Kazakhstan Recovers Shares of Kaskor-Transservice

cover Photo: Orda.kz

Kazakhstan has regained full state ownership of shares in Kaskor-Transservice JSC, a transport company previously linked to prominent figures from the Nazarbayev era, Orda.kz reports. The Almaty Prosecutor’s Office successfully secured the return of the shares, concluding a years-long legal battle.

Kaskor-Transservice, which operates in both automobile and rail freight transport, was found by the courts to have illegally transferred shares to foreign entities.

An appellate court upheld this ruling, solidifying the return of the shares to the state.

The dispute dates back to 2019, when Kazakhstan and Turkish oil firm AktauPetrol Ticaret AS agreed to the voluntary transfer of 515,000 shares of Kaskor-Transservice to the state. However, the shares instead ended up with Oil Stream LLP, prompting the prosecutor’s office to file a legal claim to recover them.

Key infrastructure previously controlled by Kaskor-Transservice — notably, railway lines in the Mangystau region connecting Mangyshlak station to the Aqtau seaport — had already been reclaimed by the government.

After the January 2022 unrest, an inspection by Kazakhstan’s Agency for Protection and Development of Competition found the company had set its own tariffs for 15 kilometers of railway, creating unfair market conditions.

The company’s past ties to influential figures from the “Old Kazakhstan” era have drawn attention. These include former Minister of Economy and Education Zhaksybek Kulekeyev and Marat Abykayev, the son of ex-National Security Committee chief Nurtay Abykayev. Kulekeyev served on the board of directors, while Abykayev Jr. was listed among affiliated parties.

Following Orda.kz’s report, Kulekeyev clarified that he never held shares in Kaskor-Transservice and served on the board only as a representative of the state oil company KazMunayGas.

He added that he stepped down from the board when KazMunayGas sold its stake in the company.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov

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