There is talk that Adilbek Dzhaksybekov wants to leave Nazarbayev Administration and become the Director of the Presidential Affairs Department. In his turn, Abay Bisembayev is being considered as one of the real candidates for the position of the Almaty governor. We are curious as to what power broker is lobbying his appointment?

The personnel reshuffles in Akorda usually happen as a result of the complex and multi-level inter-elite processes. They showcase the balance of the forces in Nazarbayev’s closest circle at a given moment as well as reflect his wants and needs.

The exceptions are rare and are usually caused by some extreme circumstances. For this reason, it is very difficult to predict who will be moved, raised, or eliminated by Nazarbayev since only a handful of people in the country possess the accurate information as to what is going on inside the belly of the state power. As a result, the civic society, the press, and the expert community are only able to discuss some versions of a possible event progression at best. And usually these versions are nothing but gossip.

However, the likelihood of the personnel reshuffles in Akorda rises significantly if the participants of a possible chain of these personnel moves are keen on implementing them. It looks like this is exactly how things are now.

There are talks in Astana that Head of Nazarbayev Administration Adilbek Dzhaksybekov is thinking of leaving his position while still wishing to remain in the President’s closest circle.

His wish may come true is he becomes the Director of the Presidential Affairs Department replacing Abay Bisembayev who is being considered for the position of the Almaty governor.

Note that Bulat Utemuratov, a billionaire and one of the last “power brokers” of Akorda, is acting as one of Bisembayev’s lobbyists.

In his turn, current Governor of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baybek who was publicly praised by Nursultan Nazarbayev during his last visit to the city and is rumored to have been promised to be invited to Akorda as the Head of Presidential Administration will certainly not be opposed to the raise.

Thus, the likelihood that Nazarbayev will perform yet another series of personnel reshuffles in Akorda is rather high. The other question is when it is going to take place – prior to the Capital Day and Nazarbayev’s birthday celebration or later, say, at the end of August or beginning of September 2018. The only thing that may interfere with these plans is a countermeasure on the part of the ill-wishers including that same Utemuratov. According to the insider data, the secret service is now actively gathering negative information on him, obviously, for the purpose of using it later.