Alexander Antonovich Mashkevich ( he, אלכסנדר משקביץ; also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

Alexandr Mashkevic; russian: Александр Антонович Машкевич; born 23 February 1954) is an Israeli-Kazakh businessman and investor who has major holdings and close political relationships in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. He holds both Kazakh and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i citizenship. He enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he,

Patokh Chodiev Patokh Chodiev (russian: Фа́ттох Каюмович Шо́диев; ''Fáttoh Kayúmovich Shódiev''; born 15 April 1953) is a Belgian-Uzbek oligarch. He enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he, Alexand ...

, and

Alijan Ibragimov Alijan Ibragimov (also known as Alidjan or Alidzhon Ibragimov; 5 June 1953 – 3 February 2021) was a Kazakh oligarch of the Uyghur descent. He was born in Fergana, Uzbek SSR, and was a member of a well-known circle of oligarchs in Kazakhstan ...

, obtained mineral and gas operations when they were privatized in Kazakhstan. They founded the company Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.

Biography

Mashkevich was born in Frunze,

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, in 1954. His father Anton, a doctor born in Lithuania, and his mother, Rakhel Yoffe, a lawyer born in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

, were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan in 1941. His family background is

Lithuanian Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas ...

. He is a graduate of Kyrgyz State University where he studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

. Mashkevich started out on an academic career, but became a businessman during perestroika. 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). He is also a major donor to the Israel lobby group

European Friends of Israel European Friends of Israel (EFI) was a Brussels-based organization of European parliamentarians whose stated mission is "forging a stronger political relationship and a deeper understanding between Europe and Israel." History Established in Septem ...

. In 2002, in apparent consultation with Israeli Defense Minister

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer (, he, בנימין "פואד" בן אליעזר; 12 February 1936 – 28 August 2016) was an Iraqi-born Israeli politician and general. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1984 and 2014, and held several min ...

, Mashkevich asked his Kazakh President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...

— a personal friend — to intervene with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

concerning Israeli soldiers captured by

Hizbullah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramil ...

Career

Mashkevich,

, and

form "the Trio", a group of Kazakh businessmen who became billionaires. The Trio gained control of the recently privatized

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and h ...

, alumina, and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

operations in Kazakhstan (among the largest in the world). Mashkevich 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 Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In 2009, ENRC generated a $1,462 million profit on sales of $3.8 billion. ENRC was floated on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

in December 2007, with a market capitalisation on Admission of approximately £6.8 billion. In 2013, ENRC was privatized to form the

Eurasian Resources Group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) S.à r.l. is a large mining and raw materials supplier with operations in Kazakhstan and Central Africa. In its current form, the company began in December 2013 after it acquired the Eurasian Natural Resources Cor ...

. Mashkevich is one of the owners of London-based

Alferon Management Alferon Management Limited of London is a management company responsible for running the International Mineral Resources (IMR) in Kazakhstan. International Mineral Resources (IMR) is a Zurich-based holding subsidiary of the Eurasian Natural Resou ...

, which has acquired mining operations in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

, the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, and other countries. In 2019 he was on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' list of billionaires, with a worth of $2.4 billion. On April 6, 2011, Mashkevitch announced his intention to found a Jewish version of '' Al-Jazeera''.

References

External links

''Forbes'' listing of Mashkevich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mashkevich, Alexander 1954 births Living people People from Bishkek Israeli billionaires Israeli businesspeople Israeli investors Israeli Jews Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Soviet Jews Kyrgyzstani Jews Kazakhstani emigrants to Israel Kazakhstani Jews Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Kazakhstani billionaires Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Kazakhstani people of Belarusian descent