The FBRK editorial team continues its report on the total remuneration packages practised within the executive bodies of companies that have a significant impact on the economy of Kazakhstan.
Today we will be looking at the telecommunications giant - Kazakhtelecom JSC.
In the first quarter of 2024, the telecom operator's net profit amounted to 25.6 billion tenge.
Since March 2010, the company had been managed by Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev, who currently holds the position of Advisor to the President.
In 2020, the national company's board, consisting of 9 people, received a total of around 426 million tenge. In 2021, this sum amounted to more than 500 million tenge.
In 2022, the executive body of Kazakhtelecom was reduced to 4 people, who received over 422 million tenge by the end of the year.
In 2023, 6 board members under the chairmanship of Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev received a total of more than 362 million tenge.
It is worth noting that Mr Yesekeyev's career is often linked to the early activities of other prominent statesmen, namely Karim Massimov and Askar Zhumagaliyev.
Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev became a member of the government at a time when Karim Massimov held the position of Prime Minister.
In 2007, Mr Yesekeyev became chairman of the Agency for Informatisation and Communication, replacing Askar Zhumagaliyev in this post. The latter, in turn, took up the position of President of Kazakhtelecom.
In 2010, Mr Zhumagaliyev headed the Ministry of Communications and Information, and Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev moved to Kazakhtelecom as head of the national company.
And although Mr Yesekeyev is regarded as a long-timer within the Samruk-Kazyna fund structure, which includes Kazakhtelecom, his tenure at the helm was marred by numerous scandals.
One of the biggest is considered to be the scandal that occurred in 2016, when the former director of Kazakhtelecom's human resources department, Dalyapraz Buketova, accused Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev of corruption and nepotism.
The former employee claimed that key positions in the company were awarded based on personal preferences, and multi-million tenge contracts were awarded to shell companies.
Furthermore, according to Ms Buketova, after Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev became chairman of the board, there was an increase in cases of leaks of private correspondence of prominent Kazakhstanis. The former director linked this fact to the close relationship between Mr Yesekeyev and Mr Massimov.
For context, in April 2023, the former head of the KNB, Karim Massimov, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for high treason, attempting a forcible seizure of power, abuse of power, and exceeding official authority.
In June of this year, it became known that Karim Massimov had filed a petition for clemency with the President.
Last year, information appeared in the media regarding links between the former Minister of Digital Development, Bagdat Musin, and Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev.
In April of this year, Bagdat Musin left the Ministry of Digital Development, and soon after he was appointed Chairman of the Management Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC.