Russian security has not taken root in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan continues to distance itself from joint projects with Russian organizations. So, Kommersant found out, the Bizon project with the Kazakh telecom operator Transtelecom to ensure cybersecurity in the country has been frozen. The contract worth about 2.4 billion rubles, according to sources, was signed in 2019 for six years. The decision of the Kazakh side to abandon the project was influenced by sanctions against Sberbank, which owned Bizon until July, experts say, as well as the “general geopolitical situation.” Foreign providers of information security solutions work in the country, so replacing a Russian partner will not be a problem.

The project of the company “Safe Information Zone” (“Bizon”, a partner of Sberbank, previously part of its structures) with one of the largest Kazakh telecom operators “Transtelecom” to create a platform for the provision of cybersecurity services in Kazakhstan has been frozen, two sources told Kommersant in Russian IT market and interlocutor in a neighboring country.

The companies agreed on the project in June 2019, according to the Bizon website, to “combine the expertise and experience of their own centers for monitoring and prompt response to incidents”, as well as to create a cloud solution in Kazakhstan that will automate “providing protection against cyber threats” . The volume of the contract for six years was 2.4 billion rubles, said the interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the progress of the project. Bizon and Sberbank declined to comment, Transtelecom did not respond.

LLC “Bizon” was registered by Sberbank in 2016, the company was engaged in protecting the infrastructure of the parent organization, including penetration testing. In 2018, Bizon was included in the list of organizations responsible for the implementation of the roadmap of the federal project “Information Security” of the national project “Digital Economy” (see “Kommersant” dated October 17, 2018). At the end of 2021, the revenue of LLC amounted to 2.7 billion rubles, net profit – 96.3 million rubles. After the introduction of sanctions against Sberbank, the owner of the company changed – since July 6, the founder of Bizon is Bizon Management Company LLC, which belongs to the closed investment fund 112 Development.

Transtelecom JSC was established in 1998 and is one of the largest telecom operators in Kazakhstan. According to SPARK-Interfax, 25% belongs to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the largest operator of the main railway network in Kazakhstan. Another 75% belongs to the company of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson Nurali Aliyev Unit Telecom. Transtelecom’s revenue for 2021 amounted to 14.2 billion rubles, net profit – 815.1 million rubles.

The consequences of a break with a Russian partner depend on the stage at which the project was, says Kommersant’s interlocutor in the domestic IT market: “Bizon has almost no alienable solutions, it works according to a service model. Management falls entirely on the local structure, this scheme is familiar to telecom operators.” Transtelecom will have to look for a new cybersecurity partner in order to “rewrite the project tailored to Bizon,” a Kommersant source believes, this will take at least six months to a year.

The stoppage of the project could be related to the decision of the Kazakh side to independently develop cybersecurity, Vladimir Ulyanov, head of the Zecurion analytical center, believes, in addition, the country’s market is saturated with Western vendors. The expert does not believe that the stoppage of cooperation could negatively affect the reputation of Bizon. In his opinion, in general, Russian solutions in the field of cybersecurity have the potential for export, but not so much to the CIS, but to the countries of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Kazakhstan has curtailed cooperation with Sberbank and its structures since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, adds PIR Center consultant Oleg Shakirov. So, the expert notes, back in April, the country abandoned the partnership with the bank in the field of digitalization of the public sector, which was concluded at the WEF-2021 with the participation of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: “The reason was the geopolitical situation. In August, Sberbank sold a subsidiary bank in Kazakhstan to the local holding company Baiterek. Therefore, the expert believes that if cooperation with Bizon was frozen, then the geopolitical factor played a key role: “In general, Kazakhstan is still a friendly country for Russia, but such examples show how it distances itself in order to avoid consequences for itself.”

Tatyana Isakova; Alexander Konstantinov, Astana