The head of JSC "Қазақстан темір жолы" (KTZ) Talgat Aldybergenov found himself in the spotlight after failing to answer a question about the company's debt burden during an interaction with journalists, instead deferring to his deputy.
As reported on his Telegram channel by political analyst Syrym Itkulov, the incident occurred after a government meeting. When asked in Kazakh about the current level of KTZ debt, Aldybergenov began to respond indistinctly, then stopped and gestured for his deputy to continue.
Incidentally, Aldybergenov’s deputy ultimately replied in three languages.
"Our company plans to launch an IPO next year. As of today, the company's loan portfolio stands at 3.7 trillion tenge, compared to 2.9 trillion tenge at the beginning of the year," noted KTZ's Managing Director for Finance, Dair Kusherov.
Video footage of the episode quickly spread across social media. In the comments, users speculated that the difficulty in responding may have been related to his level of proficiency in the Kazakh language.
The discussion is accompanied by a range of opinions: most comments are critical, though there are also those who express support for the company's head.