Amid a sharp rise in Kazatomprom’s share price in early 2026, Kursiv.media calculated the increase in value of Kazatomprom and KazMunayGas shares purchased in 2023 and 2024 using money from Kazakhstan’s National Fund. The analysis shows that the combined unrealized profit has already exceeded 2 trillion tenge (about $4 billion).
The Kazakh government bought shares in both state-owned companies as part of an effort to replenish the national budget using resources from the National Fund.
How the National Fund invests
Assets held by the National Fund are not kept idle but are actively invested in a range of financial instruments to generate additional income. The National Bank of Kazakhstan manages the fund’s assets.
On July 20, 2024, the National Bank, acting on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, purchased 31.14 million shares of Kazatomprom — roughly a 12% stake in the world’s largest uranium producer. The transaction followed a withdrawal of 467.4 billion tenge from the National Fund.
Kazatomprom shares more than double
Over the next 18 months, the value of those Kazatomprom shares rose from 467.4 billion tenge to about 1.19 trillion tenge. That represents an increase of more than 2.5 times, or roughly 722.6 billion tenge ($1.4 billion).
KazMunayGas deal unfolds in stages
The acquisition of shares in KazMunayGas, Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, was carried out in three stages. According to data from the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, the Ministry of Finance first acquired a 7.69% stake on Nov. 1, 2023. An additional 8.46% was purchased on Nov. 30, followed by a final 3.85% stake on Dec. 26, 2023, bringing the government’s total holding to 20%. A total of 122.02 million shares were purchased for about $2.5 billion.
At the close of trading on Jan. 21, 2026, shares of KazMunayGas were priced at approximately $43 each. The Ministry of Finance’s stake is now valued at nearly $5 billion. As a result, the ministry’s unrealized gain on its KazMunayGas investment amounts to about $2.7 billion in just over two years.
