Dutch company Noord Holland Trading Company B.V., which is linked to former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and billionaire Vladimir Kim, owns real estate in Almaty worth tens of billions of tenge.
According to the Telegram channel "Access to the Sea", this property is located in a border zone where Kazakhstani legislation prohibits foreign companies from owning land.
The property is situated in the Yubileiny microdistrict, across the road from Nazarbayev's former residence. The land plot covers an area of 35 hectares.
It is noted that one of the palaces located there belongs to the family of Nazarbayev's former associate, Vladimir Ni, while another property is owned by billionaire and co-owner of Kazakhmys Corporation Vladimir Kim. Nazarbayev also owns a mansion, which he holds through his Baitau Foundation and the company Capital Invest 2021 LLP.
It has become known that about half of the territory of the plot is controlled by the companies Almaly and Nauryz, whose ultimate beneficiary is Noord Holland. According to experts, just the land under these mansions is worth at least 30 billion tenge, and together with the buildings, the value of the assets could exceed 50 billion tenge.
Journalists suggest that transferring the assets into the ownership of Noord Holland may be linked to an attempt to protect the property in countries with a more advanced legal system, where it would be easier to defend property rights.
It is believed that this scheme could create legal problems for its alleged organisers.
"According to the law, if a foreigner or foreign company does not transfer control of legal entities owning such plots to Kazakh citizens within three months of gaining control, local authorities must seize them for the benefit of the state. These deadlines have long since expired, so the risks of losing all this for Nursultan Nazarbayev and his associates are indeed real", the statement reads.