Qatari owner of Tele2 forms joint venture with Samruk-Energy

Kazakhstani Samruk-Energy and Qatari UCC Holding have established a joint venture called Kyzylorda Energy. Samruk-Energy obtained a 30% stake, while UCC Qazaqstan 3, another subsidiary of PIH, owns the remaining 70%, as Samruk-Energy reported in a statement on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) website.

According to Kompra.kz, a business information service, Kyzylorda Energy was established on Apr. 30, 2025, providing jobs for just a few people.

In late February, Samruk-Energy reported signing a shareholders’ agreement with UCC Holding, a leading construction conglomerate in Qatar involved in various infrastructure projects worldwide, to implement a 1,100-megawatt combined cycle gas turbine power plant project in Kyzylorda.

According to the Qatar Financial Centre, PIH owns UCC Qazaqstan 3 through UCC Qazaqstan 13 and UCC Qazaqstan — another Kazakhstan—based subsidiary of the holding – through Urbacon Concessions Investments W.L.L., whose final beneficiary is PIH.

Last July, QazaqGaz and Urbacon Concessions Investments W.L.L. established a joint venture within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), resulting in QazaqGaz gaining a 50% stake in the CS-14-Qostanay private company and 25% in Kashagan Gas Treatment Plant 2.5 BCMA Ltd.

Both entities were planned to serve as vehicles for the construction of two gas processing plants at the Kashagan field, with annual capacities of 1 and 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas.

Last July, QazaqGaz CEO Sanzhar Zharkeshov revealed that all four agreements he and Moutaz Al-Khayyat, chair of UCC Holding, signed in Qatar at the time totaled $11 billion.

In January 2025, Mobile Telecom-Service (operating under Tele2/Altel brands) was sold to Qatari Power International Holding for $1.1 billion, with the largest telecommunication company in Kazakhstan, Kazakhtelecom, acting as a seller.

Power International Holding is a Qatari diversified business conglomerate that splits its activities into six sectors: energy, concessions and construction; industries and services; telecommunication; agriculture and food industries; real estate; and lifestyle (hospitality, entertainment and catering).

Samruk-Energy was established in 2007 to develop and implement the modernization of existing power generation facilities and to commission new ones.