The Company for Management of Returned Assets (KUVA) has again put up for auction a stake in Tulpar LLP, which produces and supplies thermal energy in Almaty. This utility company was previously owned by the daughter of former QazaqGaz head Kairat Sharipbayev, whom Kazakh media link to Dariga Nazarbayeva. The auction, scheduled for July 22, did not take place due to a lack of buyers, reports Orda.kz.
According to an appraiser's report, the market value of Tulpar LLP as of December 31, 2023, was 991.5 million tenge. The company was offered for sale at that price. Its authorized capital is only 600,000 tenge. The documents also include licenses, environmental permits, tariff estimates, and financial statements for 2021–2023.
The company's financial position appears stable: at the valuation date, revenues were 159.5 million tenge, expenses 106.1 million tenge, net profit about 53.4 million tenge. Assets grew to 318.3 million tenge, of which 126.1 million are short-term and 192.3 million long-term. Equity increased from 201.7 million to 276.5 million tenge. Liabilities amount to 41.2 million tenge, all short-term. Return on assets is 16.76%, return on equity 19.3%, slightly below the previous year's figures (19.96% and 22.29% respectively), but the decline is due to rapid growth in assets and equity, not a drop in profit.
The company has a storied history. Since its registration in 1999, Tulpar LLP was a driving school. In 2019, its profile changed sharply to thermal energy production from independent boiler houses. The founder became Medet Shabekov. In 2022, the sole founder became Bekem Partners LLP, and in 2024 the company transferred to KUVA, with Shabekov remaining as director. Bekem Partners LLP has since been liquidated, but its founders were Asia w partnership LLP and Stroy system engineering LLP. Both firms are still active and owned by Korlan Sharipbayeva, daughter of Kairat Sharipbayev. Previously, these organizations were owned by Sharipbayev himself.
Kairat Sharipbayev served as head of the national gas company KazTransGas (later renamed QazaqGaz) from November 2020 until January 2022, when his powers were terminated at his own request. Earlier, journalists uncovered a scheme by which he siphoned money from the national company. Prior to the January 2022 events, he controlled the entire gas industry in Kazakhstan. After his departure, the structure continued to pay hundreds of millions of tenge to companies affiliated with him. Court rulings in favor of firms linked to Sharipbayev have been found: those LLPs had previously won tenders illegally and are now collecting multimillion-tenge sums from QazaqGaz subsidiaries through the courts. At the same time, Kazakh media often refer to Sharipbayev as Dariga Nazarbayeva's husband, although there is no official public confirmation of this marriage.