In mid-January, it became known that KazAzot JSC's common shares were traded on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange KASE. Following the results of the auction, 85% of the common shares of the joint—stock company were acquired by Kazakhstan Petrochemicals LLP, 15% remained with the previous owner, Baharidin Ablazimov. Joint Resources JSC, which is 100% owned by the son-in-law of the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, sold its shares. Timur Kulibayev owned 50% of KazAzot shares. Two more businessmen (Dinmukhamed Idrisov — 30% and Yerzhan Dostybaev — 5%) collectively sold 35%.

The transaction price is kept secret, but the share purchase price offered by Kazakhstan Petrochemicals is 824.6 thousand tenge per paper and the weighted average is 788,859 tenge per paper. Based on simple arithmetic calculations, the transaction price ranged from 67-70 billion tenge or 155-160 million dollars (at the exchange rate of 434.5 tenge per "green").

The news about the sale of shares spread quickly, and many claimed that this was a flight, the plant had lost its patrons and it would come to an end. Although such a large-scale production, which supplies products for the medical, agricultural and oil industries, is in itself substantial.

What's next? For clarification, the NT correspondent turned to Arman Mauleshev, General Director of KazAzot JSC.

— How will this transaction affect or has already affected the management of KazAzot JSC?

— The company is managed by a single executive body, the General Director. The changes after the purchase and sale of shares of KazAzot JSC affected only the highest management bodies, namely the general meeting of shareholders and the Board of Directors of the company. The management of the enterprise is currently carried out by the same people who managed it before. No changes are expected in the management structure in the near future.

— How will such a change affect production, production volumes and possible changes in sales markets?

— Since the composition of the company's management has not changed, the people who have managed the plant over the past 10 years have remained at the helm of the organization's development. Consequently, the company's strategy for manufacturing products and marketing them in the sales markets will not change dramatically. Moreover, we are ready to begin the fourth stage of modernization, in which work will continue to stabilize the old production and the construction of new production facilities, expanding the product range. This is how it is planned to release such products in the near future.

Products in demand include ammonium sulfate, ammonia water, carbonated ammonium salts, hydrogen peroxide, and bioprotein.

— Will it affect the staff? Are employee reductions possible, or is expansion possible?

— The results of trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the sale of 85% of common shares of Joint Resources JSC will not affect the staff in any way. No cuts are expected. Moreover, starting from January 1, 2022, the new board of Directors of the company decided to increase the salaries of all employees by 25%. If new production facilities are opened, the staff will only increase. However, it is still too early to talk about this, since such large projects take time: the design itself takes about a year, not counting the time required for construction work.

— What is the reason for the change in the composition of directors, and what consequences does this have for the company and the production of chemical products?

— The composition of the board of directors has changed due to the change of shareholders of the company. One of the new members of the board is Kurmangazy Iskaziev, a man with extensive experience in geological exploration, who will assist in the search for new hydrocarbon deposits necessary for the further development of the company. I, Arman Mauleshev, General Director of KazAzot JSC, also became a new member of the board. There were no further changes in the composition of the Board of Directors.

KazAzot currently produces ammonia, ammonium nitrate, fertilizers as part of subsidies under the Agribusiness 2020 program, and complex fertilizers. The products are of high quality and in great demand, and this is not for advertising purposes, but based on an analysis of sales markets. She is heading to medicine, agriculture, mining, and the chemical industry. The volumes and capacities are impressive. The plant is able, if necessary, to fulfill even a very large order. 380 thousand tons of saltpeter alone were produced in 2021. And as the management of KazAzot has made it clear, no one is going to give up their positions.

The plans are truly Napoleonic, and if you add the transport and logistics potential, which includes railway, auto and sea transport, then the borders simply disappear. That is, 200 wagons and tankers that cover almost 180 thousand kilometers of logistics routes through 15 CIS and Baltic countries and Eastern European states. And behind all this is the tireless work of the entire team, and it has more than 1,200 diverse specialists. And, despite some changes in society and the assumptions of skeptics, no one is even thinking about reducing staff units.

The possible expansion of staff and salary increases, even at the planning level, is already a practical indicator of sustainability and growth. This is very important for the entire region, the inhabitants of which are the bulk of the plant's employees. But to say that there are no changes is to be lying. If people of such rank as shareholders change, it inevitably leads to a whole chain of events.

So, let's summarize the interim results. The shares have been sold, and Timur Kulibayev has retained his position on the board of directors of Russia's Gazprom, according to the latest information. KazAzot JSC, the only producer of ammonia and saltpeter in Kazakhstan, both fulfilled the planned plan and is fulfilling it, production volumes, sales markets and jobs have been preserved. The eminent partners of the enterprise remained nearby, and the attitude of the management and the thousand–strong team to the fate of their native plant can be characterized by the Latin expression "Non progredi est regret", which means "Not moving forward means going backwards".