IT specialist with a 135,000-tenge debt plans to build Kazakhstan’s fourth oil refinery

Kazakhstan-based company «HubContract» LLP is initiating the construction of a fourth refinery in the Mangystau region. The economic efficiency of this project is still being assessed by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is also searching for new sources of raw materials

Previously unknown in the oil industry, the LLP has announced an international tender to select a general managing contractor (EPCM contractor) for a megaproject titled «Vertically Integrated Oil, Gas, Chemical and Energy Cluster», which is planned to be implemented in the western part of the country. According to the tender documentation, the project consists of four key blocks.

Block 1 (Upstream): provides for the acquisition of an oil field with proven reserves of at least 100 million tons as a source of raw material for the new plant, as well as the construction of a main oil pipeline with a capacity of 6 million tons per year.

Block 2 (Downstream): construction of a modern refinery with a capacity of 6 million tons per year, a Nelson Complexity Index of at least 10.5, and an oil refining depth of no less than 95%. The plant is designed to produce exclusively light petroleum products meeting Euro-5 standards.

Block 3 (Utility): construction of a 200 MW gas turbine power plant (GTPP) with steam cogeneration, and a seawater desalination complex.

Block 4 (Infrastructure): provides for the construction of general plant facilities, including tank farms, a marine water intake system, railway infrastructure for product shipment, and wastewater treatment facilities.

The project’s stated budget is 8 billion dollars. The scale is breathtaking! A private domestic LLP is proposing, without involving state funds, to quickly solve a problem that the Ministry, along with «KazMunayGas», and all their financial and administrative resources, has been struggling with for more than a decade. Who are these impressive businessmen?

A corporate database check does not take long: «HubContract» LLP was registered with Astana’s justice authorities in November 2025. Its stated activity is «Other activities in the field of information technology and information systems, not elsewhere classified (62099)». It is a small enterprise, currently employing one person (apparently both the founder and director) — BAKYTZHAN Azamat Yesentayuly.

The project’s customer also has an active individual entrepreneurship entity «IT Support». As of May 7, 2026, it also has an outstanding enforcement debt of 135,191 tenge and a ban on notarial acts. The database contains information on its participation in 16 civil court cases, as a result of which the IE «IT Support» was included in the Register of unscrupulous participants in public procurement. Moreover, despite its IT specialization, the individual entrepreneur did not shy away from any kind of work: in 2017, it signed a contract with the Employment and Social Programs Department of the Mangystau region to supply rehabilitation equipment (terminated by mutual agreement), in 2024, it offered to supply LED lighting for the Center for the Study of Religion (terminated unilaterally), and in the same year, for the Central Clinical Hospital for War Veterans — a high-efficiency filter for a cabinet used to store sterile endoscopes (also terminated unilaterally).

Just two months before the creation of the company expected to handle billions of dollars, in September 2025 the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of Astana dismissed a lawsuit filed by the individual entrepreneur «IT Support», represented by Bakyzhan Azamat Yesentayuly, against the LLP «MFO CreditBar» seeking to invalidate a microcredit agreement for the amount of 108,000 tenge. The individual entrepreneur argued that all payments under the agreement, including remuneration and penalties (fines and late fees), except for the principal microloan amount, in total exceeded the amount of the microloan issued over the entire term of the agreement. And this, in his opinion, was unfair.

However, the court ruled that the plaintiff knew the terms of the contract when it was signed and had the right to refuse, but nevertheless signed it, thereby agreeing to all its terms — even if they were onerous — which, incidentally, do not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A deal is a deal.

It was a rapid rise for the businessman: from disputing a 108,000-tenge microloan to establishing a unicorn company set to build an 8 billion dollars oil refinery.

We showed the refinery construction tender documentation submitted by LLP «HubContract» to experts. Their conclusion is unequivocal: the idea of building a refinery itself is quite realistic, but the level of detail in the materials is insufficient for an investment decision.

The project specifies the budget by blocks: Upstream — 1.2 billion dollars, Downstream — 3.6 billion dollars, Utility — 1 billion dollars , with a total CAPEX of 8 billion dollars. It is completely unclear which oil field the investor intends to purchase for 1.2 billion dollars, and in any case, nothing of decent quality can be acquired for that amount. Besides, there is no information suggesting that any oil field capable of consistently producing at least 6 million tons of oil per year for many years is currently for sale in the Mangystau region.

And finally, the tender documents list a UAE-based company, «IMFK Fuel Trading» as the investor ready to provide 8 billion dollars. According to publicly available information, a company with this name positions itself as a diesel fuel supplier in the Emirates. It is clearly not on the level of Vitol or Glencore.

It would be interesting to get firsthand information about such a promising project. Therefore, we invite representatives of the project owner or the investor for an interview, if they have anything to share.

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