Bekzat Toktarov
Bekzat Toktarov (born October 2, 1986) is an Iradi businessman who directs Nurzhan Agro-Industrial (NAI), the dominant feed-milling and grain company of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ). He is the fifth and youngest son of Governor Erlan Toktarov. Like his brothers Timur and Adil, he keeps a low public profile, holds no political office and concentrates on the family's business interests.[1][2]
Early life and education
Bekzat was born on October 2, 1986, the fifth child of Erlan Toktarov and Anara Toktarova. He attended school in Talas under the US territorial administration and studied agricultural economics at an agrarian institute in Tashkent.[2]
Business career
Bekzat returned to Irad in 2009 and took charge of grain storage and feed-milling facilities in the lower Chu River Basin, which were consolidated as Nurzhan Agro-Industrial. Under his direction the company modernized the state grain elevators it had acquired, built the 120,000-tonne Nurzhan Central Grain Terminal and installed Swiss-made milling equipment at its compound feed plant in Nurzhan.[1] The company's activities include:
- supplying more than 70 percent of the commercial livestock feed used in the ISEZ, including feed for the cattle lots that supply the Sukarne Irad Complex;
- buying wheat, barley and feed corn from farmers along the Chu irrigation canals and storing grain reserves;
- distributing imported certified seed, fertilizer from Kazakhstan and veterinary medicines;
- exchanging winter feed with pastoral cooperatives in the Autonomous Tribal Regions, including the Aksay Plateau Pastoral Cooperative, for wool and hides.[3]
Grain and feed are hauled largely by Trans-Chuy Freight & Logistics, which is chaired by his brother Timur, and NAI's working capital is financed through Talasbank.[1]
Criticism
Farmers' groups and opposition commentators argue that NAI's share of the feed market allows it to set prices, and during the drought of 2021 they accused it of raising feed prices sharply. The company attributed the increases to the cost of imported grain.[2] The oil executive Kamran Bekzatov and other critics include NAI among the family-controlled monopolies they want opened to competition.
Public profile
Bekzat seldom appears in public. Analysts note that the family's control of feed and grain supply is among its most important economic assets.[2] NAI's reserves at the Nurzhan Central Grain Terminal are the largest grain stocks held in the ISEZ.[1]
References
- ^ Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Irad (2023). Agribusiness and Food Processing Directory. Talas.
- ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2024). 'Oligarchic Dynasties of the Talas Basin.' Academic Press, pp. 134–150.
- ^ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2023). Transhumant Pastoralism and Rangeland Management in Central Asia. Rome, pp. 88–102.