Nurtau ski resort, located in the East Kazakhstan region and previously linked to businessman Anatoly Balushkin, has been put up for auction.
According to Nege.kz, the market value of the complex of movable and immovable property is estimated at 11.8 billion tenge. The lot includes buildings, structures and land plots.
At the same time, the auction format provides for the transfer and assignment of the asset to the balance sheet of state legal entities, effectively on a non-reimbursable basis. The reasons for choosing this particular mechanism are not disclosed.
Currently, the asset is listed on the balance sheet of the Department of State Property and Privatisation of the East Kazakhstan region of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
As a reminder, in May 2023, the AFM launched a pre-trial investigation into the chairman of the board of directors of Asia-Bipek AVTO, Anatoly Balushkin, the general director of Asia AVTO JSC, Yerik Sagymbayev, and a number of top managers of the group of companies. At the time, they were accused of embezzling more than 230 billion tenge.
In August 2024, a trial in absentia began in Ust-Kamenogorsk regarding Anatoly Balushkin. It was reported that in 2020, the authorities terminated the contract with the company and demanded the return of government-allocated funds amounting to 174 billion tenge. According to the investigation, company representatives failed to fulfil their obligations regarding the industrial assembly of cars. The company received benefits totalling this amount over 10 years.
In March of this year, a verdict was handed down in Ust-Kamenogorsk regarding eight top managers of the company Asia AVTO. They were accused of fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. Jusan Bank and the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development were recognised as victims in the case, but the prosecution was unable to prove the damage caused to the state.
In the end, the court acquitted two top managers, while the others were sentenced to between 2.5 and 2 years and 8 months' imprisonment. However, the court took into account the time spent in custody and under house arrest, and considered the sentence already served.
In April, the court sentenced Balushkin in absentia to 9 years' imprisonment. Sagymbayev received 8 years and 6 months' imprisonment. As part of the criminal investigation, a motion for pre-trial confiscation of 77 real estate properties was submitted to the court. The list included, among others, the recreation centres Rakhmanovskiye Klyuchi, Nurtau and Port Fortuna.