Alexander Mashkevitch

Alexander Mashkevitch
Born 1954
Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR
Nationality Israeli
Ethnicity Jewish[1]
Occupation Major shareholder in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation

Alexander Mashkevich (Hebrew: אלכסנדר משקביץ‎; also transliterated Alexandr Mashkevic; Russian: Александр Машкевич), born in 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."[2]

Biography

Mashkevich was born in Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union, in 1954 to Rakhel Yoffe (born in Belarus) and Anton (born in Lithuania). 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.[2] The Trio gained control of the recently privatized chromium, alumina, and gas operations in Kazakhstan (some of the largest ones in the world).[3][4]

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. 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.

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.[5] 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.[5] Also, while in Israel, Mashkevich "several times rather closely cooperated" with Kazakh Ambassador, now Deputy Foreign Minister, Kairat Abdurakhmanov.[6]

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.

As of 2010 he is on the Forbes list of billionaires at #287.

On April 6, 2011, Mashkevitch announced his intention to found a Jewish version of Al-Jazeera that will "represent Israel on an international level, with real information." [7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Wachman, Richard (2010-02-14). "Xstrata's big boss with bigger ambitions". The Guardian (London).
  2. 1 2 Krichevsky, Lev (18 October 2004). "Wealthy Kazakh businessman looks to make mark on Jewish world". www.ncsj.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  3. ↑ "The Steel Maharajah". BBC (BBC News). 24 July 2002. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  4. ↑ Kazhegeldin, Akezhan (December 24, 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 2006-05-04.
  5. 1 2 Galili, Lily (29 October 2002). "A Kazakh Oligarch Trying To Be a Jewish Tycoon". www.ncsj.org. Ha'aretz. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Jerusalem Post: "Russian billionaire to found 'Jewish Al-Jazeera'" April 7, 2011
  8. ↑ Jewish Journal: "Billionaire Mashkevich quits Euro-Asian Jewish Congress presidency" June 27, 2011

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