“Garden of Pleasures” on 3 hectares in Belgium, a dacha on the Cote d’Azur, “Central Asian Electric Power Corporation” and other assets of the Nazarbayev family’s “wallet”

Empire of Alexander Klebanov

Alexander Klebanov, major shareholder Central Asian Electric Power Corporation and one of the beneficiaries of “old Kazakhstan”, owns a historic estate in the suburbs of Brussels, the capital of the European Union. Klebanov was not associated with Nazarbayev family family ties, but for many years he acted as a nominal owner for them and earned his capital from this. It was used to record assets in industries of interest to the Nazarbayev clan – aviation, energy, telecommunications, the mining industry, and even cryptocurrency mining. So Alexander Klebanovclassmate of first husband Dariga Nazarbayeva Rakhat Aliyeva at the Almaty Medical Institute, became a dollar multimillionaire. Of course, a person close to the family of Nursultan Nazarbayev simply needs a “reserve airfield”. Preferably in Europe. Firstly, it is relatively close, there are direct flights, and if not with the desired country, one flight on a business jet will still be enough. Secondly, reliability: real protection of private property, an independent court and the ability of the banking system of many countries to keep financial transactions secret. In addition, it is very convenient to optimize local high taxes through offshore companies, which are located not only on distant ocean islands, but right here, just a few hours drive from the European home of almost any Kazakh oligarch. There is no need to talk about comfort and safety.

We have already talked about “dacha” on the French Riviera, registered in the name of Alexander Klebanov and his son Yakov, co-owner of the Bek Air airline that went bankrupt after the fatal crash. But the most important family residence of the Klebanovs is located a thousand kilometers to the north. And this is a unique place.

More than three hectares of land in the commune of Dilbeck once belonged to the Belgian baron Robert de Viron. At the beginning of the last century, he laid out a luxurious “pleasure garden” there, as he himself called it, with greenhouses, artificial ponds, and built a real castle. However, the new owner, who gained control of the estate during the German occupation of Belgium, decided to demolish the Viron castle and built in its place in the late 60s a modern villa of almost a thousand square meters with two above-ground and one underground floors.

Bungalow in the “pleasure garden” (2000)

In the late 90s, the old European aristocracy was replaced by a new Kazakh aristocracy. The Klebanov family registered the estate in the name of the local company Fresinvest, which in turn was registered in the name of Alexander Klebanov’s father-in-law, the famous Kazakh film director Vladimir Tatenko. After his death in 2014, the company and estate, as follows from the Belgian commercial register, came under the direct control of Alexander and his wife Daria. It is unknown how much the Klebanovs paid for this historical object – there is no information in the public domain about documents relating to this transaction in the 90s. If compared with similar objects nearby, the estate could now cost approximately €6-7 million. This is almost double less than the money that was spent on modernizing the thermal power plant in Ekibastuz after a large-scale accident that left thousands of townspeople without heat in the cold a year ago. This thermal power plant was owned by the company of Alexander Klebanov, which, as the audit showed, did not actually invest in the modernization of outdated Soviet equipment.

Dacha of Bek Air co-owner Yakov Klebanov near Cannes

Yakov Klebanov

Yesterday, the Turksib district court of Almaty arrested the property of the scandalous airline Bek Air, thereby satisfying the claim of the Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights. The official basis for the claim was the appeal of almost seven hundred Kazakhstanis who were unable to return money for tickets purchased but not used. The amount of claims is 44 million tenge (approximately €100 thousand). Bek Air stopped operating flights in December last year after one of its aircraft crashed at Almaty airport, which killed 12 people. A month later, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan published preliminary test results airlines. It turned out that technical log data was falsified there. The plates with serial numbers on the engines were changed, which made it essentially impossible for regulatory authorities to determine the number of hours worked by such engines. Instead of buying new parts, they simply removed them from one side and put them on the other. The average age of Bek Air aircraft is 20 years. Half of which is for operation in Kazakhstan. During this time, the company did not receive a single request from the Rolls Royce engine manufacturers to carry out major overhauls of power plants. In April, aviation authorities revoked Bek Air’s aircraft operator and airworthiness certificates.

One of the co-owners of the airline is Yakov Klebanov (No. 50 in Forbes) – son of a businessman Alexandra Klebanova (No. 17 in Forbes) and ex-deputy of the Majilis from the party Nur Otan by Daria Klebanova. Yakov Klebanov’s participation scheme in Bek Air became known after publication investigations journalist Ainur Koskina.

But in addition to business projects in Kazakhstan, Yakov Klebanov also has foreign assets. We found one of these in France, just 10 kilometers from Cannes. According to the French business directory, Yakov Klebanov is the founder of the company SCI DU 985 CHEMIN DU RETENAOU. Authorized capital – €10 thousand. Specialization: real estate transactions.

In fact, the company simply owns a mansion at Vallauris, 985 Chemin du Retenaou (as can be seen from the name of the company, its owner decided not to split hairs). The house has belonged to Yakov Klebanov since 2007. Since the mansion has not been put up for sale and is not offered for rent, it is quite difficult to quickly assess its exact parameters. The house has two floors, a swimming pool, several gazebos. Judging by the prices of similar mansions nearby, the cost of Yakov Klebanov’s French dacha ranges from €1 to €3 million. Even at the minimum threshold, this money would be enough to cover debts to Bek Air passengers 10 times. But something tells us that Yakov Klebanov will not part with his seaside home for this.

What is the final owner of CAPEC known for and what does he own? Alexander Klebanov: who is behind the disaster in Ekibastuz

Let us remind you that on November 27, an accident occurred at a thermal power plant in Ekibastuz, leaving part of the city without heat. Immediately after the accident, the consequences of which the authorities have been clearing out for several days in a row, the name of Alexander Klebanov appeared in the media. Previously, it had already appeared in connection with the accident at the Petropavlovskaya Thermal Power Plant, also included in the list of the oligarch’s assets.

The holding through which Klebanov owns thermal power plants in the north of the country is called TsATEK. Through him, Klebanov also owns other interesting assets.

Malenkov, Solzhenitsyn and privatization: the history of the Ekibastuz Thermal Power Plant

Ekibastuz CHPP is the oldest power plant in the Pavlodar region. Its construction began back in 1952, and prisoners of the Ekibastuz Gulag took part in the construction. Among them was the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Construction was completed only in 1960, and one of the first directors was the former secretary of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, Georgy Malenkov. The thermal power plant left its great past in the past. With the advent of Kazakhstan’s independence, much smaller historical figures took its helm. In 1995, ECHPP became part of the republican enterprise Pavlodarenergo JSC. The first to come into the possession of CAPEC (Central Asian Fuel and Energy Corporation) were the Pavlodar thermal power plants, put up for auction in 1997. By 2008, the holding, through Pavlodarenergo, already owned the majority of energy generating and energy transmission organizations in the Pavlodar region. And in 2009, all shares of Pavlodarenergo went to CAEPCO (Central Asian Electric Power Corporation), a subsidiary of CAPEC.

It is curious that back in 2018, Klebanov owned only a third of the corporation. But in May 2018, Erkyn Amirkhanov, who owned the other third of CAPEC shares, was detained on suspicion of commercial bribery. Within a couple of months, using part of his shares, Klebanov increased his presence in the holding to 49%.

State-owned companies could also be found among the minority shareholders of CAPEC. Namely, the NMH Fund “Baiterek”.

Talented Mr. Klebanov

In 1986, 23-year-old Alexander Klebanov graduated from the Almaty Medical Institute and worked in his profession for the next ten years.

However, in 1996, his career took an unexpected pirouette and he found himself at the post of director of the representative office of Airfinance Europe LTD in Kazakhstan. Then, already in the 2000s, he became director of the state airline Berkut under the Presidential Administration. Klebanov worked at Berkut until 2006, and already in 2007 he became chairman of the CAEPCO directors. It was when CAPEC transferred part of its assets to CAEPCO. In 2007, Klebanov was also included in the list of founders of the CAPEC holding. Among the founders are a number of other companies that later became part of the holding. For example, Petropavlovsk kindergarten “Alakai”.

Extract on the composition of shareholders of TsATEK JSC (2017)

Interestingly, Klebanov himself is often associated with the Nazarbayev family. Specifically, with the eldest daughter of the ex-president Dariga. This is written not only by various opposition media, but also by foreign politicians quite openly. For example, member of the British Parliament Margaret Hodge. In February 2022, she gave a report on the “kleptocratic elite of Kazakhstan.” During her report, Hodge stated that both Alexander Klebanov himself and his son Yakov are trusted financial representatives of the Nazarbayev family. Hodge also noted that the Klebanovs likely helped Dariga Nazarbayeva avoid the unexplained wealth order.

Businessman’s sixth sense

By the way, about CAPEC’s assets, they have not only increased over the years. Several unsuccessful enterprises nevertheless fell off during Klebanov’s 15 years of work. But the most exceptional case was Eximbank, which showed the oligarch’s phenomenal luck.

Erkyn Amirkhanov

At the same time, when the aforementioned Erkyn Amirkhanov was already under investigation and sold his share of the holding, CAPEC either sold or transferred its shares of Eximbank Kazakhstan JSC to him. Klebanov himself also hastened to leave the board of directors of the troubled bank. Literally a couple of days after the transaction, the bank was deprived of its license. Six months later, the bank was liquidated, its property was sold, and Amirkhanov left Kazakhstan.

Why are Klebanov’s holdings rich?

But it’s more interesting to talk about what still belongs to the corporation. CAPEC is the founder of three companies. Among them are the investment companies TsATEK-Energoinvest and TsATEK-Invest, as well as the Alakai kindergarten in Petropavlovsk. Previously, TsATEK was also the majority shareholder of the CAEPCO holding. However, now CAEPCO is divided directly between beneficiaries. Among the largest shareholders is Alexander Klebanov. In general, CAEPCO shares have an interesting fate. Back in 2018, large shares of CAEPCO shares were owned by the European Development Bank and KAZ HOLDINGS COOPERAIEF UA. In 2019, CAPEC bought their shares from these two organizations, thus concentrating up to 97% of the shares in its hands. However, at the end of 2020, CAPEC completely withdrew from CAEPCO.

Composition of shareholders of TsATEK JSC (2019)

It is in CAEPCO that the main assets of Klebanov and other shareholders are currently concentrated. Among them are the strategically important Pavlodar-Vodokanal Severny, Pavlodarenergo and SevKazEnergo. Through these organizations, Klebanov and the company own the Pavlodar water utility, heating networks in Pavlodar and Ekibastuz, the Pavlodar energy supply organization and a thermal power plant. In addition, through Pavlodarenergo, the oligarchs own TsATEK Green Energy, which is engaged in “green” energy and built a wind power plant EXPO-2017 in 2015. Through SevKazEnergo, they own thermal power plants and distribution networks in Petropavlovsk. In the same Petropavlovsk, where quite recently residents also found themselves under the threat of cold death due to an accident at a thermal power plant.

The CAPEC holding also partially includes Astana ERC LLP, a company engaged in “improving the system of settlements and collection of payments for utility services.” In February 2021, an audit revealed financial irregularities in its work. The company purchased services from Astanaenergosbyt LLP without government procurement. “Astanaenergosbyt” helped “Astana URC”, supplying at least 30% of the total volume of the Unified Payment Document.

Of particular interest to the story is the fact that Astanaenergosbyt was also part of Klebanov’s holding back in December 2021. But at the moment its only leader and founder is Alexander Zinkevich.

Extract on the composition of shareholders of TsATEK JSC (2021)

Klebanov and the media

Alexander Klebanov, apparently, met his wife during his student years. At least it is known that the couple graduated from the same institute in the same year. Daria Klebanova left the medical field before her husband, in 1992. At first she worked at Almaty Television, and already in 1994 she became the director of Rakhat-TV. Despite the fact that Rakhat-TV has already been renamed STV, the LLP still bears the same name. In addition, there is reason to assume that the owners of the canal are also old.

Daria Klebanova

The story with the owners of the TV channel was generally interesting. Back in 2010, the television company belonged to Daria Klebanova and Svetlana Tatenko. However, already in 2011, Alexander Klebanov became the sole founder, and Batyr Kazybaev became the leader.Batyr Kazybaev is the founder of the Kazakh portal Tengrinews.kz.

In 2012, Alash Media Group LLP joined Klebanov.

Today the situation has changed. The TV channel completely came under the control of Alash Media Group, and Alash Media Group lost all visible connection with Alexander Klebanov. However, until recently, Batyr Kazybaev remained the leader and founder of the medical holding. And after his death, this place was taken by his wife Zaure Kazybaeva.

Extract about the participants of Alash Media Group LLP (2012)

In addition to STV, Alash Media Group includes the websites Vesti.kz and Tengrinews.kz. It is interesting that Klebanov owned part of these news publications through Effective Media Liaon LLP. Then, for an unclear reason, he left the list of founders of both companies and all these media remained under the control of Batyr Kazybaev.

Son like father

At the moment, Daria Klebanova no longer owns any companies. But the Klebanovs’ son, Yakov, managed to become a successful businessman with a number of controlled organizations. The younger Klebanov, for example, picked up his father’s long-time hobby and owns Astana Aviation Services. Of course, he does not fly presidential planes, but he is involved in servicing VIP flights of business and private aviation.

Another interesting asset of Yakov Klebanov is the company Sol Ltd., through which he owns the Rixos Almaty hotel and the Brasserie restaurant, also in Almaty. The company regularly receives orders from various government departments to provide hospitality and hospitality services. Among the clients of Sol Ltd are the Office of the Constitutional Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KazNU.

Among other things, the son of Alexander Klebanov owns the law firm Global Advers Prime, the construction company Prime Business and the IT company Savabit Limited. As well as the real estate management company Teniz Star and Legacy LLP, which provides other individual services.

The shareholder of JSC “Circle Maritime Invest” is not specified

Open sources say that Yakov Klebanov also owns half of the shares of Circle Maritime Invest JSC. For some reason this information is not available on the e-government website. The company is engaged in maritime transport and logistics. The joint-stock company owns a fleet of sea vessels operating in the Caspian Sea. The company, for example, collaborated with Tengizchevroil. Last year alone, Circle Maritime Invest paid more than two billion in taxes.

Kelin Klebanova and her business

Yakov Klebanov’s wife Olesya Klebanova owns two companies. Both of them have eloquent names and are associated with the beauty industry.

Olesya Klebanova

The first is Le Grand LLP, through which Olesya Klebanova owns the “niche perfumery” store LE GRAND PARFUM. The boutique is located at the Rixos hotel in Almaty. In addition, the company, together with the Scavia House, launched the SCAVIA jewelry salon in 2013. Over the past year, the company paid 25 million tenge in taxes, and for the first six months of 2022 – 14.4 million tenge. The second company of Olesya Klebanova is Be Couture. This company owns a beauty salon, which is also located in the Rixos hotel. The company pays many times less taxes. A total of 1.8 million for the first half of 2022 and 581 thousand tenge for the entire last year.

Klebanov connections

Immediately after the accident, the Minister of Emergency Situations, Yuri Ilyin, flew to Ekibastuz. His son Igor Ilyin was appointed deputy chairman of the board at CAEPCO last year. This is the same holding that includes, among other things, the problematic Ekibastuz Thermal Power Plant.

It was also not a stranger who was appointed to perform the duties of akim of the Pavlodar region. Oleg Kruk in 2007 served as president of Pavlodar Heating Networks JSC. Just at the time when Igor Ilyin headed the board of directors of the company.