President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday called the detention of the heads of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund and national railway company “an extremely serious signal of large-scale corruption in state companies,” reported Tengrinews.kz.
Tokayev spoke at an operational meeting of the Security Council. On November 12, the Anti-Corruption Service of the National Security Committee (KNB) detained Nurlan Zhakupov, chairman of the management board of Samruk-Kazyna, and Yelzhas Otynshiyev, head of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), along with other suspects. Otynshiyev had headed the railway company for less than four months. The KNB has given no further details, citing the secrecy of the investigation.
The president said this was the first major corruption case in state companies since the principle of “Law and Order” was written into the new Constitution, which took effect on July 1. “Violating the Constitution, and even mocking this sacred document, is not permitted to anyone,” Tokayev said.
He also said corrupt groups would not be allowed to discredit the national “People’s Construction” programme. He announced a special State Commission to oversee how public money is spent on roads, airports, clinics, schools and sports facilities. Its members will be named early next week.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
November 13, 2026