Targeted actions by JSC 'Investment Fund of Kazakhstan' (IFK) and JSC 'Development Bank of Kazakhstan' (DBK), LLP 'ROP Operator' and a number of state bodies led to the bankruptcy of the unique tyre recycling and processing plant LLP 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling'.
Initially, in 2011, the plant's authorised capital was valued at 1 tenge. Ten years later, a new valuation was carried out, according to which the enterprise's property was valued at 810.7 million tenge, however, the IFK depreciated the plant to 485 million in its financial statements.
For many years, the amounts of the plant's debt to the IFK and the value of the enterprise were unreasonably changed. The editorial board of the FBRK looked into who, and in what way, contributed to the raiding and bankruptcy of 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling'.
We previously reported that the former owners of ruined enterprises controlled by the Investment Fund sent a letter to the President asking for help to return investment assets. The authors assure they can resume operations of the production facilities, and request the creation of a 'special anti-crisis commission' for this purpose.
One of the enterprises affected by the prolonged arbitrariness and illegal privatisation by the IFK was the capital's plant for processing automotive tyre waste, LLP 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling'.
In 2011, at the initiative of the 'Development Bank of Kazakhstan', the authorised capital of 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling', which at that time stood at 121 million tenge, was changed to 1 tenge and the owners were forced to pledge the plant to the bank. Later, the DBK transferred the enterprise to the Investment Fund as a problematic asset.
However, the plant encountered financial difficulties and was unable to pay its debt to the 'Investment Fund of Kazakhstan' on time.
As representatives of 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' reported, the operator of extended producer responsibility (LLP 'ROP Operator') conducted open tenders for tyre processing (disposal) instead of concluding direct contracts with processing plants, which significantly complicated the signing of contracts.
Payment was split into two parts: the processors were entitled to only 10% of the tender value, and the remaining amount went towards payment for transportation services. As noted by 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling', the operator did not pay even these due 10%.
After lengthy court proceedings, a settlement agreement was concluded between 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' and the IFK. According to this agreement, in 2017, the enterprise undertook to pay off a debt amounting to 1.6 billion tenge by 2023 in annual tranches: initially 70 million tenge, and subsequently 136 million tenge.
As a result of the fact that the 'ROP Operator' owed the enterprise over 120 million tenge, LLP 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' was unable to repay the debt to the IFK under the settlement agreement. Consequently, the property of the transaction pledgor - LLP 'Mils-Group' came under threat.
Representatives of 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' repeatedly lodged complaints with various authorities, deputies, the media, and even sent a letter to Aliya Nazarbayeva requesting an investigation into the activities of LLP 'ROP Operator', which was under her control. But they received no response from the ex-president's daughter, and the authorised bodies took no action throughout this time.
In their appeal to the Prosecutor General, LLP 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' and LLP 'Mils-Group' presented several arguments regarding the court delivering knowingly unlawful judgments, which, in their opinion, led to the corporate raiding of the movable and immovable property of the legal entities.
One such example was the interaction with private bailiffs (PBs). In 2018, a judge of the capital's Specialised Inter-District Economic Court issued writs of execution with an unfilled operative part: one against 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling', and the second against 'Mils-Group'.
Later, based on these 'blank forms', the PB initiated enforcement proceedings, and an interesting piece of arithmetic began.
The bailiff arbitrarily, without a court ruling, calculated and demanded early payment of the entire debt amount of 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' (2.25 billion tenge), while the plant only had 140 million left to pay the IFK.
Furthermore, after some time, data regarding a partial debt payment of an unjustifiably calculated amount of 1.97 million tenge was manually entered into the writ of execution. To cover the remaining debt, the PB independently levied execution on the collateral property of 'Mils-Group'.
The court dismissed all complaints against the actions of the PB. Subsequently, the enforcement proceedings were transferred to another bailiff, against whom, following appeals from 'Kazakhstan Rubber Recycling' and 'Mils-Group', a criminal case was initiated, which was later dropped.
The former management of the affected companies concluded that the lawless actions of all those involved in this situation: LLP 'ROP Operator', the Investment Fund, the capital's judges, the PBs, and the inactive law enforcement agencies, suggest the existence of an organised criminal group, in which the roles of each participant are clearly defined.
These events occurred during a period when the 'ROP Operator' and the Ministry of Energy, which oversaw the tyre recycling operator's activities, were headed by individuals later suspected of corruption. And the chairman of the national holding 'Baiterek', responsible for the Investment Fund at the time, was the now notoriously scandalous former Minister of National Economy, Kuandyk Bishimbayev.
In 2018, former Vice-Ministers of Energy Gani Sadibekov and Bakytzhan Dzhaksaliyev, along with a number of responsible officials, were suspected of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale. The head of the Ministry of Energy's Waste Management Department, Zhan Nurbekov, was also among the suspects. In 2021, all suspects were acquitted.
LLP 'ROP Operator' became notorious for multibillion-tenge embezzlement during the period when the company was owned by the ex-president's daughter, Aliya Nazarbayeva. The leaders of 'ROP Operator' embezzled budget funds on an especially large scale for years, for which they were sentenced in 2023 to 7 years' imprisonment.
All these facts characterise all these high-ranking officials of that time and lead to the thought that conditions could well have been deliberately created for the subsequent liquidation of processing enterprises.
As we have written before, it is known that in 2021 the 'Investment Fund of Kazakhstan' was illegally sold to private individuals. Based on this and the facts listed above, it can be assumed that the enterprises were indeed bankrupted knowingly, by creating artificial problems.
Today, the IFK once again belongs to the state. Perhaps it would, after all, be reasonable now to return the enterprises to their former owners in order to resume operations of the production facilities and avoid their final ruin.
The editorial board of the FBRK has sent official inquiries to the government and the NMH 'Baiterek' to ascertain whether the authorities are considering the issue of returning investment assets to their former owners.
To be continued…