The Kazakh business of international mining company Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is being discussed as a possible target for nationalization, with the head of Kazakhstan’s presidential executive office being considered as CEO. Businessman Shakhmurat Mutalip, who only recently entered the ranks of Kazakhstan’s 25 richest people, has spent six months negotiating to buy a stake in ERG worth nearly $1.5 billion. He has ties to Russia’s banking sector, but the source of his fortune remains unclear.
“Semi-nationalization”
This week, Nature Energy Solutions Ltd., a company owned by Kazakh businessman Shakhmurat Mutalip, issued $1.2 billion in bonds. The bonds have a six-month maturity, and trading is set to begin May 20.
As The Insider reported this past January, Mutalip planned to spend roughly the same amount, $1.4 billion, to buy the controlling 40% stake in Eurasian Resources Group, an international company engaged in mining and processing minerals. The current holders of the controlling stake, Patokh Chodiev and the family of the late Alexander Mashkevich, have reportedly received a $200 million advance payment from Mutalip.In theory, proceeds from the bond sale could cover the remaining $1.2 billion. The source of the amount already paid is unknown.
In early May, the Financial Times reported that ERG’s Kazakh entities were headed for de facto partial nationalization after Roman Sklyar, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister at the time, joined the company’s board in March. On May 5, Sklyar was appointed head of the Presidential Executive Office. The FT, citing company sources, reported that Sklyar could also be installed as ERG’s CEO; whether he has taken the post remains unclear.
With Kazakhstan’s government already owning 40% of ERG, the outlet described the state’s effort to take control of the company as “semi-nationalization.”
Kazakhstan’s Presidential Executive Office also has ties to Mutalip’s company that issued the bonds. According to the public register on the Astana International Financial Centre website, two new people joined the board of Nature Energy Solutions Ltd. on May 12. One of them, Baurzhan Bishenov, shares a name with the deputy head of the regional development monitoring department of the Presidential Executive Office, who assumed office in April 2025. It is unclear whether he still holds it, as the department’s page on the Kazakh president’s website is empty.
International struggle
Switzerland-based Glencore, one of the world’s largest suppliers of minerals, nonferrous metals, and energy resources, was initially expected to support Mutalip’s purchase of the ERG stake.
In March 2026, Glencore offered an $800 million prepayment for future supplies of ferrochrome, an alloy used to make stainless steel. The payment could, in theory, have helped finance Mutalip’s bid. The Financial Times noted that Glencore had long worked with ERG and had previously tried to acquire it in 2011.
The Insider asked Glencore about its role in Mutalip’s planned purchase of the ERG stake. The company initially asked for a week to provide an official response, but did not reply. Two weeks later, The Insider learned that Glencore had pulled out of the deal.
A source familiar with the matter said Glencore may have withdrawn because of reputational risks.
Glencore has another investment project in Kazakhstan: Kazzinc, a major producer of zinc, lead, copper, and precious metals. In September 2025, Glencore considered selling its 70% stake in Kazzinc, but then abruptly reversed course, saying it considered the company a “strategic asset.” Less than three weeks passed between the two developments, according to documents reviewed by The Insider.
By late November, however, it emerged that talks on the sale of Glencore’s statke in Kazzinc were still underway, but with a new buyer in play — Shakhmurat Mutalip. The deal was valued at $3.5 billion.
Shopping for assets and the Russian trail
As Kazakh investigative journalists have repeatedly noted, the origin of Mutalip’s money is murky. Mutalip began his career in construction, and at the time when his nearly $1.5 billion offer for an ERG stake became known at the start of the year, he was not listed among Kazakhstan’s ultrawealthy.
The 35-year-old businessman entered the local Forbes ranking of Kazakhstan’s 75 richest people only in May – the list’s youngest member and a new entrant, ranking 22nd.
As Mutalip is weighing purchases of Kazzinc and ERG, his construction company, Integra Construction KZ, is carrying out major projects, including railways, power plants, buildings, and water supply networks. RFE/RL’s Central Asia unit, Azattyq Asia, has cited support from “the authorities” as key to the businessman’s entrepreneurial success, but stopped short of naming specific officials.
Interest from Kazakhstan’s Presidential Executive Office in Mutalip’s prospective deal is also confirmed by the presence ofits chief on ERG’s board. A source familiar with the negotiation process told The Insider that at least “passive support” from the state body is “obvious.”
In March, after Mutalip’s plans to acquire Kazzinc and ERG became public, his Central Asia Resources Holding Ltd. purchased the gold mining company Altynalmas. Mutalip also bought the Ordabasy football club.
There is also a Russian connection in Mutalip’s biography. Sources have told The Insider that he has close ties to Russian bankers, is personally acquainted with VTB President Andrey Kostin, and was “introduced” to Russian banks by the oligarch Alisher Usmanov. More details on Mutalip’s ties to Russia are available here.
