Nurlan Balgimbayev
{{Short description|Former prime minister of Kazakhstan (1947–2015)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Nurlan Balgimbayev
| image = Nurlan Balgimbayev (1997-07-28).jpg
| caption = Balgimbayev in 1997
| office = 3rd Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
| president = Nursultan Nazarbayev
| 1blankname = First Deputy
| 1namedata = Oraz Jandosov
Akhmetzhan Yessimov
Nygmetjan Esengarin
| term_start = 10 October 1997
| term_end = 1 October 1999
| predecessor = Akezhan Kazhegeldin
| successor = Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
| birth_name = Nurlan Utebovich Balgimbayev
| birth_date = {{birth date|1947|11|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Guryev, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|10|14|1947|11|20|df=y}}
| death_place = Atyrau, Kazakhstan
| party = People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity
| native_name = {{nobold|Нұрлан Балғымбаев}}
| native_name_lang = kk
}}
Nurlan Utebovich Balgimbayev ({{langx|kk|Нұрлан Өтепұлы Балғымбаев}}, {{lang|kk-latn|Nūrlan Ötepūly Balğymbaev}}, {{IPA|kk|nʊrˈɫɑn ʉ̯ɵˌtʲepʊˈɫɤ bɑʟ̠ʁəmˈbɑjɪf|}}; 20 November 1947 – 14 October 2015) was a Kazakh politician who served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 10 October 1997 to 1 October 1999.
Biography
=Early life and career=
Balgimbayev was a graduate of the Kazakh Polytechnic Institute.{{cite web|url=http://azh.kz/en/news/view/7211|title=Ex-Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Balgimbayev Passed Away|work=azh.kz|date=14 October 2015}}{{Cite web|last=INFORM.KZ|date=2015-10-14|title=Ex-Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Balgimbayev passes away|url=https://www.inform.kz/en/article/2828336|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.inform.kz|language=en}}
From 1973 to 1986, Nurlan Balgimbayev worked in the oil industry, beginning as chief engineer of oil refinery Zhaikneft. In 1986, he was hired by the Soviet ministry of oil and gas. With the fall of the Russian block in 1991, Balgimbayev left for the US and studied one year at the University of Massachusetts and made a one-year internship at Chevron (1993-1994).
= Political career =
Until 1997, he held different minister and vice-minister positions in the Kazakh government. From October 1994 to March 1997, Nurlan Balgimbayev was Minister of Oil and Gas. From March to October 1997, he was the president of KazakhOil (see Tengizchevroil).{{Cite web|title=Kazakhstan Today | News agency|url=https://www.kt.kz/eng|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.kt.kz|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2015-10-21|title=Obituary: Kazakhstan's Former PM and oilman Nurlan Balgimbaev|url=https://www.menas.co.uk/blog/obituary-kazakhstans-former-pm-and-oilman-nurlan-balgimbaev/|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Menas Associates|language=en-US}}
== Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (1997–1999) ==
On 10 October 1997, he was named Prime Minister of Kazakhstan and remained in office up until 1 October 1999. The choice for Balgimbayev was motivated by the following factors: the former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin was privatizing the oil and gas sector too fast and loose, Balgimbayev was already in talks with Russians for a major Caspian pipeline, and he was an IMF-sceptic like the President Nazarbayev.{{cite book|title=The Caucasus and Central Asian Republics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A guide to the economies in transition|publisher=Routledge|author=Ian Jeffries|date=2003|isbn=9781134341986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yotHQ8K25zgC}} Balgimbayev's plan was also to increase the production of Kazakh oil from 23 million tons to 170 million annually.{{cite book|title=Oil and Geopolitics in the Caspian Sea Region|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=1999|author=Michael P. Croissant|isbn=9780275963958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lyCPmitLkQC}} In 1998, he favored the sale of 40% of Tengiz oilfields to Chevron.
= Post-premiership =
After his tenure as PM, he continued his career as President at state-owned KazakhOil from 1999 to 2002. Lyazzat Kiyinov replaced him after the merger between KazakhOil and Transport Nefti i Gaza companies into the new KazMunayGas.{{Cite web|title=| «ҚазМұнайГаз» ұлттық компаниясы|url=https://www.kmg.kz/main.php?page=inc/posted&mid=4&showm=3&type=menu&lang=eng?page=inc/posted&mid=4&showm=3&type=menu&lang=eng|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.kmg.kz}} In December 2007, he was appointed adviser to the President. From 2002 to 2007, he managed his own company, the Kazakhstan Oil Investment Company. Since December 2009, Nurlan Balgimbayev had been the director general of a joint venture between KMG and Eni.
= Death =
On 14 October 2015, Balgimbayev died of cancer in Atyrau at the age of 68.
Controversies
In 2003, the US justice linked Nurlan Balgimbayev to a $78 million bribe from US oil consultant James Giffen.Simon Goodley,
[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/dec/02/kazakhstan-regime-link-to-ftse-firms Court documents allege 'corrupt' Kazakhstan regime's link to FTSE firms], Theguardian.com, 2 December 2010{{Cite web|title=Kazakhstan Oil Scandal - Johnson's Russia List 5-19-03|url=http://www.russialist.org/archives/7187-24.php|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.russialist.org}}{{Cite news|last=Tagliabue|first=John|date=2000-07-28|title=Kazakhstan Is Suspected Of Oil Bribes In the Millions|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/28/world/kazakhstan-is-suspected-of-oil-bribes-in-the-millions.html|access-date=2021-11-22|issn=0362-4331}} Nurlan Balgimbayev was also involved in a bribery case led by oil-industry fixer Friedhelm Eronat.{{Cite web|title=The mystery of Lord Mandelson's finances|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7883304/The-mystery-of-Lord-Mandelsons-finances.html|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}} Coined as the Kazakhgate, the case implied the use of bribe money for luxury items and premium education fees in Switzerland.
References
External links
- [http://www.allbusiness.com/government/802261-1.html AllBusiness Profile]
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Akezhan Kazhegeldin}}
{{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Kazakhstan|years=1997–1999}}
{{s-aft|after=Kassym-Jomart Tokayev}}
{{s-end}}
{{Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balgimbayev, Nurlan}}
Category:Prime ministers of Kazakhstan
Category:Oil and gas ministers of Kazakhstan