12 Facts About Bulat Utemuratov

Bulat Zhamituly Utemuratov is a Kazakh businessman, public figure, diplomat and philanthropist.

Bulat Utemuratov's father worked in the judiciary and was a prosecutor, and his mother worked as an accountant.

Bulat Utemuratov helped broker Kazakhstan's first line of credit with Bank Creditanstalt.

In 1996 Bulat Utemuratov was appointed as ambassador to Switzerland, a position he held for three years.

In 1999, Bulat Utemuratov was a member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

From 2008 to 2013, Bulat Utemuratov, was described as an "adviser to the president" and held a role as a special representative to Kyrgyzstan.

The Times quoted a spokeswoman for Bulat Utemuratov saying he: "is neither a middleman, nor proxy for President Nazarbayev" and that he had not profited from his relationship with the President.

Kassa Nova, formerly owned by Bulat Utemuratov, was established in 2009 and was acquired in 2020 by Freedom Holding Corp for an approximate $41 million.

Bulat Utemuratov is the main shareholder of ForteBank; he owns the Burger King franchise in Kazakhstan and has holdings in hotel sector Bulat Utemuratov has been the President of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation since 2007.

On 1 December 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported about the freezing of Bulat Utemuratov's assets including stakes in luxury hotels, cash in bank accounts in half a dozen countries and a Burger King franchise, by a UK civil court on the claim of BTA Bank.

The freezing injunction of the English Court in relation to the assets of Bulat Utemuratov was lifted in December 2020 following a settlement between the two parties.

Bulat Utemuratov was one of 30 oligarchs and members of the Kazakh elite who, Hodge claimed, had benefited from their ties to the Nazarbayev regime.