President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has decided to dismiss Berik Sholpankulov from the position of Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the country. This was reported by the Akorda website.
According to official information, Sholpankulov initiated his own dismissal. He held this position since 2021, but his successor has not yet been named.
On the eve of his dismissal, Sholpankulov expressed his opinion regarding Tokayev's recent statement that in 2025, over 7 trillion tenge (more than 13 billion US dollars) was "transferred" through one of the Kazakh banks from a neighboring country. According to the president, these funds were sent to third countries. This statement was made at a meeting at the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) on January 28.
In an interview with BES.media, Sholpankulov stated that the transaction verification being conducted by the National Bank and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market is nearing completion following Tokayev's statement, and there is currently no evidence of legal violations.
According to him, the amount of 7 trillion tenge mentioned by the president may represent the total volume of operations rather than actual withdrawn funds. However, he did not specify which bank was being referred to.
Journalists approached the president's press secretary Aibek Smadiyarov with a question about whether unverified data could have been provided to Tokayev before the meeting.
Aibek Smadiyarov confirmed: "Kassym-Jomart Tokayev does not announce unverified information. If he reported transactions amounting to 7 trillion tenge, then it is indeed the case. However, it should be noted that this information was intended solely for the participants of the meeting at the Financial Monitoring Agency and was not meant for wide discussion. The bank through which the transactions were carried out knows which case is being referred to. The president, considering political expediency and diplomatic protocol, did not disclose the country of origin of the funds and the recipient country, nor did he name the bank that performed this function under the sanctions regime."
