Alexander Antonovich Mashkevich (; also
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
Alexandr Mashkevic; ; 23 February 1954 – 22 March 2025) was an Israeli-Kazakh businessman and investor who had major holdings and close political relationships in Kazakhstan. He held both Kazakh and Israeli citizenship.
Mashkevitch enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he,
Patokh Chodiev
Patokh Chodiev (; ''Fáttoh Kayúmovich Shódiev''; born 15 April 1953) is a Belgian-Uzbek oligarch and philanthropist.
He enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he, Alexander Mashkevich and Alijan Ibragimov, ...
, and
Alijan Ibragimov
Alijan Rahmanuly 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 K ...
obtained mineral and gas operations after those operations were privatized in Kazakhstan. They founded the company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation.
Background
Mashkevich was born in
Frunze,
Kyrgyz SSR
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR), also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), KySSR or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirgiz SSR), was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of ...
,
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, on 23 February 1954.
His father, Anton, a doctor born in Lithuania, and his mother, Rakhel Yoffe, a lawyer born in
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
, in northern Belarus, were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan in 1941.
His family background was
Lithuanian Jewish
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Litvaks
, image =
, caption =
, poptime =
, region1 = {{flag, Lithuania
, pop1 = 2,800
, region2 =
{{flag, South Africa
, pop2 = 6 ...
. He was a graduate of Kyrgyz State University, where he studied
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
. Mashkevich began his professional life as an academic but became a businessman during the Soviet era of
perestroika
''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
.
Mashkevich served as president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) until 2011. The EAJC is one of the five regional branches of the
World Jewish Congress (WJC). He was also the founding patron of the
Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States is a union of rabbis serving communities in Muslim world, Muslim-majority countries and regions, established by Rabbi Mendy Chitrik in 2019 with the objective of supporting Jewish life in Muslim countries ...
. He was 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 Septemb ...
.
In 2002, in apparent consultation with Israeli Defense Minister
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer (, ; 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 ministerial posts, including Minister of Indust ...
, Mashkevich asked Kazakhstan's President
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...
— a personal friend — to intervene with Iranian authorities to release Israeli soldiers captured by
Hezbollah
Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
.
Career
Mashkevich,
Patokh Chodiev
Patokh Chodiev (; ''Fáttoh Kayúmovich Shódiev''; born 15 April 1953) is a Belgian-Uzbek oligarch and philanthropist.
He enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he, Alexander Mashkevich and Alijan Ibragimov, ...
, and
Alijan Ibragimov
Alijan Rahmanuly 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 K ...
formed "the Trio", a group of Kazakh businessmen who became billionaires.
The Trio gained control of the recently privatized
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium ...
,
alumina
Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...
, and
gas
Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...
operations in Kazakhstan, which were among the largest in the world.
Mashkevich was a major shareholder in the
Eurasian National Resources Corporation
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC (ENRC) was a public, Kazakhstan/Central African-focused, multinational leading diversified natural resources company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It had activities in integrated mining, proc ...
(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 $1.464 billion profit on sales of $3.8 billion. ENRC was floated on the
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
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, Brazil and Central Africa. In its current form, the company began in December 2013 after it acquired the Eurasian Natural Resour ...
.
Mashkevich was 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 acquired mining operations in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kosovo, Russia, and other countries.
In 2019, he was on the ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' list of billionaires, with a worth of $2.4 billion.
On 6 April 2011, Mashkevitch announced his intention to found a Jewish version of ''
Al-Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...
''.
Personal life and death
Alexander Mashkevich was married and had two children. He was the owner of the luxury yacht ''Lady Lara''.
Mashkevitch died on 22 March 2025, at the age of 71.
References
External links
''Forbes'' listing of Mashkevich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mashkevich, Alexander
1954 births
2025 deaths
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