Meet the Boss

Nurik Baisalov in a white jacket and gold chain with a cigar in a Hippodrome box — Nurlan "Nurik" Baisalov, founder & CEO, in his natural habitat (Bayge Box 1).

"In this country they told me horses are for villages and nightclubs are for Bishkek. I put them together. Now look."

Nurlan "Nurik" Baisalov, born in Talas in 1979, is the founder and CEO of Jarysh Entertainment Group, the company behind jarysh.com, Aigyr Ulak Nights and Club Doran. Friends call him Nurik. The newspapers call him Nurik Jackpot. He likes both.

Nurik started at 19 handing out flyers outside the air base gates. By 25 he had opened Club Doran, the first club in Talas with a neon horse, a smoke machine and a door policy. He went on to sell holiday apartments in Antalya ("best years of my life, ask anyone"), promote boxing nights in Almaty, and in 2014 he came home to do what nobody had done: make ulak sexy.

Jarysh.com launched in 2017. In 2018 Jarysh won the entertainment concession for league Saturdays at the State Hippodrome and created Aigyr Ulak Nights, now the biggest regular night out in the ISEZ, with an average of 14,000 people a night (Jarysh figure).

A message from Nurik

Brothers. Sisters. Legends. When I was a boy my grandfather took me to an ulak game in the valley and I cried because the goat scared me. Today I bring 14,000 people to the Hippodrome every Saturday and nobody cries, except Semiz fans. This is progress.

Some people say Jarysh is "not serious". Those people are not invited to the Bayge Box. Some people say our concession came "without a tender". Those people do not understand business. Some people at a certain weekly newspaper say a lot of things. They should come to Ulak Nights. First drink is on me.

Jarysh is for everybody: the boys from the stud farms and the boys from the call centres, the girls from the valleys and the girls from the gym. You don't need a horse. You need a hat and a ticket. See you Saturday.

Nurik
Founder & CEO, Jarysh Entertainment Group
Follow Nurik on Tulpar: @NurikJackpot

Awards

Talas Nightlife Awards, Promoter of the Year 2005, 2006, 2019 (Jarysh Entertainment Group, sponsor)
Aigyr Brewing Company, Partner of the Decade 2019
Central Asian Events Expo, Antalya, Best Newcomer (Hospitality) 2011