The Pavlodar Region Prosecutor's Office has removed from its official website a press release that reported on the department's long-standing involvement in overseeing the EkibastuzFerroAlloys project. According to available information, this plant is linked to the circle surrounding the Nigmatulin brothers.
According to the Telegram channel 'They're Already Coming for Us', the situation drew attention due to previously published data indicating that tens of billions of tenge from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) were directed towards launching the enterprise.
This concerns financing in the amount of approximately 72 billion tenge. It was this sum that previously prompted journalist Asset Mataev to make a public appeal to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, asking him to assess the conditions under which large state funds were disbursed.
It is also noted that the period during which the prosecutor's office 'facilitated' the project's implementation coincides with the time when Berik Zhuiriktaev was in charge of the Pavlodar Region.
It has become known that Zhuiriktaev now heads the Main Transport Prosecutor's Office. This position was previously held by Maksat Duisenov, who was detained in Germany. He is currently under investigation.
For context, former Speaker of the Mazhilis Nurlan Nigmatulin left his post on 1 February 2022 following the January events. He had led the lower house of parliament since 2016, and this was his second term as speaker – he previously held the role from 2012 to 2014. Over the years, he has headed the Presidential Administration and served as Akim of the Karaganda Region. In early April, it was reported that a criminal case had been opened against his son, Nurzhan Nurlanov, under the article 'Arbitrariness'. Later, the Prosecutor General's Office stated that Nurlanov has not been recognised as a suspect in this case.
Erlan Nigmatulin – the twin brother of Nurlan Nigmatulin – has also held a deputy's seat in both the Mazhilis and the Senate. Both brothers have repeatedly faced unofficial accusations of corporate raiding and possible involvement with criminal structures.
Argyn Nigmatulin is their older brother, a former deputy of the Karaganda Region Maslikhat. Incidentally, in July of last year, it was reported that the regional prosecutor's office had returned the hockey club 'Saryarka', valued at 900 million tenge, to the state. At the same time, it was noted that the hockey club was within the sphere of interests of Argyn Nigmatulin.
In March, Argyn Nigmatulin was placed on the international wanted list. He and other individuals are suspected of embezzling budget funds allocated for the development of hockey in the Karaganda Region.
Later, journalists conducted a detailed analysis of the assets of the eldest of the Nigmatulin brothers, which revealed an extensive network of business interests and properties in Kazakhstan and abroad.