Bulat Utemuratov

In the frame of his mandate of President of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, Bulat Utemuratov has developed various charity associations in relation with this sport for Kazakh youth. Upon his initiative, the "Team Kazakhstan" Tennis Academy was created specifically to train promising players of the national tennis team. Since 2007, he is the President of the Tennis Federation of Kazakhstan. He actively develops tennis and invested US$ 85 million in the establishing of country's national teams, development of children's tennis and construction of tennis infrastructure in all major cities of Kazakhstan.

Since 2010, Kazakhstan is regularly ranked among the world's top tennis nations. From September 2015, Utemuratov has been a board member of the International Tennis Federation.[3] In 2017, the International Tennis Federation and Asian Tennis Federation awarded Bulat Utemuratov for transcendent merit in the development of tennis in the region[4].

Systematic work is being done to train juniors and experienced athletes to participate in international tournaments. In total, Kazakhstan juniors won over 90 international tournaments, including various Grand Prix. The men's national team of Kazakhstan confidently keeps in the World group of the Davis Cup; in 2019 it entered the final stage of the world team tournament once again.

The Team Kazakhstan Project deserves special attention, since it gives the chance to Kazakhstan athletes to consolidate themselves among the best players. This is a unique sports school created to form its own tennis reserve players in the national teams of the Davis Cup and the Federation Cup. In general, about 40 international tournaments of ITF, ITF futures, ITF Juniors, ATF and ATP Challenger are held annually in Kazakhstan.

In September 2019, Bulat Utemuratov was re-elected as ITF Board member and appointed ITF Vice President. On the latter appointment ITF President David Haggerty said: ‘...successful business leader Bulat Utemuratov adding great knowledge from inside and outside the world of tennis....’[5]. In October, 2019 Kazakhstan Tennis Federation held a charity exhibition match with participation of world tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Novac Djokovic in Nur-Sultan[6].

In February 2014 The Bulat Utemuratov Charity Foundation was created [7] with Bulat Utemuratov as a member of the Board of Trustees. The foundation's mission is to help Kazakhstan become a better place for people's life today and in the future by promoting health, education and culture development.

The projects supported by the foundation include:

• program for children under 15 years of age with autism spectrum disorder and their families - eight centers for children with autism spectrum disorder were opened in eight cities of Kazakhstan: Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kyzylorda, Aktobe, Uralsk, Shymkent and Petropavlovsk;
• joint initiatives with the Association of parents of disabled children;
• Balameken project aimed at providing those most in need with accommodation - as part of the Balameken project, the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation built houses for 100 low-income families in Kyzylorda. The cost of project implementation made KZT 450 million[8]. In Arys, new homes for 100 families were built by the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation. The Foundation allocated KZT 850 million for this[9];
• support of Batyrkhan Shukenov Foundation;
• support of Red Crescent initiatives in Kazakhstan;
• Burabike Fest - Burabike Fest has raised more than KZT 1 billion, that were spent on purchasing medical equipment for pediatric, maternity and rehabilitation hospitals[10];
• reconstruction of the Botanical Garden of Almaty [11] - in May, 2020 the President Tokayev visited the Botanical Garden after reconstruction which cost USD 15 million[12]. The garden will be open for public from June, 15.

In March 2020, the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation allocated KZT 200 million to combat COVID-19 in the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty[13]. 94 thousand COVID-19 rapid testing kits were provided by the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation to the city health departments of Nur-Sultan and Almaty[14].

Bulat Utemuratov announced about his decision to allocate one million USD through Verny Capital Group of Companies to Birgemiz Relief Fund, created at the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan[15].

The Fund acquired two laboratory complexes for PCR tests for the detection of COVID-19 for USD $ 4 million. The laboratory complexes will be installed in Nur-Sultan and Almaty, and they can be quickly relocated and deployed in other cities[16].

In May 2020, the businessman allocated USD 6 million for the construction of 150 new homes for flood-affected residents of the Makhtaaral district of Turkestan region[17].

Since 2006, under Bulat Utemuratov's patronage, the Narxoz University is developing into a leading educational institution in the Central Asia region aimed at international higher education standards. The businessman investedUS $ 40 million to upgrade technical equipment, develop sport and social infrastructure, modernise educational process and attract international staff. There are scholarship programmes for talented students.

Another successful charity educational project in Kazakhstan is Haileybury Kazakhstan. The graduates of Haileybury Kazakhstan enter the best universities of the world.

Bulat Utemuratov actively supports culture and art. He is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fund for Ballet and National Dance Development and Support,[18] supports Fund of Kazakhstan musician Batyrkhan Shukenov,[19] finances the republican competition of wooden and brass wind instruments and scholarships for talented young students of the National Conservatory[20] named after Kurmangazy. Regular exhibitions of Kulanshi Center for Contemporary Art are held under his patronage at Forte Bank Kulanshi Art Space.[21] He is an honorary trustee of the Nazarbayev Fund.[22]

Bulat Utemuratov is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan.[23] His first large project was the development of the “ATF Bank” and its successful sale to UniCredit[24] (from 1995 until November 2007). During that time, the bank grew from a small financial institution to a large multi-regional and multi-product financial group with 160 branches. Unicredit acquired ATF Bank for $2.1 billion in 2007 and Utemuratov reportedly made $785 million from the sale.

Subsequent reports suggested that Utemuratov's stake in ATF had been larger than previously known and that he and family members made more than $1 billion from the sale.[25] The deal turned out to be a poor one for Unicredit and within a year of acquiring ATF, the Italian bank had written down the value by €500 million.[26] Unicredit sold ATF in 2013 for just $500 million.[27]

After the 2009 crisis, the following banks were created: Kassa Nova, the first microcredit bank in Kazakhstan and ForteBank, a business bank. In May 2014, Samruk-Kazyna SWF closed a sale of its shares in Temirbank and part of its shares in Aliance Bank to businessman Bulat Utemuratov. Bulat Utemuratov is a key fund investor (not a shareholder) of Verny Capital[28] investment group, together with VEON he also owns two telecommunications operators –"KarTel"[29] in Kazakhstan and "SkyMobile" in Kyrgyzstan operating under the brand: Beeline. In October 2019, Bulat Utemuratov was in the top three of Forbes list of the 50 richest businessmen of Kazakhstan with an estimated capital of US$ 3,4 billion[30].

After Kazakhstan became an independent country in 1991, President Nursultan Nazarbayev selected Utemuratov to go to Vienna and find economic opportunities for the new republic.[31] After Utemuratov returned, he stayed close to President Nazarbayev and held several senior roles in the Kazakh government.

This included Secretary of the Security Council from 2003 to 2006 and head of the President's private office from 2006 to 2008.[32]

From 2008 to 2013 he was described as an “adviser to the President” and he also held a role as a special representative to Kyrgyzstan.[33]

This close relationship between Utemuratov and President Nazarbayev has led to questions about the origins of Utemuratov's wealth.[34]

In a letter to the London Stock Exchange, they opposition leaders said:[35] "Bulat Utemuratov, the former head of administration for the President of Kazakhstan, is a co-owner of Kazzinc. Utemuratov is widely believed to be holding these assets for the benefit of Nazarbayev."

This close relationship with President Nazarbayev led to Utemuratov being given the nickname “the grey cardinal” in Kazakhstan.[36] He was also described as President Nazarbayev's “personal financial manager” in a US diplomatic cable leaked by Wikileaks.

Glencore International, the Swiss-based mining and commodities company, acquired the Vasilkovskoye gold mine in Kazakhstan from Utemuratov's Verny Capital.[37] As part of this transaction, Verny was given shares in Kazzinc – Glencore's copper subsidiary in Kazakhstan. When Glencore announced its initial public offering (IPO) in London in 2011, the company said that some of the proceeds would be used to buy back the Kazzinc shares held by Verny Capital[38]

In 2012, Glencore bought the Kazzinc shares back from Verny Capital for $1.359 billion,[39] including $400 million in cash and the rest in Glencore shares. Since that transaction, Utemuratov and Glencore have done several other deals together and this has raised concerns about the nature of the relationship. In 2015, Glencore bought Utemuratov's Gulfstream private jet in an undisclosed transaction.[36]

In 2012, Glencore's Kazzinc subsidiary bought a 56% in a private school called Haileybury Astana for $23 million.[40] The company wrote off this investment and in 2016 transferred it to Utemuratov's charity for free. The school was opened by President Nazarbayev.

The Times quoted a spokeswoman for Utemuratov saying he: "is neither a middleman, nor proxy for President Nazarbayev" and that he had not profited from his relationship with the President.[40]

In 2013, Glencore gave a loan to Astana Property Management (APM), a company owned by Bulat Utemuratov via Verny Capital. The loan was to finance APM's construction of the Talan Towers hotel and apartment complex in Astana, Kazakhstan. Glencore loaned a total of $237 million to the project but the miner was forced to write off $96.5 million in 2018 after reported poor performance.[41]

• Kurmet Order (2002)[42]
• The First President's Order (2009)
• Honorary citizen of Kyzylorda Region[43]
• Second Class Dostyk Order (2014)
• The Philantropist of the Year, Altyn Zhurek Award (2018)
• Zhomart Zhurek Award (2018) for opening Asyl Miras autism-center in Uralsk and a joint project with the Red Crescent Society to support the population of East Kazakshstan Oblast affected by floods[44].

In 2016, Bulat Utemuratov was chosen as one of the nominees in the "Business" category of the national project «El Tulgasy» (Leader of the Motherland) The idea of the project was to select the most significant citizens of Kazakhstan whose names are now associated with the achievements of the country. More than 350,000 people voted in this project, and Utemuratov was voted into 7th place in his category.[45]

Wife- Utemuratova (Baishuakova) Azhar Abzhamiyevna.

Children: sons Alidar Utemuratov (born in 1979) and Anuar Utemuratov (born in 1983), daughter Dinara (born in 2003).[46]

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