Four billionaires in Kazakhstan, including the daughter and son-in-law of former President Nazarbayev, have become "poorer" by $ 3 billion, according to Forbes.
The fortunes of the billionaires behind some of Kazakhstan's top companies have sunk after anti-government protests erupted in the country last week.
Four billionaires in Kazakhstan - including one daughter and the son-in-law of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev - have become $ 3 billion poorer in two 24 hours. The mobilizations were sparked by a sharp rise in fuel prices; resentment quickly turned to anger at the corrupt - as denounced - political system.
Shares of two major banks - Kaspi and JSC Halyk Bank - collapsed as protesters set fire to public buildings and tore down statues. According to a report by Benjamin Godwin, a Central Asian analyst on British PRISM (Political Risk Management), the Nazarbayev family boarded five private jets and left Kazakhstan on January 5 for Moscow. According to a source described in the report as a "minor in the family environment", the Nazarbayevs - known as close friends of Vladimir Putin - traveled to Moscow to "meet with the rest of the family".
According to Forbes and republished by Capital.gr, billionaire Vyacheslav Kim, major shareholder and chairman of the London-based listed company Kaspi Bank, Kazakhstan's largest payment and fintech company, lost $ 1,4 billion as its share "fell" by 30% from $ 118 on January 4 to $ 87 on January 6, with the net worth of its assets falling to $ 4,2 billion from $ 5,7 billion.
Georgia-born but Kazakhstan-based Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO of Kaspi, also lost about $ 1,4 billion and his net worth collapsed from $ 5,2 billion on January 4 to $ 3,8 billion. billion dollars on January 6 - in two nights of uncertainty for the country. The stock sank after reports that banks, including Kaspi and Halyk, would not pay their pensions until the government declared a state of emergency until January 19.
One of Nazarbayev's three daughters, Dinara Kulibaeva, and her husband, Timur Kulibaev, lost $ 200 million together as the value of their stake in London-listed JSC Halyk Bank fell 16%. The couple - valued at $ 3,1 billion per person, according to Forbes - owns the bank's majority stake, as well as large portfolios of real estate and private investment.
Timur Kulibaev, 55, emerged from Kazakhstan's natural mineral industry to become chairman of the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, and later served on the board of the Russian energy giant Gazprom. In 1992, during the first period of privatization in Kazakhstan, Kulibaev created the investment group Altyn Alma to take advantage of the opportunities created in the country - later the group was renamed Almex LLP.
Success came in 2004 when Kulibaev's company sold Kar-Tel - which operates in Kazakhstan - to VimpelCom for $ 350 million. In 2014, Kulibaev sold Altynalmas Gold to Polymetal, partly owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Nesis, for cash and shares in the company.
Source: thetoc.gr
Photo source: forbes.com