Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh oligarch linked to influential figures such as a friend of Kadyrov and the son-in-law of the CSTO secretary-general, is using familial and high-level connections to amass wealth from Russian and Kazakh oil resources
According to a source, the oil business is increasingly attracting the interest of Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev and his acquaintances from the corrupt elite.
Rakishev is described as a “close friend” of Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov. He is also a co-founder of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering, which manufactures the “Arlan” armored vehicles. Such equipment, together with Chechen National Guard units, took part in the assault on Mariupol.
Today, trading in Russian oil has become a veritable gold rush, where fortunes of hundreds of millions of dollars can be made in just a couple of years. Rakishev, a significant portion of whose investments (widely believed to belong not to him personally but to associates and relatives of former President Nazarbayev) disappeared into the black hole of IT startups, now appears intent on recouping past losses.
In recent years, he has been consolidating oil assets within his Fincraft structure and reshuffling ownership schemes. Recently, Fincraft Group transferred its 26.95% stake in the oil and gas company Tethys Petroleum Limited (Cayman Islands) to its wholly owned subsidiary FG Limited, registered in the Astana International Financial Centre on November 10, 2025. Previously, Rakishev had announced plans to acquire 100% of Tethys, which develops the Akkulka, Kyzyl-Oi, and Kul-Bas fields. In Kazakhstan, the offshore company operates through its subsidiary Tethys AralGas.
Rakishev acquired his stake in Tethys in late 2024; another roughly 40% belongs to Pope Asset Management (Tennessee, USA). Fincraft stated that transferring the shares to its Kazakh subsidiary is part of creating a new oil and gas holding that will attract long-term investment into current and future projects.
It recently emerged that a company owned by Ilyas Tasmagambetov—a friend and relative of Rakishev and nephew of CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, whose daughter Rakishev married—will build an oil refining unit in the Aktobe region. The Aktobe Oil Refining plant is also located there; several years ago, a stake in it directly belonged to Ilyas Tasmagambetov, who served as its CEO until August 2019. Ownership details have been unclear since a major scandal erupted: top managers accused of fraud claimed Tasmagambetov was attempting to seize full control. The plant is now headed by Nurlan Karazhigitov, one of its owners and Tasmagambetov’s business partner.
The criminal case involved the illegal export of 13,000 tons of oil worth 1.4 billion tenge (over $4 million) disguised as a petroleum blend called “OilBlend.” The blend’s “recipe” was developed at the plant; it was a residual product from which the most valuable kerosene fraction had been removed. Investigators concluded that “OilBlend” was in fact crude oil. Five plant employees were charged, including marketing director Almaz Kuzhagaliev, whose family owned a stake. After a long legal saga, his conviction was eventually overturned and he was released in 2022.
Beyond the refinery, Tasmagambetov controls other fuel-trading companies, including Invest Oil Trade and BSG Trading, and is involved in IT and logistics ventures—forming a full chain from extraction to delivery when combined with Rakishev’s upstream assets.
Tasmagambetov is also linked to German trader Christopher Eppinger, who reportedly earned $250 million trading Russian oil in recent years. One sanctions-evasion tactic involves blending Russian oil with crude from other countries, including Kazakhstan.
Eppinger later relocated to Dubai and became associated with trader Murtaza Lakhani, who previously built sanctions-evasion schemes for Iran and later worked with Rosneft-related trading. Lakhani operated from London through Mercantile & Maritime UK Ltd and was only sanctioned in December 2025, despite years of controversial dealings.
Rakishev himself has longstanding ties within European elite circles. As the son-in-law of a senior Kazakh official, he acted as an intermediary in international business contacts. Reports have linked him to meetings involving Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Kazakh oligarch Timur Kulibayev regarding the controversial purchase of Sunninghill Park, which British media described as potentially resembling a disguised bribe.
Rakishev also maintains business interests in the UK through Equus Petroleum Ltd, while its Dutch subsidiary Equus Petroleum B.V. controls Kazakhstan’s Kumkol Trans Service, which operates the Sarybulak oil and gas field under contract until 2039.
Kazakhstan exports oil to Europe via the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. In 2022, to mitigate sanctions risks, Kazakhstan rebranded its oil from Urals to KEBCO (Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil). Later investigations found that some refiners blended Russian and Kazakh crude and sold it as purely Kazakh KEBCO.
