LLP “Bogatyr Komir” is changing its ownership structure: the state-owned JSC “Samruk-Energo” is exiting the list of owners, and a company registered in Qatar, Primet LLC, is becoming the key shareholder. At the same time, the ultimate owners of the Qatari company have not been publicly disclosed, and one of its founders has appeared in international court materials.
WHAT FORBES FOUND OUT
According to Forbes, “Samruk-Energo” and the Russian “Rusal” owned the “Bogatyr” and “Severny” open-cast mines through the joint venture Forum Muider, with 50% each.
In 2025, Forum Muider, previously registered in Cyprus, moved its registration to the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and issued 7,779 new shares in favour of Primet LLC. As a result, the stakes of “Samruk-Energo” and “Rusal” decreased from 50% to 35%, and Primet received 30%.
On 30 December 2025, the parties signed an agreement on “Samruk-Energo’s” exit from the asset: the remaining 35% is to transfer to the Qatari investor, after which Primet will receive 65% of Forum Muider. At the same time, the value of the transfer of shares and the sale of the remaining 35% is not disclosed, and the agreement contains conditions precedent related to the payment of dividends.
“Bogatyr Komir” accounts for about 40% of the country’s total coal output and around 70% of output in the Ekibastuz basin, while 75–80% of the extracted volume is sent to the domestic market.
WHO IS BEHIND PRIMET LLC
Primet LLC was registered in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) in July 2025. The company’s authorised capital is $10,000.
Primet has two founders — Joseph Nazih Karam and a company registered in a UAE free economic zone, Prime Mining and Energy. At the same time, there is no publicly available data on the owners of Prime Mining and Energy. In response to Forbes’ request about the ultimate owners of Primet LLC, state bodies recommended contacting the company itself, while the Ministry of Energy confirmed only that it had issued it permission to purchase shares.
WHY JOSEPH NAZIH KARAM DREW ATTENTION
Joseph Nazih Karam’s name appears in the materials of several international corporate and court disputes, including those linked to Russian businessmen Mikhail Cherney and Oleg Deripaska.
In the materials of the British case Cherney v. Deripaska, Karam is mentioned as a former banker from Switzerland, whose services Mikhail Cherney used when creating corporate structures in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, in Cyprus and in other jurisdictions. The court documents describe in detail the corporate relations between Cherney and Deripaska that developed in the 1990s around their joint business in the aluminium industry.
Separately, Joseph Karam’s name appears in the materials of the Spanish investigation linked to the Izmaylovskaya case. In these documents he is described as a financial adviser and linked to a number of international companies. According to the investigation documents, in 1996 Karam was questioned by Geneva police in connection with his relations with Cherney.
At the same time, this concerns specifically information from court and investigative materials. They do not mean that Joseph Nazih Karam was found guilty by a court.
WHAT OTHER COURT MATERIALS ARE LINKED TO KARAM
In 2005, the Supreme Court of the British Virgin Islands heard a dispute involving Trans-World Metals SA and others against Bluzwed Metals Ltd, Oleg Deripaska, Joseph Karam and others. Karam was listed among the defendants in that case. The dispute concerned relations around a joint venture and claims related to corporate obligations and assets.
A separate episode relates to a document of the United Nations (UN) from 2006. It refers to criminal proceedings in Cameroon, in which Joseph Nazih Karam and another citizen of Lebanon appeared as accused in a number of economic offences. The document lists charges of forgery and use of commercial documents, fraud, misappropriation of assets and other violations related to the activities of the company SOCPAX.
