The governor of the Pavlodar region, Asain Baikhanov, reported that one of Kazakhstan's largest gold mining companies, Altynalmas, has acquired shares in Maikainzoloto JSC.
According to Ratel.kz, 67.5% of the shares in Altynalmas JSC belong to the Dutch company Gouden Reserves B.V., headed by Anna Berezina, a native of Udmurtia and a Dutch citizen. It is noted that she has been involved in transactions surrounding property controlled by the Kazakhmys group.
The remaining 32.5% of the shares are owned by entrepreneur Vladimir Dzhumanbayev, who ranks 25th in the '75 Richest Businessmen of Kazakhstan-2024' list.
As the regional governor stated, the change in shareholders occurred after a bus carrying four mine rescuers fell into a 150-metre deep stope pit near the Maikain mine.
It has become known that the new owners of Maikainzoloto will be required to assist local authorities in relocating residents from 73 houses in the Shanghai district, located just a few hundred metres from the mine. According to the villagers, in recent years they have been troubled by underground vibrations and rumbling, causing plaster to fall from the walls. They fear further collapses.
"Six months ago, I instructed the district governor, together with the regional architecture department, to begin developing a detailed plan for the settlement of Maikain. We will be able to build houses and relocate them. The detailed plan is currently being developed. This will be a joint project with Maikainzoloto and the new shareholders, meaning they will take on part of the houses, while we will build the other part using budget funds," said the governor of the Pavlodar region, Asain Baikhanov.
He noted that the project's implementation may be complicated because some houses do not legally exist, and for some, there are no documents.
"Therefore, we will work on all of this. But first and foremost, we need to choose a location. There is also the issue of social infrastructure; there is no space within the settlement. On one side, there are mines, on the other, the plant itself; the settlement is squeezed in. If there is not enough land, we will have to make do with three-storey buildings," stated the governor.
To recall, on 4 January, near the shaft of the Maikain mine, a bus carrying four mine rescuers fell into a 150-metre deep stope pit. Information about the discovery of two bodies later emerged. The bodies of rescuer Aidos Shaimerden and driver Aiyyp Tleubergenov were only found in the summer.
In April, a commission consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Akimat of the Pavlodar region, Maikainzoloto JSC, Republican Central Headquarters of Professional Paramilitary Emergency Rescue Services LLP, and a state labour inspector conducted an investigation into the accident, the results of which established the employer's 100% fault.
On 18 September, it became known that the General Director of Maikainzoloto JSC, Botin, his deputies Bashirov and Tereskov, the Director of the Maikain underground mine (MPR), Shuvalov, the Deputy Director of the MPR, Nazyrov, the Chief Engineer of the MPR, Kaiypkanuly, and the Chief Surveyor of the MPR, Tuleubekov, had been detained.
At the same time, it was stated that in March, representatives of Maikainzoloto JSC had filed a lawsuit against the Republican State Institution 'Committee of Labour and Social Protection of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population' and the State Institution 'Committee of Industrial Safety of the Ministry of Emergency Situations', seeking to have the bus driver, rather than themselves, found guilty. However, the company lost the case in court.
Later, it became known that the detained employees of Maikainzoloto, who were suspects in the criminal case regarding the death of the mine rescuers, were released under house arrest from the courtroom.