13-07-2025

Timur Turlov’s Vision: A National Streaming Ecosystem That Will Tell Kazakhstan’s Story To The World

By Maria Petrova

    ASTANA: Kazakhstan has been asserting itself in recent years not only as a financial hub for Central Asia but also as a new growth point for the entertainment industry. One of the key drivers of this process has been entrepreneur and investor Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., a Nasdaq-listed company. His media projects - from Uni-Q Group to Freedom Media - revolve around an ambitious goal: to create a national content and infrastructure ecosystem that will put Kazakhstan on the global map of cinema and streaming.

    Timur Turlov, credit: Freedom Holding Corp.Freedom Holding Corp. initially developed as a brokerage and financial group, but as the company grew, its founder began to devote special attention to projects with a long-term cultural impact. Timur Turlov, who recently brought Tatler magazine to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey, has been systematically investing in the creation of local content and technological infrastructure to further develop Kazakhstan’s entertainment industry. This is how the idea of building a “Kazakh Netflix” emerged - a streaming service aimed at Kazakh- and Russian-speaking audiences in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries.

    “We are preparing to launch the Freedom Media streaming service quite soon. It will be the largest and most innovative online cinema in Kazakhstan, with a rich library of original content, including  series that will be available exclusively on our platform, filmed in Kazakhstan by the best directors and producers of our country, and with the largest library of Western content -  probably no one else can boast such a complete library as we can at the moment,” Timur Turlov says. It will also be available in Freedom Holding's SuperApp on very attractive terms, he added. “Clients of our bank and users of our SuperApp will be able to watch live sports, movies, and series online without leaving the SuperApp,” he notes.

    In 2024, Freedom Media, supported by Freedom Telecom and personally by Timur Turlov,  announced the creation of the Uni-Q Group media holding. It includes Unico Play - a local streaming platform planning to release up to four new Kazakh films and series annually; Unico Studio - a production company that will create original content reflecting the cultural specifics and preferences of local audiences; and Unico Rights - a distribution division focused on exporting Kazakh content and dubbing foreign projects. According to the company’s estimates, by 2026, Unico Play could reach over 1 million active users per month.

    A crucial role in implementing this strategy is played by Freedom Telecom, the telecom division of  the holding. Its task is to build a modern communications network, including 5G and broadband  internet, to ensure that residents even in the most remote regions of the country can access the video service. This creates synergy: the telecom platform becomes the distribution channel for its own  media content, while new films and series stimulate demand for telecom services.

    The total investment by Freedom Media in developing its streaming business and producing  original content is estimated at over 50m USD. The plans include not only feature films and series  but also documentaries, children’s and educational content, as well as animation. Special attention  is given to local flavour: films and series should be in the Kazakh language or with high-quality  dubbing to reach both younger and more conservative audiences.

    Once the project is fully implemented, Kazakhstan will gain not just a streaming service but a modern  ecosystem capable of telling the country’s stories and culture to millions of viewers. However,  people may be curious, why is the owner of a financial and technology company is doing it? The  answer may lie in the company’s broader vision: Freedom Holding’s strategy of combining finance, technology, and media to create long-term value has even attracted international academic interest,  being selected as a case study at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Perhaps, Timur Turlov’s project is more than just a commercial venture - it’s an important element of  cultural policy. It helps strengthen national identity, develop local film and series production, create jobs in the creative industry, and shape a modern image of Kazakhstan abroad.