ALMATY: Timur Kulibayev, the billionaire son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is to be appointed head of the country's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said on Tuesday.
Kulibayev replaces Kairat Kelimbetov, who was appointed economy minister on Monday as part of a cabinet reshuffle that also replaced the foreign and agriculture ministers.
As head of Samruk-Kazyna, Kulibayev will be responsible for state assets worth over $78 billion.
He is already chairman of several companies controlled by the wealth fund, including state oil and gas giant KazMunaiGas and national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy.
Kazakhstan's government plans to sell minority stakes in several companies owned by the fund as part of a "people's IPO", or initial public offering, to allow ordinary citizens to own shares in the some of the country's major enterprises.
Kulibayev is ranked Kazakhstan's third-richest man by Forbes magazine, with a personal fortune of $1.3 billion.
He is married to the second-eldest of President Nazarbayev's three daughters, Dinara.
The Kulibayevs are also the single largest shareholder in Halyk Bank , Kazakhstan's second-largest lender by assets, through their Almex company.
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