Gazpromneft-Kazakhstan Operating Company LLP, which manages the Gazpromneft chain of petrol stations, has announced a name change to Alatau Premium Munai. The decision to rebrand followed the imposition of US sanctions against the parent company Gazprom Neft and its foreign subsidiaries in January 2025.
Under the management of the company, there are 78 filling stations across Kazakhstan, selling petroleum products primarily from the Omsk Oil Refinery. The geographical footprint covers key cities of the country, including Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, as well as several regions – Almaty Region, Turkestan Region and Zhambyl Region.
Gazpromneft-Kazakhstan Operating Company LLP, registered in April 2021 in the village of Boralday, Almaty Region, under the leadership of Marat Malataev, is managed by GPN-Upravlenie Zarubezhnymi Aktivami LLC.
During its existence, the company has made a significant contribution to the country's economy: tax payments reached 18.7 billion tenge. The company also participated in government contracts totalling approximately 600 million tenge.
It is interesting to note that ties between Kazakhstani and Russian businesses in the oil and gas sector have always been close. For instance, Timur Kulibaev, a prominent Kazakhstani entrepreneur and son-in-law of former President Nazarbayev, served on the board of directors of PJSC Gazprom for eleven years, from 2011 to 2022.
The renaming of Gazpromneft-Kazakhstan Operating Company LLP occurred against the backdrop of sweeping US sanctions that affected more than 30 Russian oil service companies, including Gazprom Neft divisions in various countries – from Tajikistan to Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, the parent company Gazprom Neft continues to demonstrate solid financial performance: in 2024, its revenue amounted to approximately 4.1 trillion roubles (over 20 trillion tenge), which is 16.5% higher compared to 2023.
We assume that the company's name change to Alatau Premium Munai may signal a desire to distance itself from its Russian roots and preserve its operations in Kazakhstan amidst tightening international sanctions.
It is likely that in the near future we may see similar rebrandings of other subsidiary structures of Russian companies in the region.