Octopus KazMunayGaz. The general director of Rompetrol accused of hiring his friends in management positions

Kazakh activist Alina Smakovaia stated, for Gândul, that she conducted an investigation and discovered that the general director of Rompetrol, Ilias Kuldzhanov, who also holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KMG International, employed his relatives in positions management at Rompetrol KMG.

According to the activist, people from Ilias Kuldzhanov’s entourage, namely his colleagues from the Kazakh-Turkish high school in the city of Kostanai in Kazakhstan, were appointed to management positions at Rompetrol Romania, as well as at KMG branches in Bulgaria, Moldova and Georgia.

The young woman said that she asked the Kazakh authorities to open a criminal case against Ilias Kuldzhanov for abuse of office and many other irregularities.

"Octopus" KMG, revealed by Alina Smakovaia

Iskakov Serik – classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov. In September 2022, he was appointed Commercial Manager at Rompetrol Georgia, and a few months later, at the behest of Ilias Kuldzhanov, he was appointed Retail Director of the chain, increasing his salary several times - approximately 7,000 US dollars, although this position was filled by a person with extensive experience in this field and his salary was twice less. A few months later, in mid-November, Serik Iskakov was appointed General Manager of Rompetrol Bulgaria .

Iskakov Batarkhan – younger brother of Iskakov Serik, classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov. He was appointed to the position of Financial Accounting Rompetrol Moldova .

Iskakov Azarhan –  the older brother of Iskakov Serik, appointed Manager in the Technical Safety Department at Rompetrol Romania.

Zholbarys Kuanysh – classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov, appointed General Manager at Rompetrol Georgia . According to the activist, before being appointed at Rompetrol, Kuanysh worked in a betting company and does not possess the necessary experience for such a position.

Rakhmetov Bulat – friend and classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov, appointed General Manager at Rompetrol Moldova .

Rakhmetov Serik– the brother of Bulat Rakhmetov, classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov, appointed Manager of Rompetrol Romania.

Renat Sharipov - a classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov, received the position of manager-supervisor of Rompetrol Georgia in June 2023, and in October 2023 he was appointed Deputy Advisor to the Director of the Petromidia Industrial Complex in Romania .

Bissembaev Ermeek – classmate of Ilias Kuldzhanov, appointed to the headquarters of Rompetrol Romania .

Nurgaliev Balzhan – compatriot, brother of Ilias Kuldzhanov’s classmate, appointed as Interim Operations Director of the Rompetrol KMG International Group .

Bayturin Beybutt – classmate and friend of Ilias Kuldzhanov from the city of Kostanai, appointed Logistics Manager for Rompetrol Georgia.

KMG Rompetrol would risk bankruptcy

Smakovaia warned that the respective appointments raise suspicions and, through such management, KMG Rompetrol risks bankruptcy.

Currently, the company’s subsidiaries are suffering huge losses. In Georgia, electric charging stations are closing. In Romania, the company is behind schedule with repair works, recording losses. In addition, the newly appointed director of Rompetrol Georgia, Kuanysh Zholbarys, and his friend, logistics manager Baiturin Beibut, in two months have seriously damaged the company because they do not have the skills to manage it. And Rompetrol branches in Bulgaria and Moldova were also damaged. It is necessary to carry out an investigation into these facts, noted Smakovaia. 

According to the activist, after his appointment as General Director of Rompetrol Georgia, Kuanysh Zholbarys appointed Shokotaev Sanjar as Director of Retail Networks. At the time of the dismissal of the logistics manager, Kostina Zhegolnian, Shokotaev Sanjar allegedly entered into a conflict with her at work and exerted pressure on her.

Incidentally, the former director of Rompetrom Georgia, Tlek Mauleshev, is supported by Boljan Nemanov, a relative from his wife’s side, who is also a close person to Kudzhanov Ilias. Tlek Mauleshev dismissed from the company all inconvenient and experienced employees, and his close employees are Elena Labjehadze, head of human resources, and Musas Mail, technical director, Ivan Djimzakov, deputy for retail of the network, and Karlov Kavaradze, director of sales of petroleum products. The General Director of Rompetrom Bulgaria, Sereg Iskakov, is Kudzhanov’s intermediary for the sale of oil products to Ukraine through the company of the former supreme leader of the administration of the President of Kazakhstan, Aslan Musin, Smakovaia also says.

In conclusion, Alina Smakovaia requested that a criminal case be opened for abuse of office in the name of Ilias Kuldzhanov.

The activist reported that she recorded the video "in the hope of a new Kazakhstan".

Thought will return with even more interesting details about the work of Ilias Kuldzhanov, the grandson of the President of Kazakhstan and the executive director of KazMunayGas International.

"Kazakhstan-Russia brotherhood" transcends the dismemberment of the USSR

After Gândul  revealed, exclusively, that the owners of Rompetrol - the Kazakhs from KazMunayGas - intend to buy Lukoil’s assets in Romania, which would turn them into a dominant player on the domestic market, even reaching the stage where they dictate "market price", another information-bomb appeared in this context.

• The phrase "Russia-Kazakhstan brotherhood" is not without coverage, and the Kazakh company GazMunayGas could play an essential role in avoiding the embargo imposed by the European Union.
• The takeover - even "apparent" - of the Lukoil company represented, in the current geopolitical and economic context, a blow of proportions and a victory for Putin’s Russia, in the last resort.
• The Kazakh company KazMunayGas could turn into a screen for the maneuvers by which Moscow tries to "sneak through" the embargo imposed by the EU.

A former member state of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan - a country with an area larger than Western Europe and with incredible natural resources in terms of uranium, oil, natural gas, coal, copper, zinc, manganese, iron, gold - has declared independence on December 16, 1991, being the last of the Soviet Republics to declare independence.

But the "umbilical cord" was not cut , and the relations with the Russian Federation were and are at an excellent level, not only in terms of the economy, but also through the politics carried out in the capital of Kazakhstan by President Tokayev.

Moreover, on 14.11.1991, the Union of Sovereign Confederate States (USS) came into being - formed by ex-Soviet states that wanted to preserve Russian influence and protection:

• Russia
• KAZAKHSTAN
• KYRGYZSTAN
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Belarus

The Kazakhs can now play on the oil card and - through the company KazMunayGas - could constitute a major support for Russia, despite the sanctions imposed by the European Union.