Kazakhtelecom, Kazakhstan’s largest telecommunications operator and part of the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund, has disclosed changes in its shareholder structure for the first six months of 2026. The key development was an increase in Samruk-Kazyna’s stake from 79.2% to 89.5%. At the same time, a U.S. investment fund became a minority shareholder in the telecommunications operator, according to Kazakhtelecom’s semiannual financial statements.
Samruk-Kazyna increases its stake
At the current market price of 44,600 tenge ($100) per common share, the additional stake acquired by Samruk-Kazyna could be valued at 49.1 billion tenge ($110 million). The increase followed the sale of an 8% stake previously held by Telecom Systems Ltd., owned by businessman Nurlan Artykbayev. Based on the current share price, the transaction could have been worth about 38.2 billion tenge.
The deal became publicly known at the end of July. At the time, the Qazaq Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS) reported that Samruk-Kazyna’s stake had risen to 91.28% in April, following the acquisition of a 9.84% stake from Telecom Systems Ltd. and another 0.59% from other minority shareholders.
U.S. investment fund becomes shareholder
Another change was the arrival of a new investor, Firebird Republics Fund Ltd. The fund now owns 0.7% of Kazakhtelecom, a stake currently valued at about 3.3 billion tenge.
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Firebird Republics Fund Ltd. is registered in the Cayman Islands and therefore does not have a Kazakh business identification number (BIN). The fund is managed by New York-based Firebird Management LLC, an American private investment firm and asset manager founded in 1994. The fund’s Cayman Islands registration is also reflected in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Retail investors’ holdings decline
The changes also affected the stakes held by smaller retail investors. Their combined shareholding declined from 8.8% to 5.8%, a decrease of 3 percentage points. At the current market price, the reduction represents approximately 14.3 billion tenge.
Kazakhtelecom’s market value
The calculations are based on Kazakhtelecom’s share price during the Sept. 14, 2026, trading session, when the stock traded at 44,558.89 tenge per share. Based on that price, the company’s total market capitalization was approximately 477.05 billion tenge ($1.07 billion).
