Tag: massimov

Karim Masimov is a Kazakh politician and statesman, one of the most scandalous and unpopular figures in the modern political arena. Karim Masimov’s career developed like in a Hollywood action movie: twice head of the government of Kazakhstan, head of the presidential administration, chairman of the National Security Committee, Nazarbayev’s right hand. And then arrest and prison.

Karim Masimov was born in 1965 in Tselinograd, his nationality is still a mystery. Many say that Masimov is a Uyghur, but he himself assures that being a purebred Kazakh is much more profitable for a career.

Masimov’s education is also fine; in 1982, he graduated from a prestigious physics and mathematics school in Alma-Ata, after which he entered the KGB Higher School in Moscow. Initially, Karim Masimov studied at the technical faculty, but after some time he unexpectedly showed up at the People’s Friendship University named after Patrice Lumumba (now RUDN University), where he studied English and Arabic, and then completely left for China, where he studied Chinese and international law . Apparently, Masimov was related to Soviet intelligence and after the collapse of the USSR, he took full advantage of the connections and skills he had accumulated.

Already in 1991, he began doing business: first in trade, then in banking. In the process, he became friends with the future assistant to President Nazarbayev, Bulat Utemuratov, and the son-in-law of the head of state, Timur Kulibayev, and they launched Masimov into the political orbit. He was first appointed prime minister in 2007, when he was only 41 years old, making him the youngest head of government in Kazakhstan’s history. However, youth did not prevent Karim Masimov from achieving impressive results in his post. Under him, foreign investment began to be actively attracted to the country, the financial crisis of 2007 was successfully overcome, and GDP began to grow actively.

Masimov’s successes were noticed by Nazarbayev – first the president appointed him head of his administration, and after the government could no longer cope with economic challenges, he returned him to the post of prime minister.

During his second coming, Karim Masimov made serious changes in the government, placing people loyal to him in key positions. It is believed that all this happened due to Masimov’s strong influence on the President of Kazakhstan, who trusted him immensely and considered him his right hand.

Two years later, Karim Masimov headed the KNB, where, with the direct support of Nazarbayev, he concentrated a variety of activities under the department’s wing, including the investigation of economic crimes and corruption. After this, the KNB was actively involved in purges in a variety of areas, from the elite to the opposition, Masimov received carte blanche for any action.

In 2022, he was detained during mass riots, and a year later he was sentenced to 18 years for treason, attempting to seize power and abuse of power. Currently serving his sentence, early release is not provided for under his articles.

The former head of the National Security Committee, Karim Masimov, is in excellent health. It seems that he knew that he would spend a significant part of his life in prison, so he was actively involved in sports.

At the same time, Masimov’s sporting interests are extremely diverse. For example, one day he became interested in rock climbing and even climbed the Okzhetpes rock in Kokshetau. Maybe he was preparing for future escapes?

But his love for running did not help him escape from his 18-year sentence, although Masimov loved to run. I even ran half marathons, showing very good times for a person of my age. And he even recorded motivational videos encouraging Kazakhstanis to start their mornings with a jog.

You will be surprised, but running and rock climbing are only a small part of Masimov’s sporting interests. He was actively involved in Thai boxing, alpine and cross-country skiing, and golf. He loved cycling – and was even fined for violating traffic rules while driving a bicycle on the highway.

The ex-official was no stranger to cultural hobbies: he was a regular at theaters and concert halls, and was interested in Chinese and Japanese poetry.

He was also a collector, collecting weapons, unique gadgets, and rare things. And he was very surprised by the collection of antique rarities of the investigators searching Masimov’s house after his arrest on charges of treason. They found many ancient manuscripts, prayers, books, and a unique leather-bound edition of the Koran in Arabic. But the pride of Masimov’s collection were Napoleon’s letters, for which he paid almost 100 thousand euros.

But as it turned out, most of all Karim Masimov loved to collect money – only seven suitcases of cash dollars were seized from his house.

Now he is collecting sentences; two more will be added to the main 18-year sentence – for receiving a large bribe, as well as laundering illegally obtained money and property.