The name of Shukhrat Ibragimov, the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Eurasian Resources Group ("ERG"), has repeatedly surfaced in the media in connection with high-profile corruption scandals and his personal relationships with officials and businessmen of various levels with dubious reputation.
It should be reminded that Shukhrat Ibragimov is the heir of the late Alijan Ibragimov, one of the ERG shareholders, who passed away in 2021.
A recent scandal in the global media exposed Shukhrat Ibragimov's close ties with Russian-Chechen oligarch Musa Bazhaev, who is on the EU and UK sanctions lists.
According to official reports, Musa Bazhaev, a Chechen-born Russian oligarch and oil tycoon, just 24 hours after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, transferred the luxury Forte Village Resort on the island of Sardinia, named after its founder and influential hotelier Charles Fortin, to the name of his relative, thus avoiding EU and UK sanctions.
Meanwhile, less than two months later, as Bazhaev came under EU and UK sanctions, ownership of the Forte Village Resort, whose parent company owns various assets worth about 700 million euros in Sardinia, was transferred in early 2023 to Shukhrat Ibragimov.
Built in the 1970s, the Forte Village Resort is located in Pugli on the southern coast of the island of Sardinia and is famous for its pristine beaches and clear waters. One of the most favorite among celebrities, the resort has eight luxurious hotels with 770 rooms and 33 suites, thirteen fashionable villas, as well as a private white sand beach, numerous restaurants, swimming pools, and SPA- centers.
Russian-Chechen oligarch Musa Bazhayev and his nephew, Deni Bazhayev, purchased Forte Village in 2014 for 180 million euros using a sophisticated chain of Cypriot, Luxembourgian and Italian companies.
In turn, Shukhrat Ibragimov, prior to becoming the last owner of Forte Village, was together with Musa and Deni Bazhaev co-investor in the second largest gold mine, called "Jerui", in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Thus, Shukhrat Ibragimov, being the nominal owner of Forte Village, became a frontman for Musa Bazhaev, transferring in return 40% of the Ibragimov family's stake in the Jerui gold mine to a Russian company owned by the Bazhaevs family, which, according to the Cyprus company's reports, became its sole shareholder.
Today Forte Village Resort is officially owned by the Cyprus company Retivia Investments, which is the property of Shukhrat Ibragimov, who holds a passport as a citizen of Belgium and Kazakhstan.
The direct owner of the resort is the Italian company Progetto Esmeralda, which owns several assets on the island of Sardinia, including the hotel Palazzo Doglio in the city of Cagliari.
The latest published reports of Progetto Esmeralda show that this company earned 66 million euros in 2022 in 2022. In addition, Progetto Esmeralda indicated that it has a 350 million euro credit line with Russian bank VTB.
The documents show that Progetto Esmeralda is controlled by Quarmine Limited, a Cypriot company, which in turn is owned by Retivia Investments Limited.
However, Shukhrat Ibragimov is not limited to proxy deals with Russian oligarchs under international sanctions, but was also involved in money laundering schemes for the failed bank in his home country, the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Since April 2023, Eurasian Saving Bank has withdrawn about 16 million US Dollars from Eurasian Saving Bank in Kyrgyzstan to Aitysh Swithzerland and Aitysh UK.
In turn, Aitysh is registered as a charitable foundation, which is the managing company of Asian Global Film Festival, whose chairman of the board is Shukhrat Ibragimov.
At the same time, Eurasian Saving Bank has been criminally prosecuted, and its license revoked for numerous offenses, and its activities have been terminated since June 2023.
Despite these facts, Shukhrat Ibragimov was recently named the new chairman of Eurasian Resources Group, a title he has long and passionately sought.
However, questions are now being raised as to how Ibragimov beat out other candidates to get the position. Could it be due to a multi-million-dollar investment deal involving Kenes Rakishev, whose father-in-law is the influential Kazakh official Imangali Tasmagambetov? Or could it be due to the support of Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, who has said that Kazakhstan will not blindly follow sanctions against Russia?
Although, Shukhrat Ibragimov came out of the shadows only after the death of his father Alijan Ibragimov, he is already skillfully manipulating and using established family connections in power circles, creating sophisticated, multi-pass schemes of influence to achieve personal goals.
Ibragimov should have been well aware of the importance of the Kazakh government's endorsement of his candidacy for chairman, given the state's 40 percent stake in ERG.
U.S. corporate records show that in February 2023, Ibragimov, through a British Virgin Islands-registered company called Belphar Ltd, invested $23 million in Rakishev's struggling noodle and ramen business, Borealis Foods Inc. Despite the loss of this investment, as Rakishev's company continued to suffer further damage, it may have helped him to become chairman of Eurasian Resources Group.
In addition, Kenes Rakishev is known for his friendship with other influential political figures, such as Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is also on international sanctions lists in the US, EU and UK.
Thus, the question arises whether Shukhrat Ibragimov does not provide similar proxy services to Rakishev's entourage and other sub-sanctioned individuals.
Although we have no reliable answer to this question, Brussels' attempts to close the loopholes in the sanctions regime against Russia may lead to new investigations and revelations by the competent EU authorities against Shukhrat Ibragimov and his circle.
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