CMRA Auctioning 20% of Kundybai Mining's Assets: Which Kazakh Elites Are Connected to the Company

The recovered asset management company(CMRA)  has announced the sale of 20% of the shares of Kundybai Mining JSC. The stake has been put up for auction for “only” 51.38 million tenge — meaning anyone with the means could theoretically become a shareholder.

While preparations for the auction are underway, Orda.kz looked into which well-known oligarchs and public figures are linked to the company.

Kundybai Mining was established in 2011 under the name “South Center” Management Company, and just a year later, adopted its current name. Since 2018, its official activity has been listed as geological exploration.

Still, judging by the 2024–2025 financial statements published on the auction page, Kundybai Mining has been struggling recently.

The same documents indicate that Kazakhstan’s Mineral Resource Investment Company owns 80% of the shares. That company, in turn, is owned by several individuals.

Through the Joint Resources holding, one of the owners is Timur Kulibayev, who is listed as the sole shareholder.

Another founder is Orda Mining LLP, whose founders include millionaire Dinmukhamet Idrisov and his business partner Malgazhdar Karin.

The company’s third founder is Saule Mukhashova. Apart from her stake in the Mineral Resource Investment Company, she is also listed as a founder of the public foundation “Peace through Spirituality.”

That foundation was one of the co-founders of another well-known public foundation — Birgemiz (not to be confused with Perizat Kairat’s Biz Birgemiz). Birgemiz was created in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to support doctors and socially vulnerable groups.

As Orda.kz reported in 2022, the foundation’s board of trustees included:

• The then-akim of Almaty, Bauyrzhan Baibek
  
• Majilis member (now CEC Chair) Nurlan Abdirov
  
• Prominent surgeon Yuri Pya
  
• And others.

In 2022, the fund was dissolved, and its functions were effectively transferred to the “Kazakhstan Halkyna” public foundation.

Additionally, according to a 2016 list of affiliated persons published by Kazakhstan Engineering on KASE, Saule Mukhashova is an in-law of Nurlan Sauranbayev.

At that time, Sauranbayev chaired the board of Kazakhstan Engineering. Today, he has been serving for nearly six months as Minister of Transport.

However, Kompra.kz shows that in addition to the three founders, several other individuals are affiliated with Kundybai Mining. These include its current top managers — as well as executives of the Mineral Resource Investment Company — Ruslan Khasanov and Nursultan Azizbekov. And there are more.

For instance, Zhanar Seidvaliyeva — the first wife of Kairat Sharipbayev, former head of QazaqGaz and widely believed to be Dariga Nazarbayeva’s current partner — is listed by Kompra.kz as the owner of the remaining 20% of Kundybai Mining.

In 2024, Orda.kz reported that Seidvaliyeva previously headed Danco Commerce. A subsidiary of that company — Bolashak Property LLP — owned the building leased by QazaqGaz until 2022.

Another figure affiliated with Kundybai Mining is Danat Kasymkulov. His connections extend into the Idrisov family: he appears as director in several companies owned by Dinmukhamet Idrisov, his wife Magda Idrisova, and their sons Kamal Idrisov and Zharmukhamed Appaz.

Kasymkulov is also one of Timur Turlov’s business partners.

Since 2021, he has owned IDK Mining. According to  KASE data, IDK Mining holds 21% of the Ai Karaaul mining company; 50% of the same company belongs to Turlov Private Holding LTD.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin