Kazakh businessman Shukhrat Ibragimov and his Russian associate Musa Bazhaev have developed a scheme to funnel money out of Russia via state-owned Russian banks.
The chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Kazakhstan’s Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), Shukhrat Ibragimov, has a rare knack for attracting dubious personalities such as businessmen Musa Bazhaev and Kenes Rakishev. Both have repeatedly been involved in various scandals.
Musa Bazhaev conducted business with the father of the head of ERG, Alijan Ibragimov, one of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest businessmen. He passed away in 2021, and at the same time, Shukhrat Ibragimov joined the company’s board of directors, becoming its chairman in 2023. Ibragimov Sr. and Bazhaev were involved in gold mining in Kyrgyzstan.
ERG serves as an excellent platform for money outflow from Russia, as it also operates in China, Brazil, and Africa. The group includes several manufacturing enterprises that supply products to Russia. In 2013, ERG withdrew from the London and Kazakhstan stock exchanges, making it clear that the company chose an opaque path of development. ERG’s shareholders also own the Eurasian Financial Co, which owns the Eurasian Bank and the "Eurasia" company.
Currently, there is a corporate conflict within ERG. The company has caught the eye of international fraudster Timur Turlov, who was recently accused of creating a financial pyramid. Two other ERG shareholders, the Mashkevich and Shodiyevs families, side with Turlov.
Timur Turlov previously worked at the Russian company "Troyka Dialog," in which the Eurasian Bank held a stake. The confrontation between Turlov and Ibragimov may merely be the latter’s attempt to get more money for ERG.
ERG has an office in Russia at the Moscow World Trade Center. Thus, Shukhrat Ibragimov periodically visits the Russian capital. Considering that all international business in Russia is overseen by intelligence service employees, it is possible that Ibragimov may be working for them. Especially when it comes to siphoning billions of rubles and participating in state bank schemes.
In 2019, Musa Bazhaev presented a joint project of his company "Russian Platinum" and "Norilsk Nickel," owned by pro-Kremlin oligarch Vladimir Potanin, to Vladimir Putin. In 2016, the President of the Russian Federation supported Bazhaev’s idea of creating a domestic 4G operator, with investments in the project amounting to 70 billion rubles. These facts indicate that Musa Bazhaev was previously allowed access to Vladimir Putin, despite well-known security measures surrounding the president undertaken by the intelligence services.
The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Musa Bazhaev sold Shukhrat Ibragimov the Italian resort Forte Village Resort for $180 million to avoid sanctions. Whether it was sold or simply transferred, no one knows for sure, but the fact of the transaction indicates a close relationship between the Russian and Kazakh businessmen.
Bazhaev currently owns four enterprises, all of which showed losses in 2024. The businessman’s share in his companies amounted to (-13 billion rubles). Officially, Musa Bazhaev is considered broke.
The LLC "RP-Mining" with a single employee has not generated any profit since 2018. In 2024, it incurred a loss of 1.9 billion rubles, in 2023 - 17 billion rubles, in 2022 - 13 billion rubles, with the company’s value being (-33 billion rubles). It is difficult to classify a structure with such financial indicators as a business, as it clearly serves other purposes.
The company founders are Denis Bazhaev, Musa Bazhaev, Arsen Idrisov, and Arbi Gayrabekov. Their shares are pledged to "VEB.RF." How a state corporation lent money to an obvious "shell" is unclear, but it can only be explained by the fact that funds are being siphoned out of "VEB.RF" to Kazakhstan, and from there to China, Brazil, and Africa. Naturally, with such financial indicators, "RP-Mining" paid zero taxes in 2023, but strangely, no one seems concerned about this.
The subsidiary of LLC "RP-Mining," "Chernogorskaya GRK," managed by Akhmed Bazhaev since 2020, is operating without profit, incurring a loss of 2.9 billion rubles in 2024, 2.3 billion rubles in 2023, and 3.9 billion rubles in 2022. The share of LLC "RP-Mining" is pledged to VTB Bank.
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LLC "RP-Mining" and LLC "Chernogorskaya GRK" are owned by "Taimyrskaya GMK," which has zero employees. The founders’ shares are pledged to "VEB.RF."
Musa Bazhaev’s company "Russian Platinum" has also been in the red for the past two years, incurring a loss of 30 million rubles in 2024. The company’s "shell" founders are LLC "Kvinto" and LLC "Stelford."
Shukhrat Ibragimov is treading a very dangerous path. If he is exposed, the businessman’s companies will face Western sanctions. Tracing the entire chain from Russia to Kazakhstan will not be difficult for experienced investigators. If that happens, both Ibragimov and his backers will face problems beyond their wildest dreams.
