Kenes Rakishev, the internationally acknowledged venture capitalist, has joined Top-15 list of the most influential – and rich – businessmen in Kazakhstan. Although It is not the first time he got such nomination. In fact he is residing in Forbes’ Top-20 seven years in a row. He joined the club with his USD 332 million in assets in 2012.

Kenes Rakishev owns Fincraft Investment House, formerly known as BTA Securities and is a major owner of Fincraft Resources with 97,85 percent share. Fincraft Resources is also known under its former name, SAT&Company. By owning the later he owns “Aqtau Bitum”, “Eptic Ferro-nickel”. He owns 18,3 percent share of NASDAQ-listed NetElement. He owns 93,28% of BTA Bank which is active on Ukrainian and Byelorussian markets. BTA Bank was active in Kyrgyzstan and was sold to the interested party in June 2019.

Forbes has quite an unique methodology for compiling its famous list. The weight of each contender is divided in two parts. First one is computed by summing the total assets of the businessman and taxes paid. The second part is done by voting of expert committee consisting of businessmen, auditors, consulting agencies, analysts and journalists of financial and business press. Initially sixty five contenders were gathered and 57 of them were selected. Those 57 were sorted and the result was truncated to fit the Top-50. Forbes points out that the list is not an official paper and should not be viewed as a ground for any financial decisions.

He was the owner of the gold mining company “Petropavlovsk”. In July 2019, Rakishev sold 22.5% of the Russian gold mining company Petropavlovsk to co-owner of Novaport Roman Trotsenko (No. 59 of the top 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes).

Kenes Rakishev is Member of the board of NPP RK Atameken, Chairman of the “Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan”, member of YPO Kazakhstan.

Kenes Rakishev is the sole owner of Fincraft Investment House JSC (formerly BTA Securities JSC), which owns shares of the Norwegian energy company Araca Energy Asa and PayPal Holding (electronic payment system) among others. In addition, the businessman owned 22.42% of Petropavlovsk gold mining company, 77.72% of SAT & Company holding, 16.1% of Standard Insurance Company JSC and 18.3% of NetElement, specializing in mobile payments and transaction services, whose shares are traded on the NASDAQ. Kenes Rakishev is a member of YPO Kazakhstan and the president of the Boxing Federation.

Kenes Rakishev fights for the return of stolen BTA Money

The businessman is the sole shareholder of BTA Bank. In March 2018, the businessman resigned from the board of directors of BTA Bank and is no longer engaged in operational management, but focused on the return of the bank’s assets. The total amount of claims for decisions of all courts amounted to approximately $ 6 billion, as of May 2018 and $ 1 billion is already returned.

On June 21, 2018, the British Supreme Court decided that Ilyas Khrapunov, the son of former Almaty akim Viktor Khrapunov and son-in-law of ex-BTA owner Mukhtar Ablyazov to return $ 500 million stolen by them from the bank. On August 16, Ilyas Khrapunov was refused the appeals and the court decision was final.

In February 2018, Kenes Rakishev transferred his activities to KASE-listed Investment House Fincraft JSC (formerly BTA Securities JSC), in which he is the sole owner. In 2016, Fincraft acquired the shares of the Norwegian energy company Araca Energy Asa.

In early 2018, Rakishev left Central Asia Metals Plc, 6 percent of shares he owned , and bought 22.42% of the gold mining company Petropavlovsk. The businessman also owns 77.72% of SAT & Company holding, 16.1% in Standard Insurance Company JSC and 18.3% in NetElement, specializing in mobile payments and transaction services, whose shares are traded on NASDAQ.

Kenes Rakishev: from Net Element to Magnum Cash and Carry

In January 2016, the businessman invested an additional $ 910 thousand in Net Element, whose shares are listed on NASDAQ. In total, he funded Net Element for $ 34 million for the period from 2012 to 2016.

In 2016, Rakishev sold to Vyacheslav Kim 30 percent portfolio of Magnum Cash and Carry LLP, which he owned through the SDB Group.

Kenes Rakishev, Nurzhan Subhanberdin (No. 6 rating) and Central Asian Investment Company JSC in April 2016 announced the conclusion of a preliminary agreement on the purchase of the first 29.26% stake in Kazkommerbank JSC from two other parties to the transaction. Kenes Rakishev since last year directly and indirectly holds a 56.75% stake in Kazkommertsbank JSC. He is the chairman of the board of directors. The transaction may be completed before the end of the third quarter of 2016, subject to the receipt of all necessary permits. If the purchase is approved, Rakishev’s stake in the bank will increase to 86.01%. It controls a 76.01% stake in the industrial holding SAT & Company, one fifth of Standard Insurance Company JSC, has an uncontrolled stake in Magnum Cash & Carry LLP, a 19.01% stake in Central Asia Metals Plc and a large stake in Net Element (a company specializing in on mobile payments and transaction services, whose shares are traded on NASDAQ). Recently, the millionaire bought the television channel 7 from Alexander Klebanov (No. 28 rating) and intends in 2016 to buy back the remaining shares of Kazkommertsbank from Nurzhan Subkhanberdin and Nina Zhusupova.