Kazakhmys Begins Transition to New Ownership

The oligarch-owned Kazakhmys has formally initiated the legal process for transferring control to a new shareholder, Orda.kz reports.

Kazakhmys announced that it has signed a framework agreement that launches the change-of-control procedure for Kazakhmys Corporation LLC. 

For now, Vladimir Kim and Eduard Ogay remain the owners: Kim controls 70% of Kazakhmys Holding, and Ogay holds the remaining 30% through a joint venture. Both have agreed to hand over control to a new buyer.

Although the company did not name the incoming shareholder, earlier reports indicated that the asset is expected to go to businessman Nurlan Artykbayev.

The signing of the framework document begins the process of preparing the purchase and sale agreement. The transaction will require approval from the Ministry of Industry and Construction and the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition. The company will simultaneously notify partners, creditors, minority shareholders, and all project participants, the company stated.

Kazakhmys added that the ownership transition will not affect ongoing operations at its enterprises.

Nurlan Artykbayev, 49, is ranked 44th on the Forbes Kazakhstan list with an estimated net worth of $228 million. He founded and controls the Qazaq Stroy and Exclusive Qurylys groups and holds 9.19% of Kazakhtelecom.

In November 2025, Artykbayev also purchased the Aqtobe Football Club.

As Orda.kz previously reported, the market has been discussing simultaneous deals involving Kazakhmys and Kazzinc.

Negotiations have been underway for some time, with analysts linking investor interest to Kazakhstan’s ongoing shift toward transferring subsoil assets to local businesses and the rising influence of new corporate groups.

Qazaq Stroy, in particular, has rapidly expanded its portfolio: it recently obtained a license for a potash deposit and joined projects to build a sulfuric acid plant and develop the Pridorozhnoye gas field. Analysts now consider the group one of the fastest-growing business holdings in Kazakhstan — making its potential involvement in a major copper-asset deal unsurprising.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov