KazAtomProm CEO dies suddenly aged 44

Nurlan Kapparov, the chief executive officer of Kazatomprom, passed away unexpectedly yesterday. Kapparov, who was 44, suffered a heart attack during a working visit to China, the Kazakh uranium mining company said today.

Nurlan Kapparov, the chief executive officer of KazAtomProm, passed away unexpectedly yesterday. Kapparov, who was 44, suffered a heart attack during a working visit to China, the Kazakh uranium mining company said today.

Nurlan Kapparov (Image: Kazatomprom)

In a statement, KazAtomProm described Kapparov as "a distinguished and public figure, a well-known politician and entrepreneur, patron of the arts, former minister of environmental protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and a prominent representative of a new generation of the country's young policy-makers."

Kapparov became CEO of state-run KazAtomProm in August 2014 and "gave new impetus" towards the development of Kazakhstan's nuclear power industry that aimed to cover the complete fuel cycle, KazAtomProm said. Kapparov, who was also KazAtomProm chairman, took over from Vladimir Shkolnik when he was appointed head of the country's new energy ministry.

"Nurlan Dzhambulovich was a high profile professional, efficient leader and successful entrepreneur who implemented a number of projects and had a vast amount of experience in managing private and public assets. In recent years, as minister of the environment and water resources, he initiated the implementation of a concept to transition Kazakhstan to a 'green' economy, where careful attention was given to ecological, environmental protection and resource and energy efficiency issues," KazAtomProm said.

"KazAtomProm staff will remember [him] as a talented and able leader, who considered the interests and aspirations of his colleagues, and as a good and engaging person. He was committed to his work and served faithfully to the benefit of the Republic of Kazakhstan," the company said.

Kapparov, one of the Central Asian country's richest people - Forbes estimates his net worth at $110 million - started his career as founder and president of Accept Corp, a holding company in Kazakhstan. By 1997, it owned or managed more than 40 enterprises in a number of sectors, according to the website of Almaty-based Lancaster Group, of which he was a founding shareholder.

In 1997, he became president of KazTransOil and head of Kazakhoil the following year. The same year, he became deputy minister of energy, industry and trade. Between 2003 and 2007, he was chairman of Kazinvestbank, which he owned with economy minister Erbolat Dosayev, and Citigroup Venture Capital International Growth Partnership.

Kapparov was married and had two children.

A memorial service will be held in Almaty tomorrow at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News