Big pay cheque for Kazakh leader's grandson

ALMATY, Oct 16 (Reuters) The 22-year-old grandson of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev earns 26,000 dollars a month for his work on the board of directors of a local bank, according to company records.

Nurali Aliyev and his mother Dariga, Nazarbayev's eldest daughter, together own a 36 per cent stake in the bank, Nurbank, where he started working earlier this year.

Opponents accuse Nazarbayev, who has ruled the former Soviet state since 1989, of placing close family members in government and industry jobs, and of eliminating dissent.

According to a Nurbank document published through the stock exchange today, shareholders elected Aliyev and his mother to the board along with three other people for a five-year term.

It said Nurali Aliyev would receive a monthly wage of 26,000 dollars for doing the job. Two other board members would get 4,500 dollars a month, it said.

The average monthly wage in Kazakhstan is 440 dollars.

His father, Rakhat Aliyev, fell out with Nazarbayev earlier this year and lives in exile in Europe while he and Dariga remain in Kazakhstan.

Rakhat Aliyev is wanted at home on charges of kidnapping senior Nurbank executives but has denied the accusations.

REUTERS GL RN1832