What Is Known about The Company Where Protesting Oil Workers in Astana Worked

Oil workers from Zhanaozen protested for two days in the capital near the building of KazMunayGas JSC. They spent an entire night at the entrance and in the morning continued their picket. They would later be detained. The participants demanded employment in Ozenmunaigas and cancellation of the results of a recent tender, which their company, BerAli Mangistau Company, lost. Orda has looked into the situation.

JSC "Ozenmunaigas" is a subsidiary of JSC "RD KazMunayGas". The company consists of 16 production structural divisions. Over 9 thousand people work there. The company is engaged in the development of the Uzen and Karamandybas fields in the Mangystau region.

But not much is known about BerAli Mangistau Company LLP.

BerAli Mangistau Company

BerAli Mangistau Company LLP is engaged in providing services that contribute to the production of oil and natural gas. The company was registered 13 years ago, in September 2010.

Its first head, a certain Yerlan Zhuzbayev, still holds the position of founder.

BerAli Mangistau has been cooperating with Ozenmunaigas since 2013. And in 2022, the company became the winner of the tender for underground well repair. In total, they have provided services to the daughter of KazMunayGas for about 1.3 billion KZT.

Last year JSC "Ozenmunaigas" allocated the amount of work on which the "BerAli Mangistau Company's" oil workers operated. But in April of this year, according to media reports, 200 employees were left without work, as the term of the contract of the two enterprises ended.

It is noteworthy that in 2022, the tax payments of BerAli Mangistau Company set record figures – more than 250 million KZT. For comparison, payments for 2021 are only 17 million KZT.

After reviewing the details of tax payments, a sharp increase in individual income tax was noticed. In 2021, it was 700 thousand KZT, and a year later, in 2022, it was 44.4 million KZT. It can be concluded that since 2022, the company has hired a number of new employees to repair Ozenmunaigas wells. Indeed, the individual income tax shows the same high deductions, i.e. 46 million KZT, for 3 months in 2023.

Ozenmunaigas announced that in February 2023 it had put up four lots for potential suppliers to carry out underground well repairs. BerAli Mangistau Company applied for two of them, but the winner of the tender for all four was Kezbi Company, which offered a lower price for its services.

Ozenmunaigaz stated that representatives of Kezbi met with the protesters and offered them the same working conditions that they had at BerAli Mangistau Company, but they refused.

They explained that they consider the amounts for the amount of work low.

"We refused because at such a low price they would not be able to pay a decent salary. Since April 1, our employment contracts have been terminated, we are unemployed,"

the workers said in a video

Despite the relatively high rates of tax payments in 2023, since the dismissal of 200 people, the situation may change dramatically. One can only guess how this will affect the profits of the company itself.

"Kezbi"

Kezbi is an oilfield services company, which is considered one of the first private companies to appear in Kazakhstan after its independence. The company's registration documents were issued twenty-five years ago, in 1998.

The first head and current founder of the company is Bitim Kezbayev. He is a professional miner. He began his professional career as a driller in the Mangyshlakmunaygazbarlau trust. And in 2012, he was included in the list of "Best Entrepreneurs" according to Forbes.

The company was awarded the international awards "Golden Phoenix" and "Best Company of the European Economic Area" for the period of 2009 to 2011. It was also awarded the title of "Industry Veteran" for its contribution to increasing Kazakhstan's share in global oil and gas production and received commendations from JSC NC KazMunayGas and Ozenmunaigas.

But despite the regalia of the company, communication between its management and employees has not been so smooth. In 2021 and 2022, thousands of Kezbi employees repeatedly staged strikes demanding better working conditions and higher wages.

In April last year, the strikers noted that the Kezbi organization is the only one engaged in the repair of Ozenmunaigas wells. But since August of the same year, the employees of BerAli Mangistau Company have also been working on the project of KazMunayGas's subsidiary, which brought a lot of income to the company's piggy bank.

We are not hinting at anything and we are not claiming anything, but presumably, having felt out the competition in the oil well repair industry, Kezbi offered a lower price for Ozenmunaigas.

Now the question remains, "What will happen next with the dismissed employees of BerAli Mangistau Company?" Orda will continue to monitor developments.

Original Author: Silam Aqbota

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. The opening has been edited to reflect the situation as of 12/04/23. Please refer to the original article in Russian for accuracy.