Smagulov Nurlan

Nurlan Smagulov is the founder and president of Astana Group, a Kazahkstani business with interests in car dealerships and shopping malls.

The group was founded in 1992 as Astana Motors, a car dealership, which now operates as a distributor and dealer for over a dozen automobile brands, as well as a manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles.

Smagulov launched one of the country's first modern shopping and entertainment center formats, MEGA, in 2006.

In 2025, he built Kazakhstan's first private museum of contemporary art, the Almaty Museum of Arts, investing more than $120 million in the project.

The museum will include works by Richard Serra, Anselm Kiefer, Yayoi Kusama, and Bill Viola, as well as art by Yinka Shonibare, Jaume Plensa, and Alicja Kwade created specifically for the museum.