Karim Massimov

Kärım Qajymqanūly Mäsımov (born 15 June 1965) is a Kazakh politician who served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2007 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2016. He was Deputy Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and held the positions of Minister of Economy and Budget Planning and Minister of Transport and Communications in 2001. He served as chairman of the National Security Committee from 2016 to 2022.

Massimov, of Tajik and Uyghur descent, graduated from the Republican Physics and Mathematics Boarding School in 1982 and studied Arabic in Russia. He earned a doctorate from Moscow State University in 1999 and worked in business in China and at Almaty Trade and Financial Bank. Politically, he was head of the Ministry of Labour in 1991, Minister of Transport in 2000, and deputy prime minister in 2001, returning to that role in 2006.

Massimov was first appointed Prime Minister by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in January 2007, facing significant challenges during the Great Recession. He oversaw reforms that nearly doubled Kazakhstan's GDP per capita and initiated the Unified National Healthcare System. In September 2012, he was dismissed as prime minister and appointed chief of staff of the presidential office to readjust the power balance within the government. He was reappointed prime minister in April 2014, where he managed further economic difficulties, including a 20% devaluation of the Kazakhstani tenge and falling oil prices, while also leading the 100 Concrete Steps modernization plan.

Massimov later became the head of the National Security Committee in September 2016, a position he held until his dismissal by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev following the civil unrest in January 2022. Following his removal, he was detained on suspicion of treason and was convicted in April 2024, receiving an 18-year prison sentence for high treason and attempted coup d'état, while providing no evidence backing up these claims from Toqaev. In November 2023, a second criminal case was opened against him for money laundering and large-scale bribery.