In the heart of southern Kazakhstan, in the city of Shymkent, a story has unfolded that exposes deep-rooted corruption and connections between criminal structures and state institutions. The story concerns Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly (formerly known as Bolatbek Aliyev), a former employee of the National Security Committee who, despite a previous conviction, became a member of the Majilis. This is the reality of Old Kazakhstan, where obvious criminals can easily become members of parliament.

A conviction that "wasn’t there"

It is noteworthy that the deputy previously had a different surname - Aliyev, for which a cursory search yields a lot of interesting information. Thus, by the verdict of the Saryagash district court of May 8, 2001, he was sentenced under Article 308, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan to 2 years of imprisonment, under Article 324, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan to 1 year of imprisonment, and finally to 3 years of imprisonment on the basis of Article 58, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Then some ambiguities begin, primarily related to the electoral system of the southern regions of the country, as well as the tribal and informal connections of the convicted person himself. In this regard, not only was the conviction expunged, but the final decision of the Supreme Court (!) was also annulled by the local district court, and our Bolatbek became pure innocent. However, despite this, Nazhmetdinuly’s official biography contains no information about his criminal record, and the state databases of the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs do not contain any mention of this fact. This allowed him to run for and be elected to the Majilis, which caused public outrage and questions about the transparency of the electoral system.

Let’s run through the career of our people’s representative. And it is rich in various titles and positions. Here is work in customs, work for the now arrested Ablai Myrzakhmetov in Dala-trans , and of course work in the Shymkent akimat under Umirzak Shukeyev , where our main character even rose to the rank of deputy akim. Now he is a deputy of the Majilis. Do not be surprised, as we said earlier, this is not just a civil servant, but close to the "southern clan" of the decision-maker - a kind of Gray Cardinal. And so that there were no unnecessary questions, he simply changed his last name from Aliyev to Nazhimetdinuly . These are all things of the past, namely the early 2000s, but in 2013, clouds were gathering over Aliyev-Nazhimetdinuly . Then his immediate subordinate, the head of the regional department of passenger transport and highways of the South Kazakhstan region, a certain Abilseit Rabaev , was arrested for corruption . 

If we analyze all the state purchases carried out at that time in the region where the Gray Cardinal worked, then with the naked eye we can see that almost all the main volumes of state funds were received by the same firms that are closely connected with Aliyev (Nazhmetdinuly), i.e. his firms (TOO "Aizhamal" now renamed as TOO "StroiBusinessHolding", TOO "GH Shymkentgaz", TOO "ShymkentgazDS", etc. some of them have already been renamed or transformed into others). 

During his supervision of the construction department in 2009-2011, projects for educational and healthcare facilities that had undergone an examination were illegally optimized (in terms of financing), where the volumes of construction and installation work and equipment were cut, as a result of which unfinished and accepted schools, kindergartens and hospitals are still functioning.

Thus, B. Aliyev (Nazhmetdinuly) achieves positive results in the following state purchases in favor of his companies. This can be verified by looking at the information on personnel transfers, it is clear how many managers and officials responsible for state purchases were dismissed or at least received penalties during his period of being in the position of deputy akim of the region.

Everywhere we end up with a vicious circle, the squandering of budget funds according to a very simple scheme:

1) The organizers of tenders, Aliyev’s (Nazhmetdinuly) protégés (Rabayev A., Dauylbayev E., formerly Ormanchina A., etc.) – fully assist in giving preference to Aliyev’s (Nazhmetdinuly) firms and the companies of his close associates;

2) Design and estimate documentation for projects of interest to him are drawn up practically under his dictation, i.e. at inflated prices;

3) After the budget is approved, tenders are held, again by his protégés (Rabaev A., Dauylbaev E., in the past there was Ormanchina A., etc.) who simply cannot help but give preference to the companies that B. Aliyev (Nazhmetdinuly) indicates.

4) Subsequently, the construction is carried out by him or the companies that gave him kickbacks, which are protected by these same departments; they are not subject to exorbitant fines for delays and poor-quality construction, which were approved by them.

And then the Grey Cardinal managed to resolve everything, although he had to sit it out abroad for several months, you never know. Well, the apotheosis was the murky story in 2019, when the security forces again tried to impute corruption to Bolatbek Aliyev, but he also got away with it.

It is also noteworthy that, in agreement with the Library, Bolatbek Nazhimetdinuly allegedly erected a monument to Elbasy in Turkestan at his own expense in 2021. Then he was included in the so-called "Pool of loyal bloggers" who worked on the adoption of the Land Code. 

And from the most recent, in the Turkestan region and Shymkent there was a strong construction company - it built multi-storey buildings, owned large plots of land, paid tens of millions of tenge in taxes. However, now the company has gone bankrupt and cannot get its assets back. The name of the company is TOO "Feb Stroy", and all the company’s assets were transferred to the management of a certain Baktybay Kaliyev, he is also the general director of TOO "Argymak Trans". He is also a front man and ex-driver of the Majilis deputy, formerly the deputy akim of South Kazakhstan region Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly, who previously bore the surname Aliyev. 

( https://t.me/kozachkow/11372 )

Nazhmetdinuly continues to solve problems in his native land, squeezing and openly raiding, through front men and companies with the telling names of TOO "NazhBuilding" and TOO "NazhMobil". Having a strong administrative resource and connections with the criminal world, the deputy works in the style of the 90s, forgetting the current realities.

Connections with criminal structures

Nazhmetdinuly’s criminal connections extend beyond his criminal record. He is mentioned in Temirtas Tleulesov’s book “Shymkent Mafia,” which details the corruption schemes and gangster methods of the southern elite in the early 2000s. In addition, former chairman of the Atameken Chamber of Entrepreneurs Abylay Myrzakhmetov, who was arrested for fraud, allegedly cashed in multibillion-dollar loans and grants through companies linked to Nazhmetdinuly, as well as providing them with lucrative land plots and subsidies.

Internal investigations have shown that complex schemes for the withdrawal of budget funds were in operation within the Atameken structure. It is possible that these connections are part of a broader corruption system that includes former officials, businessmen and current deputies.

The most mysterious thing in Nazhmetdinuly’s story is the disappearance of all data on his criminal record from the official databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Independent activists who investigated his past claim that there is no information about his criminal case in public systems. Journalist Bakhytzhan Kozhakhmet and activist Nurken Ainabekov publicly raised the question: who cleared the deputy’s file and on what grounds?

Rumor has it that connections in the state apparatus and among the criminal world helped Nazhmetdinuly organize the arrest of the "Beer King" Tokhtar Tuleshov. At that time, no one really knew how they managed to flush out such a major figure in the region, many names were mentioned, this is the same Umirzak Shukeyev and his "companion" and student Ablai Myrzakhmetov. And only a few knowledgeable people whispered and named a certain Gray Cardinal - Nazhmetdinuly. 

Reaction of society and authorities

After activist Nurken Ainabekov published information about Nazhmetdinuly’s criminal record, the latter sued him for slander. However, the court sided with the activist, recognizing that the publication was based on facts. However, questions remain: How did a person with a criminal record become a member of parliament? Why was information about his past removed from state databases? These questions raise serious concerns about the transparency and accountability of state institutions.

Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly’s story is not just a case of individual corruption. It is a symptom of a deeper problem involving criminal infiltration of government structures and a lack of transparency in the system. 

For Kazakhstan, which is committed to reform and strengthening the rule of law, such cases undermine the trust of citizens and the international community. It is necessary to conduct a thorough investigation, restore transparency and ensure that such cases do not happen again.

Society has the right to know who makes laws and represents the people. The question of whether such deputies are admissible in parliament is not only a legal question, but also a moral one. And today it is more relevant than ever.

Here journalist Mikhail Kozachkov asks himself how a whole deputy managed to hide his criminal record? He even offered a bet - I will publish a link to an electronic portal where Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly has a criminal record, and he will give up his deputy mandate in return, but the respected Agashka, former deputy akim of the region, employee of the financial police and the National Security Committee, honorary citizen of the city of Turkestan, holder of the "Parasat" order, just disappeared? ( https://t.me/kozachkow/11382?single )