Nazabayev's Brother Obligated to Return 32% of Almaty Heavy Engineering Plant to the State

The Supreme Court of Kazakhstan's Civil Chamber has ordered Bolat Nazabayev, the younger brother of the Republic's first president Nursultan Nazabayev, to return 31.9% of shares from the Almaty Heavy Engineering Plant joint-stock company to the state. This was reported by Armenpress, citing the Interfax agency.

The court's ruling invalidated a securities sale agreement dated April 2, 2009, between Nazabayev B.A. and PLS-TM LLC regarding the sale of ordinary nominal shares of the Almaty Heavy Engineering Plant, amounting to 31.9% of the charter capital. The ruling states that the parties must return to their initial state.

According to the court's decision, Bolat Nazabayev is required to return this package of shares to state property by transferring it to the Ministry of Finance's Committee for State Property and Privatization. The case materials indicate that in February 1998, the State Property Department sold the state package of the plant's shares (31.9%) to a private investor, Temir Kon LLP, for 105.3 million tenge. The sales agreement stipulated the right to maintain the operational profile of the plant.

In April 2007, Temir Kon LLP sold 86.78% of the company’s shares (including the state-acquired 31.9%) to Bolat Nazabayev. Two years later, the state property committee, Temir Kon LLP, and Bolat Nazabayev signed a contract concerning the change of parties regarding obligations established by the contract originally signed in 1998. The document stipulated that if Bolat Nazabayev did not fulfill the requirements, he would be obligated to return the state package of shares to the committee.

However, after signing this agreement, Bolat Nazabayev sold the plant's ordinary shares, including the state package, to PLS-TM LLP. The decision notes that Bolat Nazabayev did not have the right to alienate these shares to PLS-TM LLP without the committee’s consent, thereby rendering this transaction invalid.