From Kadyrov’s Close Ally to Illicit Collaborations: How Kenes Rakishev Conceals Billion-Dollar Russian Assets Using Fronts Amidst Sanctions

Kenges Rakishev, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men, a man Ramzan Kadyrov calls his "dear brother," and former co-owner of the Vitino seaport in the Arctic, continues to conduct large-scale business in Russia despite the public "sale" of his Russian assets.

He owns BTA Bank JSC, AMT Bank LLC, several real estate and fuel trading companies, and also runs a joint venture with AFK Sistema, a subsidiary of the Yevtushenkov family. Shubarkul Premium, a coal company co-owned by Rakishev until November of this year, handled large-scale coal deliveries to the Russian terminal in Ust-Luga, with logistics provided by his BALTIC TERMINALS LLC. Arlan armored vehicles, manufactured by Rakishev’s company, are used by the Chechen National Guard and have been deployed in the war in Ukraine.

Kenges Rakishev is the son-in-law of CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov and the son of Khamit Rakishev, the former head of the trade department of the Kazakh presidential administration and cabinet of ministers.

Rakishev Jr. began his career as an advisor to the Road Safety Fund under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan while still studying at the Kazakhstan State Law Academy. From 2000 to 2002, he worked for Bank Turan-Alem (renamed BTA Bank), KazTransGas, and Intergas Central Asia. BTA Bank also fell under his control.

As of 2025, he ranks 23rd in the ranking of the 75 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan, with a net worth of $435 million. After the imposition of sanctions against Russian companies and businessmen, Rakishev tried to publicly distance himself from Russia, but in reality, he simply hid behind the nominees under which he re-registered his business.

Until 2024, through its parent company, Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank, he was officially a business partner of Vladimir Yevtushenkov and his AFK Sistema in one of Russia’s largest hotel operators, PJSC Hotel Complex Cosmos. Cosmos’s 2022 issuer financial statements indicate that BTA Bank 100% owned two Moscow-based companies, Batial LLC and Kronos LLC. Batial owns approximately 5% of Cosmos, while Kronos owns approximately 15.5%, meaning Rakishev’s stake exceeds 20%. Yevtushenkov owns over 51%—his stake is registered to Intourist JSC, which is controlled by Cosmos OG LLC, which is controlled by AFK Sistema. After July 2023, by order of the Russian government, shareholder information will no longer be published.

In 2024, in the consolidated financial statements of his Fincraft Group, Rakishev announced the sale of Batial, Kronos, and his bank’s subsidiary, BTA Moscow LLC. The latter, recently renamed Prime Progress, has consistently posted losses of tens of millions of rubles since 2021. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the buyer of all three was Galimzhan Mirzadauli Ainabaev, the son of Mirzada Ainabaev, a Soviet currency trader convicted of large-scale currency speculation. Incidentally, he and his entire family have been listed as affiliates of both Fincraft Group and BTA Bank since at least 2021. In effect, Rakishev registered his Moscow assets in the name of a business partner. Kronos and Batial are currently undergoing liquidation, apparently to conceal the identity of the newly transferred shareholders and to mitigate losses. Cosmos is a profitable asset, and Rakishev isn’t getting rid of those. However, his TuranAlem Finance (a subsidiary of BTA Bank), which has been posting losses in recent years, was declared bankrupt by a court decision in June of this year. Rakishev also owns the Moscow-based AMK-INVEST Design and Construction Company LLC (the founder is listed as the offshore company KEV FINANCE CORP) through the Russian AMT Bank and BTA Bank.

Furthermore, Kenges Rakishev maintains a large network in Russia linked to his SAT-MOSCOW LLC (formerly a sponsor of the Chechen football club Terek). He officially owns this company, while the rest (around two dozen companies worth billions of rubles) are registered to his business partner, Anvar Mametov.

This businessman from Kyrgyzstan, known there as the owner of the Aichurek Central Department Store, Anvar Gabbazov, is the brother of the notorious thief-in-law Rustik Dnepropetrovsky. In November 2023, Anvar was placed on the international wanted list for financing the organized crime group of Kyrgyz crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev and laundering criminal proceeds. In 2012, Kolbaev was blacklisted by the United States as one of the largest drug lords from the former Soviet Union, and in 2021, the State Department offered a $5 million reward for information about him. No one received the reward, as Kolbaev was shot dead by Kyrgyz security forces during an arrest in October 2023, a very convenient move for his "business partners." According to local law enforcement, the crime boss was linked to Gabbazov-Mametov through financial dealings and a joint "operation" to seize the former ZIL resort in Kyrgyzstan, covering 42 hectares and worth $15 million. Furthermore, Gabbazov-Mametov gave Kolbaev an armored Mercedes Benz W222.

International wanted list and family connection with the criminal underworld seriously hampered Mametov’s business, as he holds a significant portion of his assets abroad. For example, he and his family own the luxurious English Court Hotel, built in 1893, and the historic Telegraph House in Karlovy Vary. Formally, Sofie Company s.r.o., the company in whose name the property is registered, is owned by a certain Kumri Abdulaeva, her husband, Anvar Alakhunov, and her son, Bakhtiyar Alakhunov, but these are nominees. These individuals were registered in Anvar Mametov’s mansion in Russia. All three also hold Russian passports.

Mametov managed to shake off the criminal taint last summer. According to the official version, he came to Kyrgyzstan and was so convincing that the local State Committee for National Security believed he had no connection with Kolbaev’s criminal activities. As a result, the criminal case was closed, and all charges were magically dropped.

Such business partners are not the exception, but the norm for Kenes Rakishev. As of October of this year, Moshe Hogeg, who has been accused by Israeli police of sexual crimes and cryptocurrency fraud, was listed as a co-owner of his Luxembourg company, SIRIN SARL.

Maria Sharapova