Astana, 5 November, . Nurlan Zhakupov, chairman of the management board of Samruk-Kazyna, demanded that the heads of portfolio companies not allow construction deadlines to slip and warned that every chief executive is personally responsible for bringing facilities into operation, the fund’s press service said.
The head of the fund gave the instructions at a working meeting attended by the leadership of the fund’s companies. They separately reviewed the construction of power facilities in Turkestan, Kyzylorda, Almaty and Ekibastuz and the gas processing plant projects; Zhakupov ordered tighter control over construction, prompt removal of obstacles and no postponement of approved deadlines. In his words: “Missing the deadlines of strategic investment projects is unacceptable. Every chief executive bears personal responsibility for fulfilling commitments and bringing facilities into operation on time. A formal approach and a lack of proper control will entail appropriate management decisions.” The fund’s board of directors currently oversees 69 large investment projects worth 43.8 trillion tenge in total.
This is the second conversation about deadlines in two days. The day before, the board of directors chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov discussed the nine-month results: the fund’s revenue grew by 13% and net profit by 19%, construction is under way on 44 projects, and the Prime Minister criticised the leadership for delays. Earlier, on 28 October, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his Address: “Right now the commissioning of generating capacity in Turkestan, Kyzylorda, Almaty and Ekibastuz is being disrupted.” On the same day Kairat Maksutov, chairman of the management board of Samruk-Energo, was dismissed, and on 30 October Ansar Aidarov succeeded him: Zhakupov then demanded that Samruk-Energo strictly observe the deadlines of key projects and commission power plants on time.
What it means: The fund has now addressed the deadline demand to all portfolio companies, not just Samruk-Energo, and named the consequence: “management decisions” for chief executives. There is already a precedent: the head of Samruk-Energo was replaced on the day of the Address.
Who benefits: If the capacity comes online on time, electricity consumers gain. The Ministry of Energy promised back in January to cover the economy’s demand by the end of the first quarter of 2027, and the President said in the Address: “the volume of electricity produced is catastrophically insufficient.” The fund did not say which projects are behind schedule or by how much.
Background: Samruk-Kazyna is a sovereign wealth fund, a holding of the largest national companies; the companies it owns are called portfolio companies. A “chief executive” is the head of the company itself, not his deputies, so the formula of responsibility of “every chief executive” applies to company heads.
We have also reported on how Bektenov criticised Samruk-Kazyna for missing investment project deadlines.
