Turlov Private Holding Ltd. (TPH), which consolidates the private investments of businessman Timur Turlov, will focus on developing its existing assets. Among its priorities are creating a cargo aviation hub in Karaganda, building a data center worth at least $500 million in Astana, and developing industrial enterprises. The strategy of the holding, which unites more than 60 companies, was described by its CEO Olga Baskakova at a press breakfast on October 8. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Timur Turlov's private holding invests in mining, transport, logistics, aviation, technology, media, education and sports. Unlike the public Freedom Holding Corp., TPH is focused primarily on long-term strategic investments, including capital-intensive projects.
According to Baskakova, the holding's investment portfolio is constantly changing. The company creates new enterprises and acquires stakes in existing businesses, helping them expand their operations.
"We now have a big task — to develop the projects that exist. Right now there are definitely no plans to diversify the portfolio tomorrow," Baskakova said.
The main emphasis in the coming years will be on scaling existing projects. At the same time, the holding will continue to consider investment opportunities in key sectors of the Kazakh economy.
One of TPH's infrastructure directions is the development of Saryarka airport in Karaganda. In 2024, the holding acquired a majority stake in the airport, as well as entering the logistics and service enterprises associated with it.
The strategy envisages turning the airport into a major cargo hub. This requires developing not only airfield infrastructure, but also warehouse complexes, fuel-filling capacity, ground handling of aircraft and rail connections.
"We plan to actively invest in the airport in 2026–2027; we are developing it now as a cargo hub," Baskakova said.
According to her, the construction of a second runway is also among the development directions under consideration.
An important part of the logistics strategy was the project of the cargo airline Alatau AirCargo. TPH's partner in it is KTZ Express. For the private holding, this is its first experience of participating in a public-private partnership project.
Over the next five years, the company may expand its fleet of wide-body cargo aircraft. To implement these plans, the purchase and leasing of aircraft are being considered.
"Our main goal, in addition to strategic goals, is to launch a national cargo carrier and make it a commercially interesting project," Baskakova explained.
The development of the airport and the airline is expected to be complemented by multimodal logistics solutions combining rail and air transport. This approach will make it possible to form a single cargo infrastructure around the airport.
Another TPH project is the construction of the Akashi Data Center in Astana. The complex is being designed with a focus on the Tier IV reliability level and will consist of four buildings.
According to Baskakova, the total cost of implementing the project is estimated at no less than $500 million.
"Probably this investment, no less than $500 million for the construction of the entire perimeter of the contour before the launch of the project," she said.
The holding's CEO clarified that the project is financed from the funds of TPH and its shareholder. The data center is one of the holding's capital-intensive technology initiatives. Its creation should expand the infrastructure for data storage and processing in Kazakhstan.
At the same time, TPH is developing other technology projects. Among them is the Med365 medical platform, focused on the digitalization of medical services, including the organization of remote consultations and examinations.
In addition, the holding is forming its own developer and R&D teams that work on creating and testing new technological solutions.
A significant part of TPH's investment portfolio is made up of industrial and mining assets. The holding participates in projects related to gold, copper and nickel deposits. One of the first major acquisitions was a stake in Central Asia Gold in 2023. In the same year, TPH entered the cement business in Semey, which unites about 20 companies involved in raw material extraction, processing and production.
The peculiarity of such investments lies in their long implementation period. In the mining industry, about ten years may pass from the start of a project to the launch of production.
"If we take, for example, a project in the field of subsoil use, then from entering the site to launching the factory, the average cycle is ten years," Baskakova noted.
For this reason, many companies in the portfolio are still in an active investment phase. According to the CEO, there are fewer profitable enterprises among them than unprofitable ones. However, the holding expects the value of assets to grow as capital-intensive stages are completed and projects reach operational activity.
In the future, TPH is also considering the possibility of combining several mining companies into a separate group with subsequent entry to the stock market.
In addition to industry and infrastructure, TPH is developing projects in the consumer and service segments.
In particular, the holding created Freedom Drive. The company specializes in the sale of car tires and spare parts. It develops its own products and distribution, and also uses digital sales channels through the Freedom SuperApp.
According to Baskakova, in the future Freedom Drive may become a candidate for integration into the public Freedom Holding Corp. However, for this the company needs to achieve appropriate financial indicators.
In logistics technologies, the holding participates in the development of Relog. This is a platform for automating interaction between participants in transportation. In addition to Kazakhstan, the company is present in foreign markets, including the United States.
The sports portfolio includes the Shakhtar football club, privatized in 2025, and projects for the development of youth football, including the QJ League.