The Jusan Bank was returned by the government to its owners thanks to an international agreement in a dispute that began in 2019. It would be related to the cleaning that Tokaev has undertaken of the ramifications of the power of the Nazarbaev family. But also with the redefinition of the spheres of influence over Kazakhstan with the progressive withdrawal of Russia.
Astana () – The financial scandal over control of Jusan Bank, one of the most important in the country – which absorbed Tsesna Bank, one of the first banks of the post-Soviet era – seems to be coming to an end. The Jusan is linked to the international group formed by Abn Amro and Rbs, and supports many educational institutions, including Nazarbayev University. The Astana government had taken control of the bank, which has now been returned to its owners under an international agreement described as “a final word in the great revenue-sharing dispute of the post-Nazarbayev era.” Behind this rhetoric lurk the shadows of the financial centers of Europe and the United States, under the highly interested gaze of China.
The agreement with the Jusan Group gives full control of the bank to minority shareholder Galimzhan Esenov, as confirmed by the agency Bloomberg. A 41-year-old businessman from Almaty, a figure of mediation between many interests, Esenov is also known as a promoter of the scientific-educational foundation named after his father, academician Shakhmardan Esenov – a great geologist and politician of recent Kazakhstan history. – but also as an organizer of sports competitions such as the Almaty marathon, and sponsor of various humanitarian initiatives such as Dom Mamy to help single mothers. The Jusan shares were sold to Esenov by the British company Jusan Technologies, linked to Nazarbaev’s funds.
The dispute had started in 2019, after the resignation of the first “eternal president”, and the spirit of “constructive regulation” of the related conflicts is the guideline of the successor Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev, in an attempt to de-Nazarbaevizar Kazakhstan without too many traumas and without inflicting unnecessary humiliation on the former Elbasy, the “Father of the Nation”. On the other hand, despite the numerous operations to clean up and eradicate the power branches of the Nazarbaev family, the former president can undoubtedly count on many other undeclared funds, inside and outside the country.
The president also recently signed a decree for the restitution of profits illegally transferred abroad, and the Jusan agreement lends some credibility to this operation. The situation had come to a head last February, when the Almaty prosecutor’s office denounced as irregular the deal between Pioneer Capital Invest and Jusan Technologies, which allegedly transferred very large sums to out-of-control foreign jurisdictions. The British company, together with the American shareholder Jysan Holding, had sued the Kazakh government in the federal district of Nevada, accusing Astana of “carrying out an intimidation campaign with the aim of gaining control of the Kazakh profits of the company, greater than one thousand five hundred million dollars”.
On June 13, the Ministry of Justice of Astana decreed that the Jusan group “is returned to the jurisdiction of Kazakhstan”, without specifying on the basis of which agreements and referring to confidential documents. Esenov, in turn, had sued Jusan, asking for compensation for his shares and dividends. After intense negotiations, the agreement establishes a new calculation of the shares in favor of Esenov, who also owns the Atf bank, now merged with Jusan. In addition to control of the bank, Esenov is also given a 9% stake in the Kazakhtelekom company and a 15% stake in the mobile operator Kcell.
According to Bloomberg, Esenov would have agreed to finance Nazarbayev University and other educational institutions related to the figure of the former president, with the support of the New Generation Foundation of Nevada. The fight over Jusan is just one example of the redefinition of spheres of influence in Kazakhstan and throughout Central Asia, following the progressive withdrawal of Russia from its areas of control, too busy with the war in Ukraine. The money that the Kazakh government manages to find and block is only part of a maelstrom of financing at various levels, and educational and welfare institutions are often the instruments of social, political and economic settlement in the vast territory of Central Asia. .
