From the national welfare fund to private coffers: how ATFBank turned into Samruk-Kazyna’s financial lifeline under Akhmetzhan Yessimov

• 24.12.2025 10:23

Samruk-Kazyna, with ATFBank playing a central role, funneled billions out of Kazakhstan. While the current authorities officially acknowledge these abuses, law enforcement—including the Anti-Corruption Agency—has been slow to act against Galimzhan Yessenov and his father-in-law, Akhmetzhan Yesimov

At the same time, President Tokayev intends, sooner or later, to recover the billions of stolen dollars, euros, tenge, and rubles from the corrupt Akhmetzhan Yesimov and his front man, Galimzhan Yessenov.

The investigation has already clearly overcome the "psychological barrier" of prosecuting direct relatives of the Leader of the Nation, as Kairat Satybaldy and Kairat Boranbayev are currently detained. The arrest of Akhmetzhan Yessimov and his accomplice—a relative and former "owner" of ATFBank, Galimzhan Yessenov—would seem to be a done deal, if it weren’t for their absence from the country.

Tokayev has instructed the investigation to prepare comprehensive evidence of Akhmetzhan Yessimov’s and Galimzhan Yessenov’s guilt in corruption, embezzlement of state property, fraud using official positions, and legalization of income obtained through criminal means. All of these documents must be submitted to Western prosecutors to initiate the process of imposing sanctions, seizing assets, and/or extraditing suspects to Kazakhstan.

As we remember, the Samruk-Kazyna fund was created as a result of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s trip to Singapore. There he picked up the idea of uniting monopolies into a single structure. With the appropriate solemnity and experts’ praises about the wisdom of the ruler, the experience of the island, which could be covered with a copper basin, was transferred to feudal-capitalist Kazakhstan.

The result was a complete failure. But the Leader of the Nation is not a fool: thanks to this scheme, all the huge super-profits of the monopolies ended up being concentrated under his undivided power. That’s why Samruk-Kazyna was initially headed by Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, and then his nephew. Now is the time not to fix this sick creation, but to twist its neck, acknowledging it as a foolish and ineffective nest of corruption named after Akhmetzhan Yessimov, whose spirit cannot be extinguished even with a hydrogen bomb.

Through Samruk-Kazyna, the most desperate operations for looting the country were carried out. The huge size of the "enterprise" allowed for reducing profitability through internal tenders and expenses. If under Kulibayev, the main way to deceive Kazakhstan was "self-service" in the form of buying one’s own enterprises at inflated prices, then under Akhmetzhan Yessimov, the scheme of constant theft—via horizontal and vertical connections—became popular.

How Galimzhan Yessenov’s ATFBank siphoned money from the NWF

An additional and significant systemic means of theft became ATFBank, whose actual owner was Akhmetzhan Yessimov. His son-in-law, Galimzhan Yessenov, did not have the means for its "purchase," which is well known. ATF Bank, a real center of a web of thieves, was bought from the Italian UniCredit using money that Akhmetzhan Yessimov had stolen earlier.

ATF Bank was a bank that the Leader of the Nation established specifically for the unhindered transfer of money outside Kazakhstan, the creation of self-serving loans, non-refundable losses, and more. Initially, it was led by the closest accomplice to Nazarbayev—Bulat Utemuratov. Through ATFBank, funds received from selling raw materials abroad were dissipated without a trace on grounds written on a whim: for services, for loans, for good behavior. This was written about in his deathbed revelations by the fugitive Rakhmet Mukhtarovich Aliyev.

As we know, ATF Bank, once important not only for corrupt officials but also for ordinary retail customers, ceased to exist the day after Akhmetzhan Yessimov was dismissed from Samruk-Kazyna. This was preceded by certain interesting events.

The dismissal of Akhmetzhan Yessimov and the schemes of ATFBank

Akhmetzhan Yessimov and Galimzhan Yessenov began particularly intensively stuffing their pockets in the last six months of their reign. The scam involving the turnover of Samruk-Kazyna’s funds through the family bank spilled out to the public and even by the cynical standards of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s power, it was too blatant. Several additional stories of ridiculous Samruk-Kazyna expenses and constant scandals with sports teams only added to this picture.

The NWF Samruk-Kazyna, considered owned by the government, allocated as "profit" negligible crumbs. Things reached an open embarrassment: Akhmetzhan Yessimov blatantly told Tokayev off in response to the demand to pay dividends in full. It is clear that while Nursultan Nazarbayev, through his relatives, controls the NWF—nothing will change. The closer the end of the "Nazarbayevites" was, the more their appetites grew.

The crisis and the fate of Akhmetzhan Yessimov and his pocket pound Galimzhan Yessenov

The pandemic brought about additional expenses and sharply decreased revenues. Tokayev requested full account of income from the NWF Samruk-Kazyna. It became evident that Yessimov had to be "beaten out" of the NWF, like dust from a carpet. Ultimately, this was achieved with his replacement by a compromise, but figure close to the clan. After the January events, there are no grounds for compromises.

Akhmetzhan Yessimov and his relatives themselves are abroad, where they have already prepared hundreds of offshore caches. They are unattainable for Kazakhstan. Even in the process of liquidation, Akhmetzhan Yessimov and Galimzhan Yessenov managed to steal three hundred billion tenge in the form of writing off bad loans in ATF Bank.

The NWF Samruk-Kazyna of Yessimov and the new authorities: should the shop be closed?

One should not equate Singapore and Kazakhstan. The model is unacceptable and has the sole purpose in our reality—corruption. The quasi-state sector should be completely destroyed, and state and private organizations should be clearly separated. In a normal country, there is no place for Samruk-Kazyna or other quasi-state monsters, like Atameken.

Will the president take this step? If the path of proclaimed reforms is followed, he should. If the plan is to replace one Leader of the Nation with two, then of course, Samruk-Kazyna could be left in its current form, putting a reliable person at the helm.

Author: Maria Sharapova