Over the last five years, Kazakh oligarchs and officials have diverted tens of billions of dollars from public funds, channeling them into luxury real estate, barely profitable ventures, and companies exposed to nationalization worldwide.
In this context, the hundreds of millions poured into real estate in France, Singapore, the UK, and the USA by Galimzhan Yesenov and Akhmetzhan Yesimov appear reckless. The misappropriated funds from ATF Bank and Samruk-Kazyna will be easy targets for European and U.S. authorities.
The approximate investments of Kazakh nouveau riche in the economy of the USA, the EU, the UK, and Russia amount to over $300 billion. Some points are shocking in their audacity. For example, the largest owners of commercial real estate on Moscow’s most expensive street, Tverskaya, are billionaire Bulat Utemuratov and his Russian colleague in the fraudulent sector, Mikhail Gutseriev. Moreover, in the last five years, Utemuratov has acquired several properties near Tverskaya to monopolize the market. An interesting point here is the following: in the event of a sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and Kazakhstan, Bulat Zhamitovich would instantly lose his investments. This happened to Ukrainian oligarchs during 2014-2016, a midst the active phase of the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
Bulat Utemuratov started creeping into the Moscow elite real estate market a long time ago. The Ritz-Carlton, owned by the Kazakh billionaire (Tverskaya, 3), was recently seized by a British court order, but the asset was subsequently unfrozen. Interestingly, the company "Verny Capital" acquired the hotel from Capital Partners back in 2011.
The project to build a new hotel on the site of "Intourist" began in 1999; the investment competition was won by the French Superior Ventures, which planned to construct the "Paris" hotel. However, the approval process with the mayor’s office dragged on, and in 2004, the project, with the right to lease the land for 49 years, was purchased by Capital Partners, Kazakh developers Serzhan Jumashov and Burak Oyman. In 2006, they completed the construction of one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels in Moscow - the Ritz-Carlton, spending $250 million. Five years later, they sold it for $500–700 million (estimated by Jones Lang LaSalle) to Utemuratov.
It should be noted that it is more difficult for Utemuratov and his colleagues to lose the buried billions in Russia than to do so with assets in the West. In the USA, Britain, and France, there is active fighting against the laundering of post-Soviet money, and there are preparations to nationalize what is poorly kept. Uncle Sam will take the first step, followed naturally by Britain. France will follow, and possibly Switzerland.
Returning to Galimzhan Yesenov and Akhmetzhan Yesimov, it is impossible not to note an astonishing fact: following his divorce from the daughter of the ex-head of Samruk-Kazyna and the purchase of property on the French Riviera, Yesenov has had inquiries from the French tax authorities.
With significant problems within Kazakhstan’s economy, the existence of billionaires like Galimzhan Yesenov should cause public concern. People like him undeservedly acquire massive wealth generated by the efforts of millions of ordinary people. This wealth should be invested in improving the living standards of the majority rather than being locked away in a corrupt oligarch’s bank accounts.
Galimzhan Yesenov’s acquisition of large companies and occupying honorary positions in public organizations is merely the result of his successful marriage. It is hard to believe that a 25-year-old Galimzhan Yesenov could independently acquire the "Kazphosphate" group, including factories and mining complexes, for $140 million just a few months after his marriage to Aizhan Yesimova.
The brother of the Leader of the Nation, Bolat Nazarbayev, owns slightly less publicized assets in the USA, Switzerland, the UK, and France. No one can currently provide exact figures, but we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that have vanished into luxury villas, cottages, and other properties.
