Kazakhstan’s Real Estate Tycoons: Who’s Earning Billions from Square Meters
Photo: Orda.kz
The biggest names in Kazakhstan’s commercial real estate — owners of MEGA, Dostyk Plaza, and Esentai Mall — continue to dominate the market, Orda.kz reports, citing Forbes Kazakhstan.
According to the magazine’s latest ranking of the country’s largest rentiers, the owners of shopping and business centers earned a combined 221.2 billion tenge in 2024.
Nurlan Smagulov retained the top spot: his MEGA mall chain in Almaty and Astana generated 60.68 billion tenge in revenue. He was followed by Timur Kulibayev with 33.45 billion (from business and shopping centers in six cities) and Serik Tolbasy with 29 billion (Dostyk Plaza and Shymkent Plaza).
Bulat Utemuratov ranked fourth with 15.7 billion, followed by the Mukashev family (11.11 billion), Alexander Belovich (11.1 billion), Serzhan Zhumash (8.98 billion), Aidan Suleimenova (7.03 billion), Alexey Nefedov (5.9 billion), and Saule Akhmetova (5.2 billion).
In total, 20 individuals made the ranking. Their combined property portfolio covers 1.5 million square meters, including 1.1 million in shopping malls and the rest in office buildings.
About 72% of this space is located in Almaty, and 25% in the capital.
Kairat Boranbayev also returned to the list: his stake in Esentai Tower and Esentai Mall generated nearly 9 billion tenge. At the bottom of the ranking were Yakov Tskhai (1.79 billion), Sagiyatulla Sarsenov (1.54 billion), Armanzhan Baitasov (1.5 billion), Abylai Dzhumadillayev (1.34 billion), and Aydin Rakhimbayev (1.14 billion).
BI Property, a subsidiary of BI Group, closed out the list after reducing its portfolio.
Despite the surge in new shopping centers, rental prices continue to rise. In the first half of 2025, 17 new malls opened across Kazakhstan — nearly five times more than during the same period in 2024 — yet rents increased by 4.3% year-on-year in Astana and 4% in Shymkent.
Many of those featured in the rentier ranking also appear in Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of the country’s most influential businessmen, including Bulat Utemuratov, Nurlan Smagulov, Timur Kulibayev, and Aidyn Rakhimbayev.
Kairat Boranbayev also returned to the ranking, taking 20th place, following the success of his football club Kairat in European competitions and the opening of the Tselinny Cultural Center.
Original Author: Ruslan Loginov
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