Gaunt, pale-faced and drooping-cheeked, Eurasian Resources Group CEO Shukhrat Ibragimov no longer looks like the young, energetic leader he would like to appear to the world.
When Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) announced his appointment as CEO last October, the company’s press release was accompanied by a heavily airbrushed photo of Ibragimov looking confident and imposing.
It’s only been five months since then, but judging by his recent TV interview, it’s been a draining time for him. Now, at 39, Ibragimov looks decades older: his once-defining chin has dropped to his collar, his skin has lost its luster and his once-bright eyes are now sunken and ringed with dark circles.
Unsurprisingly, under the weight of his many problems, Ibragimov has lost his luster. According to a VChK-OGPU source, his near-farcical leadership of ERG has sent Kazakh officials into a panic, and they are reportedly already rushing to find a replacement. Moreover, the young Ibragimov was among the few businessmen not invited to a recent business summit in Almaty chaired by President Tokayev.
Unfortunately for Ibragimov, the lack of invitations to high-profile summits is the least of his problems at the moment. There are reports that he may soon be hit with sanctions from the European Union for his role in a sanctions-busting scheme with Chechen oligarch Musa Bazhaev to protect the elite Forte Village resort in Sardinia from arrest.
As a source for Rucriminal.info points out, his business investments have suffered a crushing collapse. He invested $23 million in a troubled noodle business owned by Kenges Rakishev, which is unlikely to return; the promising cryptocurrency exchange Biteeu has turned out to be a failure; and recently, Galaxy Racer, an e-sports conglomerate and one of his ambitious projects in which he invested millions, collapsed, the founder of which fled Dubai amid fraud allegations.
His personal relationships are also of little comfort. He has severed a business partnership with Kenges Rakishev and is desperately trying to enlist the support of President Tokayev’s son, Timur, in the hope of strengthening his position with the state. But the biggest blow to him has been the escalation of a bitter legal battle with Patokh Chodiev and Alexander Mashkevich over the future of the ERG empire.
Given all these difficulties, it is no surprise that Shukhrat Ibragimov has literally aged decades in a matter of months…
The shy Belgian billionaire Shukhrat Ibragimov is no stranger to typical oligarchic luxury: he has a $200 million yacht, a private jet, and enviable real estate in Dubai. And now we can also report that Ibragimov, the newly minted chairman of Kazakhstan’s commodities giant Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), is eager to help his recently sanctioned oligarch friends avoid restrictions on their most intimate assets. On February 25, 2022, just one day after the war in Ukraine erupted, Russian oligarch Musa Bazhaev transferred ownership of the luxury Sardinian resort Forte Village to a member of his family, according to corporate documents. Two months later, in April 2022, Bazhaev was hit with EU and UK sanctions. In February 2023, ownership of the resort was transferred to Ibragimov. Intriguingly, at the same time, Ibragimov transferred control of the Jerooy gold mine, one of Kyrgyzstan’s largest, which was inaugurated by President Putin, to Bazhaev. Was this all part of a secret deal to protect Bazhaev’s luxury resort from the EU freeze? Is Ibragimov complicit in circumventing sanctions by helping Bazhaev protect Forte Village? Questions also arise about the timing of the resort’s transfer – was Bazhaev warned of the invasion? Or did he conduct this deal retroactively to avoid sanctions? Quite an impressive list of questions for the new chairman of ERG!
To be continued
Alexey Ermakov
Source: www.rucriminal.info
