The sale of Bogatyr Komir, Kazakhstan’s largest coal producer, to Qatar-linked Primet LLC is underway, with the head of the joint venture confirming the process at the coal forum held as part of the Astana Mining and Metallurgy Congress. CEO Yevgeny Masternak confirmed the transaction is in progress but declined to specify a completion date. “Everything is in process, everything is in process,” he said.
As previously reported, Samruk-Energo and Rusal’s Miradore Enterprises Limited each saw their stakes in Forum Muider Limited — the holding company for Bogatyr Komir — diluted from 50% to 35% from September 2025 through an undisclosed share issuance in favour of Primet LLC. Samruk-Energo has since agreed to sell its remaining 35% stake, with completion expected in 2026. According to Elmedia, citing Intelligence Online, Primet’s founders include Lebanese banker Joseph Nazih Karam, affiliated with Oleg Deripaska, and UAE-based Prime Mining and Energy.
Samruk-Energo declined to provide information about the total transaction value or the legality of the share issuance, citing commercial confidentiality provisions. The Ministry of Energy said it had not yet received documentation on the transfer of subsoil use rights for the Bogatyr and Severny open-pit mines to the new owner.
The incoming owner is entering a period of rising coal prices and ambitious production expansion. Bogatyr Komir raised its Ekibastuz coal price by 30% in 2025 and a further 20% increase is expected from July 2026. The price increases affect power stations and district heating plants in Astana, Pavlodar, Karaganda, Almaty, Petropavlovsk and Stepnogorsk — cities whose electricity and heat generation is tied to Ekibastuz coal.
Masternak’s forum presentation outlined plans to increase annual coal output from 45.2 million tonnes in 2026 to 58.5 million tonnes by 2032, driven by the planned commissioning of new power generation capacity — including the Kokshetau CHP, the third and fourth units of Ekibastuzskaya GRES-2, and Ekibastuzskaya GRES-3 — all of which are designed to run on Bogatyr coal. The cyclical flow technology implementation, financed with a €197 million loan from the Eurasian Development Bank, is also contributing to productivity gains. Masternak noted that more than half the EBRD loan had already been repaid.
Capital investment plans for 2026 to 2032 total 360 billion tenge, covering equipment procurement, technology implementation and reconstruction. The company plans to purchase 57 dump trucks, 13 excavators and 19 auxiliary vehicles in the period. Analysts note, however, that if new power stations are delayed — as frequently occurs in Kazakhstan — the anticipated volume growth may not materialise, meaning the investment costs would fall on consumers through higher tariffs without the offsetting unit cost reductions that higher output would provide.
Bogatyr Komir accounts for nearly 40% of Kazakhstan’s total coal production and holds a dominant position as the primary coal supplier to power stations and CHP plants across northern and central Kazakhstan. The company’s market position means consumers have limited alternatives in the near term.
