Samruk-Kazyna JSC (“the Fund”) has conducted early investor meetings as part of its Investor Day at London Stock Exchange. Members of Samruk-Kazyna's senior management spoke about the Fund's development strategy, its privatisation programme and the investment climate in Kazakhstan as a whole. Robert Barnes, CEO, Turquoise and Head of Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange and Greg Hands, UK Minister of State for International Trade, welcomed the participants.

Robert Barnes, CEO, Turquoise and Head of Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group, commented: 

“Samruk Kazyna’s privatisation programme heralds an exciting new chapter for Kazakhstan. We are delighted to welcome so many leading Kazakh figures and Greg Hands, UK Minister of State for International Trade, to London Stock Exchange today. 

“As a market open to the world, with 15 Kazakh companies and the first index-linked Eurobond in Kazakh tenge from EBRD listed on our markets, London Stock Exchange is a strong partner to Kazakhstan and we look forward to providing a deep additional channel of funding for the economic development of the country.”

Erlan Idrissov, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom, and Timur Sulemeinov, the Minister of the National Economy of Kazakhstan, also took part in the event.



Timur Suleimenov, Minister of the National Economy of Kazakhstan, remarked: 

“The privatisation programme announced by the President of Kazakhstan aims to reduce the presence of the state in the economy to 15% by 2021, which would meet the standards of OECD countries. To reach this goal, 782 state assets have been designated for privatisation, including more than 200 belonging to Samruk-Kazyna, Baiterek and Kazagro.  The Government has set quite an ambitious timeline for the delivery of the privatisation, which should be successfully completed by 2020.  Our objective is not simply to sell the assets, but rather to prepare them in order to benefit the state as well as investors.”

Samruk-Kazyna’s senior management team spoke about the Fund's key role in stabilising and sustaining the country's economic growth. They also emphasised that the Fund offers development and growth opportunities for new markets and local companies. They explained that the Fund is seeking strategic partners and is also striving to build its portfolio companies into "champions". The Fund is guided by the best practices in portfolio management, with the aim of ensuring the maximum result for the Fund and the shareholder.

Umirzak Shukeyev, CEO of the Fund, commented: 

"We have made a major breakthrough in the field of corporate governance. We have adopted a new policy, whose key principles include non-interference in portfolio companies' operational performance, acting as a strategic investor and including independent directors on the boards of our portfolio companies. The development of the Fund and our portfolio companies is taking place against the backdrop of significant changes in Kazakhstan. Our country is actively working to decrease the presence of the state and increase the role of the private sector."



Berik Beisengaliyev, Managing Director for Asset Optimisation of Samruk-Kazyna, noted in his speech that privatisation will increase the competitiveness and effectiveness of the Fund's companies: 

“We intend to attract investors to each of our assets, and we plan to use the funds raised to develop new projects and industries. Our efforts to increase transparency and strengthen corporate governance standards will be boosted by the companies' IPOs. In addition, partnerships with strategic investors will give enterprises access to deep technical expertise. Our approach to the sale of the 45 largest assets is meticulous; we are undertaking deep analysis and careful preparation for the privatisation of each of the companies. We believe that public offerings are the most appropriate privatisation method for the largest assets, as access to public capital markets will allow our companies' share prices to be set more transparently. We are considering listing six of our nine largest assets, depending on the state of the markets: Air Astana, Kazatomprom, Samruk-Energy, KazMunayGas, Kazpost and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. We plan to attract strategic investors to three companies: Kazakhtelecom, Tau-Ken Samruk and Qazaq Air.”



Baljeet Kaur Grewal, Managing Director for Strategy and Portfolio Investments of Samruk-Kazyna, spoke about the Fund's three strategic objectives: 

“Our strategic objectives comprise an increase in the long-term value of our portfolio companies, participation in the modernisation of the national economy and boosting our social responsibility initiatives. All of the Fund's activities are geared towards this strategic mission. Our business was fundamentally remodelled over the course of a year. Today, the Fund is implementing transformation and privatisation programmes as part of its strategic initiatives.” 

During the Investor Day, Peter Foster, President of Air Astana JSC, and Meirzhan Yussupov, Financial Director of Kazatomprom JSC, presented their companies. In addition, the Fund's management participated in a number of meetings with potential investors and partners.

On the same day, Samruk-Kazyna, with the assistance of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK and the Kazakh-British Business Council, organised a reception for potential partners to discuss cooperation opportunities with portfolio companies, such as Samruk-Energy JSC, Tau-Ken Samruk JSC and United Chemical Company JSC.