Fuel Company from Kulibayev's Structures Fined KZT 382 Billion

An Astana court upheld the lower court's decision, requiring Silk Way Petroleum LLP to pay a multi-billion fine to the budget. The company, associated with oligarch Timur Kulibayev, faced charges over illegal fuel supplies, Orda.kz reports.

The case against Silk Way Petroleum was reportedly initiated following an audit by the Supreme Audit Chamber. Auditors found that from 2020 to 2023, the company purchased diesel fuel for KTZ — Freight Transportation LLP from other wholesale suppliers. These suppliers, in turn, received diesel from Petrosun LLP, which has already received hefty fines for violating fuel market competition.

Meanwhile, all companies rent fuel storage tanks from TD TEK Kazakhstan LLP, which is the only founder (stakeholder) of Silk Way Petroleum LLP.

Silk Way Petroleum sold fuel to KTZ not from oil depots or refueling stations but from 46 reservoirs of its founder, using this in its interests. Over three years, the organization managed to sell over 1.5 million tons of oil products in this way.

The company did not admit that it had committed an offense. Silk Way Petroleum representatives claimed that diesel could only be pumped from one tank to another, that it was impossible to supply KTZ with fuel in any other way, and that the auditors' findings "do not reflect the actual picture."

The Astana Specialized Interdistrict Court for Administrative Offenses concluded that the claims of SAC auditors against Silk Way Petroleum were justified. The company purchased fuel from a wholesale supplier at 204 thousand tenge per ton, and the supplier, in turn, purchased diesel from Petrosun LLP at a lower price — 165 thousand tenge per ton. Official documents stated that diesel was purchased directly by TD TEK Kazakhstan LLP.

Silk Way Petroleum acted as an intermediary for its founder. The founder thereby benefited from the above situation. The company was also a key supplier to TOO "KTZ — Freight Transportation. It provided 82% of the total volume of fuel used for locomotives.

The court fined Silk Way Petroleum a symbolic sum of 1.1 million tenge and demanded that the company return the entire amount it received for the illegally sold diesel fuel — no more, no less than 382 billion 144 million tenge. The company attempted to challenge this decision, but the appellate court upheld it.

Silk Way Petroleum LLP is affiliated with Timur Kulibayev, one of the wealthiest people in Kazakhstan and Nursultan Nazarbayev's son-in-law. The company is wholly owned by TD TEK Kazakhstan LLP, which is, in turn, controlled by Qamqor Management LLP. Qamqor Management brings us to Timur Kulibayev: his Joint Technologies LLP is among the co-owners of this company.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny