Businessman and benefactor

You can often see Bulat Utemuratov on the pages of Kazakhstan mass media. It is not a surprise, because for a long time he held positions in the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, played a significant role in resolving the political crisis in the country. The businessman tops the list of the 50 most influential people in Kazakhstan. Forbes estimates his fortune at 2.6 billion dollars, and Bloomberg agency claims it is 3.4 billion. The reason for attention from journalists and the public is not only successful business projects, but also large-scale charity activities of Utemuratov.

image:en.wikipedia.org

Creating new and restoring the old

The first major project of Mr. Utemuratov was the development and successful sale of ATF-Bank. Having turned a small company into a large financial group with a balance of 8 billion and 160 branches in different regions, in 2007 the businessman sold it to the Italian group UniCredit. Then he created the country's first microcredit bank Kassa Nova and Forte Bank for business lending. Also, the businessman became a shareholder of Temirbank and Alliance Bank, having taken up the task of restoring them closely.

In 2006, with his assistance, the company Verny Capital was created, managing Utemuratov's investment portfolio, the company invested in unprofitable enterprises, modernizing them. As a result, the country got new plants, industrial and telecommunication enterprises, hotels and business centers, catering establishments. The activity of Verny was of a booming success, when it was connected with the development of the Vasilkovsky ore mining and processing enterprise, which turned into the flagship of gold mining for several years.

Caring for children

Helping children has become one of the priorities of Bulat Utemuratov. The Asyl Miras charity foundation, created by him, is mainly financed at the expense of the founder's personal funds. Large-scale social projects have already been implemented:

• support centers for autistic children were opened;
• international conferences “Autism. The world of possibilities” were held;
• charity bike ride “Burabike”, with the help of which the funds for purchasing equipment for children’s medical institutions are collected annually, was organized;
• financial assistance to those affected by floods in East Kazakhstan oblast was provided;
• reconstruction of the Main Botanical Garden in Almaty started.

Future plans

According to Bulat Utemuratov, the main goal of the Federation is to make tennis a mass sport. This will allow not only to educate their own champions, but also to make a huge number of children familiar with a healthy life style. The KTF regularly attracts foreign coaches to work with young athletes, invite tennis “stars” for delivering master classes, organizes photo and autograph sessions. And, who knows, may be pretty soon we will see Kazakhstan’s winner in a Grand Slam tournament!