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“ The most important condition for the well-being of citizens is a stable job and a stable income. Work – that feeds me and my family. This is the most important measurable criterion for the work of the President and the Government, and akims of all levels. ” This is a programmatic quote from the chairman of the Adal party, Serik Sultangaliyev, posted on the home page of the party website.
In the last parliamentary elections, Adal, a party that positions itself as center-right with support for the middle class and business, gained just over 3.5%. Perhaps because its leader did not himself work in the private sector, preferring the civil service or the work of a hired top manager in quasi-state structures. In less than 40 years, Sultangaliev has gone from the architect of the Soviet Kazgorstroyproekt Institute to the chairman of the board of directors of the gas monopoly KazTransGas, a subsidiary of the state-owned company KazMunayGas.
In 2014-2015, Sultangaliev was already clearly preparing for retirement: he took the post of chairman of the board of Kaztransgaz, launched his political project. In those same years, his wife became a co-owner of a British firm set up to buy real estate. A luxurious apartment was purchased at the same time.
The Knightsbridge Apartments are located in London’s Knightsbridge area . This is the very center of London, very close to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. We have already talked about him : the apartment of Kairat’s son Mami is located nearby.
The 11-storey complex for 200 luxury apartments was completed in 2006. The residents are provided with underground parking, a fitness center and a swimming pool. The apartment on the eighth floor is formally owned by Almerek Limited, registered in December 2014.
Almerek Limited has three co-owners: Zamira Imanbekova, wife of Serik Sultangaliev, their daughter Aigerim Sultangalieva and, apparently, her husband Abai Zhanabaev. This 43-year-old man is hardly mentioned in open sources: in 2008 he was introduced as “the commercial director of the Trade House Kazmunaigaz UK Ltd”. There is no such person in the official documents of the company on the website of British companies.
Zamira Imanbekova is not only the wife of Serik Sultangaliev, but also the sister of the wife of Murat Kudyshev, the former deputy chairman of the board of the state Development Bank of Kazakhstan.
The Sultangaliev family bought the apartment in March 2015. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but the company has a property on its balance sheet for £ 5.2 million. Now this apartment is more expensive, in five years prices have increased by about 20% – that is, it is fair to assume that now at least £ 6 million can be obtained for it. This is 10 times more than the Adal party spent on its election campaign in the majilis elections this year.
Right now, in The Knightsbridge Apartments, a 170 m² apartment is being sold for the same amount on the “garden” floor, that is, on the first one with access to the courtyard: two bedrooms, a large common room, a kitchen and two bathrooms.
