The upcoming referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan is currently one of the most widely discussed topics. Kazakh citizens are faced with a difficult and very responsible decision. Meanwhile, certain interested parties posing as experts, as expected, are trying in every possible way to influence public opinion.
Both opponents and supporters of the NPP are conducting a very active campaign. It is one thing when qualified experts express their constructive opinion, and quite another when certain individuals try to impose their personal opinion about nuclear energy on their fellow citizens.
Before the President announced the date of the referendum, public hearings on the construction of the NPP were held in major cities. Previously, journalists from Orda.kz noted that the same people appeared at hearings in different regions of the country, actively protesting against the construction of the NPP.
Special attention is drawn to the figure of the former head of KEGOC, Asset Nauryzbayev, who is currently one of the most prominent public opponents of nuclear energy in Kazakhstan. However, he was not always a staunch opponent of building a nuclear power plant.
The idea of the need to build an NPP in Kazakhstan was first voiced back in 1997. In 1998, Nauryzbayev, as president of KEGOC, stated that our country "operates a number of uranium enrichment and processing facilities, which provides a good basis for the future development of nuclear energy".
Even then, 26 years ago, he was convinced that Kazakhstan was ready "for international cooperation in technological and research fields, including ensuring the safety of nuclear plants". But today, Nauryzbayev broadcasts a completely opposite opinion.
To understand whose interests Asset Nauryzbayev might be pursuing, one only needs to look at his biography. In 2001, he was implicated in the criminal case of Mukhtar Ablyazov and was even placed on an international wanted list. He was charged with abuse of official power during the privatisation of Ekibastuz GRES-2, which resulted in damage to the Kazakh economy of $400 million.
Asset Nauryzbayev was called a business partner and a close friend of Mukhtar Ablyazov. Nauryzbayev now avoids answering the question of whether he has maintained contact with Ablyazov. However, the media report that Ablyazov wrote that he allegedly met with Nauryzbayev in Moscow in 2008 and forgave him for cooperating with the KNB.
Incidentally, some experts suggest that the fierce struggle surrounding nuclear projects in Central Asia is the result of competition between the Russian "Rosatom" and the American Westinghouse for contracts to build nuclear plants in third countries.
It is known that Westinghouse was eliminated from the list of candidates for implementing the large-scale project. Meanwhile, it is assumed that Nauryzbayev harbours particular feelings towards his former Russian colleagues - after all, it was the Russians who once prevented the possibility of robbing Ekibastuz GRES-2.
Earlier, at a press conference in Almaty, Nauryzbayev stated that his position has no political motivation and is in no way financially backed. It also became known that he officially heads the recently created public foundation of opponents of NPP construction.
How sincere are Mr Nauryzbayev's intentions to achieve good for Kazakhstan in the field of energy and ecology, as he so often likes to emphasise? Be that as it may, doubts remain.
Considering all the above, a reasonable question arises: isn't he pursuing personal interests while presenting them as a righteous struggle? Bearing in mind his tarnished reputation, stained by corruption scandals, this does not seem entirely improbable.