Jul 09, 2026
Kuat Kozhakhmetov on why Alatau City Bank is linking its strategy to the “city of the future” and what role banks should play in shaping Kazakhstan’s new economy.
Alatau City Bank (No. 8 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s bank ranking) is undergoing the most significant transformation in its history. Behind the rebranding lie much deeper changes—a new shareholder and management team, an updated strategy, new technological initiatives, and the bank’s evolving role in the economy. All of these transformations are taking place against a backdrop of solid financial results. Kuat Kozhakhmetov, 53, chairman of the board of directors at Alatau City Bank, told Forbes Kazakhstan why the bank is focusing on corporate banking, project financing, and the development of the “city of the future,” Alatau City, as well as how he envisions the next stage in the evolution of Kazakhstan’s banking sector.
Transformation as a Strategy
Behind a bank’s rebranding often lies a lengthy process that begins with changes to the shareholder structure, a review of strategy, an overhaul of corporate governance, and the search for a new market positioning. This is precisely the phase Alatau City Bank is currently undergoing.
In recent years, the bank has undergone several fundamental changes at once. In 2023, entrepreneur Galimzhan Esenov (No. 19 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of the 75 richest businesspeople with a fortune of $564 million, and No. 42 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of the 50 most influential businesspeople) gained control of Jusan Bank (formerly Alatau City Bank). In the fall of 2024, Kuat Kozhakhmetov, one of the country’s most experienced financiers, joined the bank’s board of directors as an independent director. He was later elected chairman of the board, and in May 2025, the bank announced a rebranding, changing its name to Alatau City Bank.
The next step was a change in ownership. In the summer of 2025, Vyacheslav Kim (No. 1 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of the 75 richest businesspeople with a fortune of $7.8 billion, and No. 2 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of the 50 most influential businesspeople) completed the consolidation of 100% of Alatau City Bank’s shares, after which he became the bank’s sole owner. (Last summer, Kim became the owner of First Heartland Securities JSC, later renamed United Group Alatau JSC; the company is the majority shareholder of Alatau City Bank. — F).
According to Kozhakhmetov, Kazakhstan now faces a similar challenge: “I expect Alatau City to have a similar multiplier effect. But just as Astana became the country’s new administrative capital, Alatau City must become a new hub for investment and technology—a space where investment, modern manufacturing, technology, education, financial services, and human capital will converge.” Therefore, Kozhakhmetov believes, Alatau City should not be viewed as just another real estate development project: “This is much more than just building a new city. It is the creation of a new hub for the country’s economic growth.”
The project’s developers share this view. According to Alisher Abdykadyr, CEO of the Alatau City Authority, no global economic center has ever emerged without a strong financial infrastructure. Therefore, the banking sector is viewed as one of the key players in the new city’s development.
Today, Alatau City’s investment portfolio includes more than 50 projects with a total investment volume of about 2 trillion tenge, and the potential to attract international investment through a number of initiatives is estimated at an additional 3 trillion tenge. Among the first anchor projects are the launch of production facilities by Mars, PepsiCo, and Hyundai Green Food; the establishment of a campus for the South Korean technology university KAIST; the construction of the Iconic Towers multifunctional complex; and the development of the Alatau AI-Driven City concept, featuring a digital twin of the city, a digital asset economy, and urban air mobility projects.
The legal framework for attracting investors is further strengthened by the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Special Legal Regime of the City of Alatau,” which was adopted on March 27 and signed by the president on May 8, and which will take effect on July 1, 2026. The constitutional status of the law—rather than that of ordinary legislation—means that the rules of the game for investors are protected at the highest legal level and cannot be revised through routine legislative procedures. In essence, Alatau City is gaining the same foundation of legal predictability that once ensured international capital’s confidence in the Almaty International Financial Center (AIFC).
According to Abdykadyr, implementing projects of this scale is impossible without modern financial institutions capable of supporting long-term investments. In the coming years, the banking sector will need to provide financing for infrastructure projects, develop public-private partnership mechanisms, attract international financial institutions, and create a favorable financial environment for businesses and investors.
At the same time, the speaker notes, this goes beyond traditional banking financing. One of the most promising areas could be the tokenization of real assets, which will make it possible to attract investment through digital financial instruments, increase the transparency of transactions, and expand the pool of potential investors.
Read more: https://forbes.kz/articles/alatau-city-bank-kak-menyaetsya-odin-iz-krupneyshih-bankov-kazahstana-76949e