Alexander Mashkevitch

Alexander Antonovich Mashkevich (Hebrew: אלכסנדר משקביץ‎; also transliterated Alexandr Mashkevic; Russian: Александр Антонович Машкевич; born 23 February 1954) is a businessman and investor. He has major holdings and close political relationships in Kazakhstan. He holds both Kazakh and Israeli citizenship; according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, he usually travels on his Israeli passport and "rarely spends more than a week each month in Kazakhstan."[3]

Alexander Mashkevich
Born (1954-02-23) 23 February 1954[1]
Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR
NationalityIsraeli
Kazakhstan
OccupationMajor shareholder in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Net worthUS$3 billion (January 2020)[2]

Biography

Mashkevich was born in Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union, in 1954. His father Anton, a doctor born in Lithuania, and his mother, Rakhel Yoffe, a lawyer born in Vitebsk, were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan in 1941.[1] His family background is Lithuanian Jewish. He is a graduate of Kyrgyz State University where he studied philology. Mashkevich started out an academic career but became a businessman during perestroika. Mashkevich, Patokh Chodiev, and Alijan Ibragimov form "the Trio," a group of Kazakh businessmen who became billionaires.[3] The Trio gained control of the recently privatized chromium, alumina, and gas operations in Kazakhstan (some of the largest ones in the world).[4][5]

With his partners Chodiev and Ibragimov, Mashkevich helped to develop these assets, and is a major shareholder in Eurasian National Resources Corporation (ENRC), now one of the world's leading natural resources groups.[6] ENRC, based in London, operates a number of metals assets in Kazakhstan and Africa, having acquired numerous mining operations in Eastern Europe and Africa. In 2009, ENRC generated a $1,462 million profit on sales of $3.8 billion.

ENRC was floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 2007, with a market capitalisation on Admission of approximately £6.8 billion.

In 2013, ENRC was privatized to form Eurasian Resources Group.

Mashkevich served as president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) until 2011. The EAJC is one of the five regional branches of World Jewish Congress (WJC). In this capacity, he has visited a number of synagogues around the world and met with many prominent individuals. In 2002, Mashkevich had a private meeting with then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.[7] In apparent consultation with Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, he asked his personal friend Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to intervene with Iran concerning Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah.[7] Also, while in Israel, Mashkevich "several times rather closely cooperated" with Kazakh Ambassador, now Deputy Foreign Minister, Kairat Abdurakhmanov.[8]

Mashkevich is one of the owners of Alferon Management. Based in London, Alferon Management has acquired mining operations in different places: Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kosovo, Russia, and other countries.[9]

In 2010 he was on the Forbes list of billionaires at #287. In 2017, he was on the list at #1098, with a worth of $1.9 billion.[10]

On April 6, 2011, Mashkevitch announced his intention to found a Jewish version of Al-Jazeera that would "represent Israel on an international level, with real information.[11][12]

References
  1. "Машкевич Александр". Tengrin News. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. "Alexander Machkevich". 10 January 2020.
  3. Krichevsky, Lev (18 October 2004). "Wealthy Kazakh businessman looks to make mark on Jewish world". www.ncsj.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  4. "The Steel Maharajah". BBC. BBC News. 24 July 2002. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  5. Kazhegeldin, Akezhan (24 December 2004). "The end of the "controlled" democracy". "Respublika". International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research. Archived from the original on 6 May 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2006.
  6. Hecht, Albert (June 24, 2013). "Alexander Mashkevich Looks Like Finally Getting His Wish To Take ENRC Private". Jewish Business News. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  7. Galili, Lily (29 October 2002). "A Kazakh Oligarch Trying To Be a Jewish Tycoon". www.ncsj.org. Ha'aretz. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  8. Rozen, Sami (March 9, 2006). "Kazakh Historian Turned Deputy Minister After Stay in Israel". www.axisglobe.com. Axis. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  9. Laruelle, Marlene; Peyrouse, Sebastien (2015). Globalizing Central Asia: Geopolitics and the Challenges of Economic Development. Routledge. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7656-3505-1.
  11. "Russian billionaire to found 'Israeli Al-Jazeera'". The Jerusalem Post. April 7, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  12. Weisler, Alex (June 27, 2011). "Billionaire Mashkevich quits Euro-Asian Jewish Congress presidency". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved January 1, 2020.

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