Kenges Rakishev

Kenges Rakishev (; Russian: Кенес Хамитович Ракишев), also written Kenes, is a Kazakhstani businessperson. He is the son-in-law of former Kazakh Prime Minister, Imangali Tasmagambetov.

He is the president and main shareholder of Fincraft Resources, a company listed in the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, and is an active investor in natural resources, mining, energy and food security, as well as in venture capital.

He has been on Forbes Kazakhstan lists since 2013.

In the late 1990s, he began his career as an advisor to the Road Safety Fund under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Following this role, he took on the position of manager at JSC KazTransGas in 2000. and Fincraft Resources (formerly SAT & CO) which is listed at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange after its new name.

Fincraft Resources (SAT & CO) Since 2008 Rakishev has been chairman of SAT & Company JSC, By 2010, Fincraft Resources had investments in over 50 corporations involved in metallurgy, oilfields, venture investments, and mining-related activities.

The company is still listed at KASE and serves as Rakishev's main investment vehicle.

Kazakhstan Engineering In 2014, Rakishev joined the board of directors of JSC National Company Kazakhstan Engineering, a large holding combining 27 enterprises of the defence industry and munitions factories. He left the board one year later, upon the appointment of Imangali Tasmagambetov as the new Minister of Defence.

BTA Bank In 2014, Rakishev bought the shares of BTA Bank from the Kazakh government after Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev forcibly nationalized it in 2009 and seized it from Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of fraud. At the moment of Rakishev's acquisition, the bank had 640,000 private customers and 75,000 corporate clients. The acquisition and subsequent merger of BTA and KKB were expected to create the largest commercial bank in the region.

He sold his stake in BTA Bank in Kyrgyzstan in 2019, and in BTA Belarus in June 2024.

Kazkommertsbank On January 19, 2015, Rakishev was elected as a new member of the board of directors of JSC Kazkommertsbank. In March 2015, he purchased enough shares of Kazkommertsbank to become a major shareholder.

By the beginning of August 2015, Rakishev increased his stake in Kazkommertsbank to 28.67% and then announced the preliminary agreement with Alnair Capital Holding (another large shareholder of the bank, controlling 28.08% of shares) to combine their respective shareholdings in Kazkommertsbank. As a result of the proposed transaction, Rakishev would acquire legal ownership over the parent entity of JSC Alnair Capital Holding, becoming its General Partner and effectively acquiring control over voting and other rights of Alnair's in the bank, controlling 56.75% of the bank's shares in total.

In April 2016 Rakishev significantly increased his stake in Kazkommertsbank after reaching an agreement with Nurzhan Subkhanberdin and JSC Central Asian Investment Company (CAIC). As a result, Rakishev's direct holding in KKB increased from 28.67% to 43.15%, and he directly and indirectly (through JSC Qazaq Financial Group) controls 71.23% of KKB common shares.

Central Asia Metals In 2013, Rakishev exchanged a 40% stake in the Kounrad copper project in Kazakhstan for a 20% stake in Central Asia Metals Plc. CAML was listed in the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. He was then appointed a non-executive director.

Petropavlovsk PLC In 2018, he invested in a 22% share of Petropavlovsk, a then distressed Russian mining company.

Rakishev sold the stake in Petropavlovsk a year later to Roman Trotsenko. Rakishev said he would invest the proceeds of his Petropavlovsk exit in a cobalt and nickel project.

Kaznickel After divesting from Petropavlovsk Plc., Rakishev invested on Kaznickel, a nickel and cobalt company, in 2019. The company extracted nickel and cobalt in the Abai Region of Kazakhstan, materials necessary for electric vehicle batteries.

In early 2024, his company Fincraft Resources notified KASE of the acquisition of a 50% stake in Nomad West Oil LLP, a company founded in May 2023 with exploration and production rights to the Tastobe site in Mangistau.

In September 2024, Mr. Rakishev bought 40% of the oil and gas company Beineu Petroleum Ltd, as announced in a public filing.

Later, with Shukhrat Ibragimov, Rakishev acquired the shares of JSC Shubarkol Premium, which runs a large coal mining operation in the Karaganda region.

In October 2024 he agreed to acquire 26.95% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Tethys Petroleum Limited, an oil and gas company focused on Central Asia.

Oxus Capital Rakishev founded Nasdaq-listed Oxus Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, which raised $172.5 million in 2021 through its IPO. Borealis Foods produces instant ramen noodle meals sold in the U.S. and Canada. Net Element started at a $300 million valuation and was valued at $40 million by 2018.

He was also a member of the board of Fastlane Ventures. He was one of the main investors behind Singulariteam, a VC fund co-founded with Moshe Hogeg that invested in a number of companies operating in Internet and mobile technologies. Rakishev invested $20 million in a social media platform for sharing photos and videos called Mobli, which shut down in 2016. In 2013 or 2014 he co-founded a company, Sirin Labs, to make secure luxury smartphones, which cost at least US $14,000 each. In 2017 it announced plans for a smartphone that would involve blockchain technology.

In 2015, Rakishev bought Sedmoi Kanal (Channel Seven), a Kazakhstan national TV channel.

Personal life He is married to Aselle Tasmagambetova, daughter of Imangali Tasmagambetov. In 2015, he went with Kazakhstan's prime minister, Karim Massimov, to a group dinner with Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, who was vice president of the United States at the time. From 2012 to 2016, he was the President of the Kazakhstan Judo Federation. From 2019 to 2024, he was the president of the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation.

Awards

Order of Kurmet (2015) Order of Parasat (2025)