Society of Honorary Consuls

We represent the Society of Honorary Consuls NGO. Our mission is to unite the Honorary Consuls accredited in Kazakhstan, as well as Honorary Consuls of Kazakhstan abroad, into a single body, strengthening the role of Honorary Consuls through the exchange of experience and simplifying interaction with all government bodies of Kazakhstan, particularly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The society was established in July 2018 and has achieved significant success in strengthening the institution of Honorary Consuls in Kazakhstan to date.
The society is a member of the World Federation of Consuls "FICAC," headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The World Federation of Consuls "FICAC" was founded in October 1982 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and currently has over 90 member associations, uniting all honorary consuls worldwide.

At present, the society has approximately 100 members, and this number is increasing regularly, as more Honorary Consuls express their trust and support.
Close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been achieved to this day, and initial initiatives have been taken in the field of attracting foreign investments to Kazakhstan. The society has also established partnership relations with NC Kazakh Invest JSC, the KAZENERGY Association, the International Financial Center of Astana, and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Atameken”.

Our Principles

The relationships between the Society and its members are based on principles of honesty, recognition of members' equality, safeguarding members' interests, voluntary expression of will, and unity, as only by joining forces can we achieve success.

Our Team

Mr. Van den Weghe was born in 1984 in Belgium. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).
Since 2013, Denis has been a member of the Board of Directors at the French-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Board of Directors at the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia and Belarus.

From 2010 to 2016, he held several leadership positions in a Japanese international company in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.
Since February 2017, Mr. Van den Weghe has served as the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium in the city of Almaty and the Almaty region.
From July 2017 to May 2019, he was the Chairman of the Board and President of JSC Kazakhstan Business Cooperation Center "Atakent".
Since May 2018, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of JSC Kazakhstan Business Cooperation Center "Atakent".
From August 2019 to July 2020, Mr. Van den Weghe served as an Independent Director and a member of the Board of Directors of NC Kazakh Invest JSC, and he was also the Chairman of the Human Resources, Compensation, and Social Security Committee of the Board of Directors.
Since July 2018 to the present, he has been the Chairman of the Board of the Society of Honorary Consuls NGO.
From October 2019, he has been the Regional Director for Central Asia at Green Energy Singapore.
Since April 2020, he has been the Executive Director of Kaz-Dia-Test LLC.
From May 2020, he has been a member of the Energy Committee of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken".
Since June 2020, he has been a member of the Council of the ECOJER Association.
Since April 2021, he has been serving as the President of the Benelux Chamber of Commerce.
Since August 2021, he has been the General Director of Green Chemicals Kazakhstan LLC.
Since December 2021, he has been the General Director of Bibomania Kazakhstan LLC.
Since March 2022, he has been the General Director of Universal Payment Solutions LLC.
He is involved in several projects in the FMCG sector, information technology, agriculture, real estate, and waste-to-energy transformation. Mr. Van den Weghe is fluent in Dutch, French, English, and Russian. He has attended seminars on business management, leadership, coaching, financial skills, and strategy in the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

Mr. Tereschenko was born on March 30, 1951.
In 1973, he graduated from the Kazakh Agricultural Institute, specializing in mechanical engineering.
From 1979, for seven years, he was involved in party work, serving as the head of a department, then as the second, and later as the first secretary of a district party committee, an inspector at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and a secretary of the regional party committee.
From November 1989 to February 1990, he served as the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR.
From February to April 1990, he held the position of the First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR.
From April to May 1990, he was the Deputy President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
From May 1990 to October 1991, he served as the First Secretary of the Chimkent Regional Party Committee and the Chairman of the Regional Council of People's Deputies.
From October 1991 to October 1994, he held the position of Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Since October 1994, he was the President of the International Foundation "Integration".
Since 2010, he served as the President of the National Union of Beekeepers of Kazakhstan "Bal-Ara."

Board Members

Revision committee

Founders

Mr. Berik Kaniyev was born on January 1, 1970. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Lancaster Group Kazakhstan" and is proficient in Kazakh, Russian, and English.

Here is a summary of his work experience:
General Director of LLP "KVK" (1994-1996).
Director of LLP "Kazneftkom" (1996-1998).
Vice President of LLP "Arsenal" (1998).
President of JSC "NECO" (1998).
Vice President of NC "KazahOil" (1998-1999).
Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1999-2001).
Managing Director of LLP "ERC Holdings" (2001-2003).
Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC "KKM Holding" (2003-2004).
Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Lancaster Group Kazakhstan."
Chairman of the Committee for Youth Football of the Kazakhstan Football Federation.
Member of the Council of National Investors under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (since October 12, 2019).
Member of the National Council under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (since June 14, 2022).
President of the Kazakhstan Golf Federation (since April 2023).

Mrs. Aigul Kenzhebayeva is an Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway in the Republic of Kazakhstan. She was born on March 23, 1956.
Mrs. Kenzhebayeva is a Managing Partner for Kazakhstan and Central Asia at the international law firm “Dentons”. She is the founder of the Almaty office of Salans (now Dentons) and has been leading the firm since its establishment in August 1994.
Aigul has extensive experience in advising on various legal aspects of investment activities in Kazakhstan. She specializes in dispute resolution in courts at all levels in the Republic of Kazakhstan and international arbitration, corporate law, energy and natural resources, intellectual property, antimonopoly legislation, labor law, and public-private partnerships.
In 2017, Aigul became the first Kazakhstani lawyer to be honored as a member of the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
She has been a member of the International Council at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan for three years. Aigul is also a board member of the Kazakhstan Bar Association, a board member of the Kazakhstan Association of Oil and Gas Lawyers, a member of the Arbitration Panel of the International Arbitration Center of the AIFC, and an Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway in Almaty.

Mr. Yessengali Baimenov is an Honorary Consul of France in the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was born on May 10, 1964, in the former Soviet Union. He graduated from the Kazakh Agricultural Institute.

From 1981 to 1988, he worked as a laborer at the Talgar District Consumer Union in the Almaty Region.
From 1988 to 1993, he served as an engineer, Deputy Director of the Service Station, Assistant to the President, and Commercial Director at the Almaty branch of AvtoVAZ.
In 1993-1994, he was the Director of the Ant LLP.
Since May 1994, he has been the General Director of "Mercur Holding" in Kazakhstan, which includes Mercur Grad LLP, Mercur Beton LLP, Mercur Commerce LLP, as well as Agro Mercur LLP, Monteverde Astana LLP, EXPO-Auto LLP, Complex Arasan LLP, Koktobe Food-Service LLP. He also leads Fantasy World Almaty LLP, Mercur Dom Invest LLP, KokTobe Park, and Alatau.
Since June 2014, he has been serving as the Honorary Consul of France in Atyrau and the Atyrau Region.

Mr. Nurlan Izmailov is the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Sweden in the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was born on December 8, 1965.
In 1983, he graduated from the Republican Physics and Mathematics School (RFMS) and enrolled in the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB.
In 1988, he continued his service as a lieutenant in the Eastern Border District in Almaty. He was discharged from the service in 1997 with the rank of major and the position of Deputy Head of the Department.
From February 1998 to August 2005, he worked at Ericsson.
In 2000, he was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Sweden in Kazakhstan.
From August 2005 to April 2007, he served as the General Director of NurSat JSC.
From May 2007 to July 2008, he was the General Director of Mobile Telecom Service LLP under the Neo brand.
From August 2008 to July 2010, he again served as the General Director of NurSat JSC.
From August 2010 to August 2013, he was the Chairman of the Board of the National Infocommunication Holding Zerde JSC.
From September 2013 to 2016, he worked as the Managing Director of Kazakhtelecom JSC.
Since October 2016, he has been the General Director of the Representation of Gilat Satellite Networks (Holland) B.V. in Kazakhstan.

Mr. Vladimir Kotelnikov is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was born on March 15, 1962.
He graduated from the Almaty Institute of Railway Engineers with a degree in "Automation, Telemechanics, and Communication in Railway Transport," and received the qualification of "Communication and Electric Engineer."
From 1991 to 1998, he worked as the Director of the USSR Ideological Bank in Almaty.
In 1998, he was appointed as the Deputy Director of Virazh LLP.
In 2001, he was appointed as the General Director of Virazh LLP.
In 2019, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Virazh LLP.
Vladimir holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University in the United States of America.

Mr. Mirgali Kunayev is the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Thailand in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He was born on May 6, 1957.
He holds a Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences degree.
He is also an Academician of the International Academy of Informatization and of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
Mr. Kunayev is the Honorary Member of the Academic Union, Oxford.
He is recognized as the discoverer of a mineral deposit in the Republic of Kazakhstan and a laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of science and technology.
Moreover, he serves as the President of the Central Asian Cartographic Society.

Mr. Dias Atamkulov is the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Morocco in the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was born on March 9, 1993.
Education:
2010-2012: Bachelor of Business Administration from Coventry University, Singapore.
2013-2013: Master's degree from the London School of Business and Finance.

Specialization: Business Administration and Management.

His professional background:
From 2010 to 2011, he worked as a Business Development Manager at the Kazakhstan-Malaysian Trade Chamber.
From 2014 to 2019, he served as the Commercial Director at KumPulan Kazakhstan LLP.
Since 2019, he has been the Director of Data Holding LLP.

Mr. Jambulat Sarsenov is the Honorary Consul of Hungary in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Here is some information about Mr. Sarsenov:
Date of birth: November 21, 1961.
Deputy Chairman of the KAZENERGY Association.
Member of the Presidium and Chairman of the Committee of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken."
Vice President of the World Petroleum Council.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the Energy Charter.
Co-Chair of the Kazakhstan-Hungarian Business Council.
President of the Federation of Sports Medicine of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Education:
In 1985, he graduated from the I. I. Mechnikov St. Petersburg State Medical Academy.
Earned a degree in Economics from the Kazakh Economic Institute named after T. Ryskulov.
•Completed a program in the Diplomatic Academy of the Eurasian National University.
•Qualified as a "Master in Petroleum Business" in Milan.
Mr. Sarsenov is one of the experienced, respected professionals in the oil and gas and energy sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He has a wide range of experience in international organizations and business structures. He has received several state awards, including the Orders of "Qurmet" and "Parasat," the "Halik Alg'ysy" Medal, and the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. He is fluent in Kazakh, Russian, and English.

Mrs. Gulmira Tolganbayeva is the Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Here is some information about Mrs. Tolganbayeva:
She is the General Director of KAYLAS STROY LTD and a developer who owns business centers "Green Tower" and "Triumph." She won in the category of "Green Construction" within the framework of the KazGBC Association.
Mrs. Tolganbayeva is a member of the Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan and the Association of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan. She has been awarded the "Omіr" prize for ecological assessment of buildings by the Consortium of Green Construction Industry Participants of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
She is also the owner of the restaurant "Enjoy Life." The Academy Awards Of Martial Arts in 2013 decided to award her the "Oscar" of sports for her significant contribution to the development of sports in Kazakhstan.

Mr. Azamat Syrgabayev is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovenia in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Here is some information about Mr. Syrgabayev;
He was born on August 11, 1971.
Mr. Syrgabayev graduated from a republican physics and mathematics school in 1988, then he enrolled in the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and returned to Almaty in 1994.
He started working in the field of telecommunications, including positions in the Telecommunications Inspection, Kazgiprosvyaz Institute, Committee on Communications, and companies such as "Transtelecom" and "Kazakhtelecom."
Since 2008, he has been a partner in the telecommunications company SMARTNET.

Articles and reports about us