Viktor Dolgalyev, the owner of the Obukhovsky mining and beneficiation complex, has been detained again following a legal dispute over illegal subsurface resource use. This comes after a jury acquitted him of charges related to illegal entrepreneurship and unauthorized mineral extraction. However, the Criminal Chamber of the North Kazakhstan Regional Court overturned this decision, as reported by Tengrinews.kz.
Dolgalyev was initially arrested on February 3, and the Financial Monitoring Agency later revealed the details of the case. According to the investigation, in March 2021, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry terminated Dolgalyev’s company, “Tiolain,”‘s contract for the Obukhovo mine due to an outstanding debt of 38 billion tenge.
Despite being prohibited from managing the company’s assets, Dolgalyev allegedly set up controlled entities through which he continued to extract minerals illegally. The extracted ore was exported to China and other countries via illicit schemes, with an estimated 113,000 tons of illegal exports occurring between 2021 and 2023.
The prosecution claims the damage from unauthorized subsurface use amounts to 4 trillion tenge, while profits from illegal operations reached 23 billion tenge. Following the jury’s acquittal in December 2024, Dolgalyev was released from custody.
Prosecutors appealed, alleging that the jury members had been pressured outside the court, including at their workplaces and through their children. They also stated that the presiding judge had used inappropriate language towards the jurors, which the defense had exploited.
As a result, the criminal case was sent back for retrial before a different panel of judges. Dolgalyev, his son Danil Dolgalyev, and two other defendants in the case were once again detained.
The Obukhovsky mining and beneficiation complex, located in the Taiynshinsk district of North Kazakhstan, is the largest producer of titanium-zirconium ores in the country. The right to exploit the Obukhovo deposit was granted to Dolgalyev’s company “Tiolain” in 2006, and the license was held until 2023.
Earlier, “Kursiv” reported that the rights to the Obukhovo deposit were transferred to Rare Metals Kazakhstan, a company whose owners are believed to be Konstantin Kan and Roman Kim, through various entities.
