What Connects Bolat Nazarbayev and A Troubled Factory?

Original Article.
A lot has been written about a factory in the Almaty region. The factory reportedly produces counterfeit alcohol.

The authorities shuttered it. It would later quietly come back to life.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's brother, Bolat, is allegedly tied to the factory. An Orda.kz correspondent looked into the matter.

On February 26, 2021, The Financial Monitoring Agency's telegram channel published that the production of counterfeit alcohol on an industrial scale was stopped in the Almaty region.

It should be noted that the press service of the agency did not specify the name of the plant.

It all started in February 2021, when at the entrance to Karaganda, employees of the Economic Investigation Service detained a KAMAZ with a trailer carrying more than 20 thousand bottles of assorted wine, vodka and cognac.

Accounting and control marks caught the attention of The Economic Investigation Service's employees. The marks turned out to be fake. As a result, all the alcohol was seized.

The authorities then searched the territory of the LLP. They discovered another 35 thousand 505 bottles with fictitious accounting and control marks. At another Almaty warehouse, more than 42 thousand bottles of counterfeit alcohol were found from the same manufacturer, already ready for shipment. Rolls with fake accounting and control marks were also found at the factory.

In total, the budget did not receive more than 26 million KZT of excise duties. Expertise carried out by the State Revenue Department of the Almaty region confirms this.

It's Alive!

The situation around the factory slowly started to be forgotten until a rally was held at the Akimat in Kaskelen in the Almaty region.

The rally took place on March 12, 2021. Around 35 former employees of the business gathered. They demanded to the factory be re-opened. They claimed that many were left without work, but their loans remained.

The factory's name would be heard for the first time here: "Shalkar 17" LLP.

The akimat's representatives reportedly claimed that an investigation was underway. The akim of the district Zhandarbek Dalabayev, however, promised that from March 15, 2021, the company will continue to produce wine and cognac. This would be possible, as it had a license to manufacture these products.

"Akim said - akim did,"

Spoiler: the plant started to work again.

More Than Legal

The Economic Investigation Service decided to check the Shalkar-17 once more in November 2021. It turned out that the situation had not changed and the management of the plant carried on using fake accounting and control marks. They were also not making obligatory budget payments.

A total of 73,806 bottles of alcohol from the Shalkar 17 factory with fake accounting and control marks were seized by police officers throughout Kazakhstan. The amount of excise duty payable to the budget amounted to 2 million 650 thousand KZT.

The court found that the director of the enterprise, Aydin Tutadze, organized the production of counterfeit products in all three bottleries. Fake marks were bought at the Altyn-Orda market. Then this alcohol was sold to Kazalkoservice LLP. From there it was sold throughout the Republic of Kazakhstan.

As a result, in July 2022, the court sentenced the director of the plant, Aydin Tutadze, to restriction of freedom for a year. Amnesty, however, was his saving grace. He ended up being released right in that very hall.

Against the backdrop of this whole situation, the plant continued to work. Judging by its tax payments for 2021 and 2022, work was pretty successful.

Something's Fishy

In July 2022, the Shalkar 17 plant was at the centre of yet another scandal. Residents of the village of Shalkar complained that the company was draining sewage directly into the village.

The Akimat of the Almaty region said that environmentalists conducted an unscheduled check of the plant.

They found out that wastewater from the bottle washing site was being dumped into a storage sump and drained into the territory allocated for residential housing.

Such is considered a violation of paragraph 2 of Articles 216 and 120, 121 of the Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Administrative proceedings were initiated against Shalkar 17 LLP under Article 328, Part 1 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

How Bolat Nazarbayev Became The Founder of The Plant

The plant is owned by businessman Azim Shamoy ogly Abdullayev. He previously accused Bolat Abishevich Nazarbayev of raiding his business (which includes not only Shalkar).

The businessman had allegedly been paying half of his monthly income for 15 years. He has reportedly paid about $60 million in total. The businessman also mentioned a winery. He clarified that this particular enterprise had already been returned to him in March 2022.

"Shalkar 17 plant was returned to me. Earlier, it was registered to one of the relatives of Bolat Nazarbayev. But they were not returned 'because of the January events and revelations'. We had an agreement that within three years I would give five million dollars. And this agreement came into force,"

Azim Abdullayev, April 2022.

Bolat Nazarbayev appeared on the list of founders of the company in 2009. At the same time, the name of "Shalkar 2000" LLP changed to "BN-A" LLP.

Bolat disappeared from this list in 2015, but not for long. His surname was there again in July 2017. In November of the same year, the company was renamed "Shalkar 17" LLP.

Bolat Nazarbayev once again disappeared from the list. A certain Talgat-Ali Turmysov would later make the scene. He held the position until March 2022

Alcohol production is not the only "joint business" of Bolat Nazarbayev and Azim Abdullayev. There is a restaurant "Bahar" in the Karasai district. It is owned by a company whose founder is Abdullayev. Nazarbayev was also listed as such from 2013 to 2017. The company was called BN-A BAHAR LLP from 2013 to 2018. But since 2018 and to this day — BAHAR A LLP

Bolat Nazarbayev and Azim Abdullayev are still listed as founders of the AlmatySteklo glass factory.

After Azim Abdullayev's accusations, Bolat Nazarbayev filed a lawsuit for the protection of honour and dignity. He demanded 1.5 million KZT in compensation. The court only partially satisfied the claim and recovered only 500 thousand KZT from Azim Abdullayev.

At the same time, Abdullayev's lawyer Saule Kobzhanova stated on her Facebook page that her client's claims about raiding and monthly extortion had been fully confirmed during the investigation of the criminal case. This includes the testimony of Bolat Nazarbayev's confidants.