Bakhytzhan Sagintayev

Sagintayev was born in the village of Usharal. His father, Abdyr Sagintayev (1921-1986), was a World War II veteran who worked as the director of the Talas Sheep Breeding Plant.

In 1985, Sagintayev graduated from the Kazakh State University with a degree in economics. That same year, he became a lecturer at the Department of Political Economy of the Alma-Ata Institute of National Economy. From 1988 to 1992, he worked at the Kazakh State University, where he went from an assistant to an assistant professor of sociology. From 1992 to 1998, Sagintayev was engaged in entrepreneurial activity.

In 1998, he was appointed deputy akim of the Jambyl Region.

From 1999 to 2002, Sagintayev served as Deputy Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Small Business Support, Deputy Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, Protection of Competition and Support for Small Business.

From 2002-2004 he served as the First Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Regulation of Natural Monopolies and Competition Protection.

From 2004 to 2007, he chaired the Agency for Regulation of Natural Monopolies of Kazakhstan.

On 11 December 2007, Sagintayev was appointed as the Head of the Prime Minister's Office.

On 30 September 2008, he became akim of Pavlodar Region.

On 20 January 2012, Sagintayev was appointed Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

On 24 September 2012, he became First Deputy Head of “Nur Otan” National Democratic Party.

On 16 January 2013, Sagintayev was appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development.

On 8 September 2016, Sagintayev was nominated by Nursultan Nazarbayev for the post of Prime Minister. The following day, on 9 September, Sagintayev was confirmed by the Parliament. On 28 September. he was appointed as the Chairman of the board of directors of JSC «Samruk-Kazyna».[3]

On 28 June 2019, Sagintayev was appointed as the mayor of Almaty.[4] His goal was to make the city a "safe, comfortable, modern metropolis where every Almaty citizen has the opportunity for a decent life." He ordered the police to conduct an analysis of the criminal situation in the city, to intensify the fight against hooliganism and robbery, and to increase the number of surveillance cameras on the streets. In response with dealing in crimes, 32 police posts were installed, with 4 in each city district. The location of the posts were determined based on the incidents of offenses and crimes that occurred in the area.[5]

On 19 August, Sagintayev announced on his Instagram page about returning the previous speed limit on Al-Farabi Avenue from 60 km back to 80 km after many complains by citizens.[6]

On 29 August, he proposed planting at least a million new trees in Almaty and planned to actively work with the Government and Samruk Energy JSC to reduce emissions from stationary sources.[7]

On 27 November, at the Almaty Investment Forum, Sagintayev stated the city should be at the top 100 best cities in the world in terms of quality of life and business opportunities, in which he used San Francisco as an example.[8]

Following the COVID-19 outbreak in Kazakhstan, 27 roadblocks were installed to prevent citizens from traveling in or out of the city.[9] On 4 April 2020, Sagintayev approved the construction of an infectious disease hospital, which was opened on 24 April.[10][11] On 16 April, Sagintayev announced that mass events, including sports, would be cancelled until 30 June.[12]

Sagintayev was awarded “Kurmet” order and anniversary medals.

He is an author of a number of scientific works, publications on state regulation of the natural monopolies, small and medium business development.

Sagintayev is married and has two children.