem Arutyunyan (No.60), a major shareholder of Mechta, a chain of electronics and home appliances stores; Ivan Sauer (No.63), controlling the Rodina agricultural company and Astana Nan;  Viktor Buller (No.64), a major shareholder of Stroykonstruktsiya, a concrete product plant in Astana;  Sagat Tugelbayev (No.68), a major shareholder in the Anaco oil company;  Vladislav Lee (No.69), controlling 11.16% of voting shares of Bank CenterCredit;  Eldar Abdrazakov (No.70), owner of Centras Group; Raushan Sagdiyeva (No.71), a partner of the Kulibayev spouses, who possesses shares in Arbat Retail, AIFN Car City and Joint Technologies;  Chingis Berdygozhin (No.71), controlling 41% of the Kor oil company.

There are four women in the ranking: Dinara Kulibayeva, Dariga Nazarbayeva (No.15), Ayzhan Yessim and Raushan Sagdiyeva.  According to Forbes Kazakhstan, it counts only legal assets, not cash on deposits in foreign banks, luxury commodities or real estate.