Italian media: The New and Old Oligarchs of Kazakhstan

A little-known young developer, Shahmurat Mutalip, is bidding for the largest mining company in Kazakhstan at a price of billions of dollars, marking his latest move in his rapid rise in Astana. People suspect he has inherited the power groups that rose under the shadow of the current president.

Astana (Asia News) – A new figure has emerged in the business world of Kazakhstan: businessman Shahmurat Mutalip. He is not listed on the Forbes list of Kazakhstan's billionaires, and the public knows nothing about him. Now, he claims to plan to spend billions of dollars to acquire Kazakhstan's largest mining company. This construction company boss had previously acquired the assets of Kajrat Šaripbaev, a member of the old ruling elite of Kazakhstan. Šaripbaev was the husband of Daria Nazarbaeva, the daughter of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev. Mutalip has been received twice by the current president at the Akorda Palace, and people are curious about how he suddenly rose to prominence.

Shahmurat was born in 1990 in Almaty region. In 2008, he started working as a mechanic at a railway sleeper manufacturing company called "Bent." According to his official resume, he studied at Turan University in the southern capital of Kazakhstan and obtained dual degrees in economics and religious studies. Within seven years, he climbed up to become vice president of Bent company, then became an advisor to Kazakhselmaš construction company in 2016, and later served as director of Ist Group, a company dealing with manufacturing and office supplies. In 2020, he became general manager of Integra Construction KZ construction company.

Over the past 15 years, Mutalip has held senior positions in various companies until 2022, when he became the beneficial owner of the top 12 companies in Kazakhstan, Integra Construction, and quickly rose in the business world. The company was founded in 1997 and has changed its name several times. Its owners are oligarchs closely related to the "eternal president" Nursultan Nazarbaev - the so-called "Eurasian trio" Aleksandr Maškevič, Patokh Šodiev, and Alidžan Ibragimov. The company participated in railway restoration projects and became a major international participant in this field. In a lawsuit in 2023 regarding suspicious financial transactions, it was revealed that the company had been sold to another company newly owned by Mutalip at an undisclosed amount.

The National Bank required the cancellation of these agreements, considering them illegal and mainly aimed at protecting the original owners from bearing their accumulated huge national debts. This dispute ended in 2024, with the debts being settled, and Nazarbaeva's assets were transferred to Mutalip after a series of transactions. Now, Integra Construction company has 15 branches and undertakes several large-scale projects, including state-commissioned projects. By the end of 2025, the name of Mutalip frequently appeared in the headlines of international media; Bloomberg and The Financial Times独家 reported that he was active in the main mining sectors of Kazakhstan.

Shahmurat Mutalip is now actively involved in the country's social life; in February 2024, he replaced another oligarch Kenes Rakišev and was elected chairman of the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation, while also serving as vice president of the National Olympic Committee. In 2025, in addition to meeting with the president, Mutalip has been widely noticed for the Almaty Metro project, which will be implemented in collaboration with Chinese enterprises.

Orazali Erzanov, a opposition politician and head of the Elgir Kaitarov Foundation, said: "Mutalip is very young, only 35 years old, and is no different from the other 20 million Kazakhs... He did not get rich through talent, but inherited the legacy of those in power, continuing the oligarchic policies of the past 30 years."

Some observers and important figures in Kazakhstan's society and politics also agree with this view, because the country is trying to implement the一贯 policies of the power holders by means of simple "personnel changes" and granting power to young people, thus achieving its own transformation.

Author: Vladimir Rozanskij

Original: toutiao.com/article/1855790424180747/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.