The stirring up of the internal political process in Kazakhstan is happening not only on the streets and in the silence of the offices but in the information space as well. Apart from the anonymous Telegram-channels, the Kaznet has got some personal information resources such as Vedomosti Kazakhstana of Valeriy Surganov.

From the data presented on the website, it follows that, officially, it was «founded» on May 7, 2018, and, initially, was supposed to be called «Fermerskiye Vedomosti» («Agricultural News»). However, according to «the founder and ambassador», he «later decided not to confine himself to the subject of agriculture alone and widened its limits by encapsulating economy in an extended sense and culturology. This is how the general title of „Vedomosti Kazakhstana“ („Kazakhstan’s News“) saw the light of day, however, the section devoted to „the agricultural news“ turned out to be the most complete and comprehensive one…»

Basically, it is for this reason that we have got interested in this resource; for a significant share of its articles is devoted to such important (for Kazakhstan) subjects as agriculture and agroindustry. But not only that. Judging by the number of the publications covering, one way or another, the achievements of Umirzak Shukeyev, the Governor of the Turkestan region, in a positive light, the founder of the resource is his loyal fan.

We chose not to waste time and calculate the total number of such «favorable» publications, however, the fact that there are so many of them cannot be accidental. Those who wish to see for themselves that «Kazakhstan’s News» can quite easily be renamed into «Shukeyev’s News» may, for instance, look up the article called Shukeyev’s Legacy at the Ministry of Agriculture (text available in Russian) and confirm that the author has a very soft spot for this high-rank official. 

Shukeyev’s colleague, Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov, has recently become another hero of the publications in «Vedomosti Kazakhstana». Over the past couple of weeks, several articles have been written about him: From Exposing KazAgro to the Fight against Dishonest Large Landowners ,  Meat Oligarchs Issue an Ultimatum to the Government, Askar Mamin Sacrifices Black Angus,  The Ministry of Agriculture: Reloading for the Better (texts available in Russian).

There can be no complaints against Valeriy Surganov — as a citizen of Kazakhstan and an independent journalist, he has every right to support whomever he wishes in his publications. There are no complaints against the individual officials, either — in this case, against Governor of Turkestan region Umirzak Shukeyev and Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov: if they have become concerned about their public image and begun to improve it via using the non-state resources, it is only a positive for them and the country in general.

In our opinion, the main question lies elsewhere: why do they need to do this now? Omarov especially?

The thing is that, in the article «From Exposing KazAgro to the Fight against Dishonest Large Landowners», he is praised for his non-affiliation (quoting):

«…Appointed this year, Minister Saparkhan Omarov did not have his own team molding into a domineering clan that uses and „twists around“ its patron more that the latter does. Partly, this explains his successes in restoring the order in different fields of the agency’s agricultural policy: there is the absence of the „ballast“ and „tempestuous past“ that could push the Minister towards anything except working out the actual solutions for the problems of the industry».

In our opinion this isn’t true (putting it mildly). For Saparkhan Omarov is a man from the «team» of Abay Bisembayev, a statesman that, today, stands not simply close to the Frist President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Leader of the Nation but, one can say, is his closest ally. In both the political and literal sense since, always and everywhere, he is standing behind Nursultan Nazarbayev’s back.

Let us remind you that, for the duration of seven years (2012 — 2019), Abay Bisembayev had been occupying an important post of the Head of the Department of Presidential Affairs and, when Nursultan Nazarbayev handed over his chair and authorities to Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, he became the Aide of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan — the First Deputy Head of the Department of Presidential Affairs.

For this reason, Omarov’s and Bisembayev’s careers have overlapped so many times, especially in their beginning. And, in our opinion, the fact that the former first made it to the Parliament and then was appointed the Minister of Agriculture became possible only as a result of the lobbying on the part of the latter. With that, according to our insiders, this is not the only case within recent memory.

In other words, the country is undergoing the developments unnoticeable for the press and the public as part of which new people from the new elite groups come to power. One of such groups is headed by Abay Bisembayev who, for the time being, is trying to stay in the Leader of the Nation’s shadow but has already got as much influence as the First President’s son-in-law and daughter, Timur Kulibayev and Dariga Nazarbayeva.

Apart from that, Nursultan Nazarbayev trusts him to such an extent that does not hesitate to keep him closer than any other and lets him stand behind his back at that! Which, indirectly, confirms another piece of information provided by our insiders that, on the eve of Nazarbayev’s inevitable passing, a part of the foreign accounts and assets controlled by the country’s most important family is being reregistered in the name of Bisembayev and his people.

And that it is Bisembayev who will serve as one of the executors and guarantors of not only the political but the personal bequest of Nursultan Nazarbayev as well.