Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh billionaire known as Kadyrov’s “brother” and a backer of Russia’s military-industrial sector, is looking to divest his assets in Ukraine

According to specialized media, Kazakhstani billionaire with a rather ambiguous biography Kenes Rakishev is selling "BTA Bank Ukraine". This is Rakishev’s fifth attempt to get rid of his largest Ukrainian asset, and it seems it will be successful – the buyer is the Nova group, associated with the founders of "Nova Poshta" Vyacheslav Klimov and Volodymyr Popereshnyuk.

This is reported by Antikor.

There are many questions surrounding this deal. Not only because Kenes Rakishev managed to find a buyer for his Ukrainian asset only on the fifth attempt. Although this fact alone confirms the unspoken view of "BTA Bank" as an extremely toxic asset. And its owner, Kenes Rakishev, has a very specific biography, both personal and business.

Who is Kenes Rakishev

Kazakhstani businessman Kenes Rakishev is primarily known as a personal friend of Ramzan Kadyrov, who received the "Order of Akhmat Kadyrov" from the latter, while Ramzan himself calls Kenes "his dear brother".

But Kenes Rakishev’s ties with Ramzan Kadyrov personally and with the Russian authorities, business, and special services in general do not end there. Thus, at the beginning of the full-scale war, when sanctions began to rain down on Russia, Kenes Rakishev was one of those who organized the mass relocation of Russian business to Kazakhstan – back in the spring of 2022, a scandal erupted related to a scheme for legalizing Russian capital: as the media wrote, Rakishev was one of the key organizers of the scheme to issue residence permits to alleged "refugees" from the Russian Federation. Moreover, this document was received either by people connected with Rakishev or by individuals who own large assets in Russia. This gave the latter the opportunity to withdraw capital from under sanctions pressure.

But that is not all – companies owned by Kenes Rakishev produce armored vehicles that were actively used by militants of his "dear friend and brother" Ramzan Kadyrov in Ukraine: we are talking about Arlan armored vehicles spotted in the columns of "Akhmat". In addition, Kenes Rakishev is linked to projects around Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, where he is listed as one of the beneficiaries of strategies to circumvent international sanctions.

Kenes Rakishev is involved in the production of drones used for bombing Ukrainian cities – the businessman, through the Fastlane fund, invested in Russian projects related to artificial intelligence and the internet. Among the latter is Cognitive Technologies, which develops unmanned vehicles and counts Sberbank among its investors.

Regarding Russian business, after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Kenes Rakishev urgently transferred most of it to front persons, one of whom is his long-time partner Anvar Mametov.

This fact is confirmed by a check of Russian registers, where Anvar Mametov began to appear as the owner of dozens of various enterprises that until recently belonged to Kenes Rakishev.

Rakishev also has business in Kazakhstan. It was in this country that he became an oligarch, later transferring part of his interests to Russia. But in this case, we are interested in Ukraine, where Kenes Rakishev had several assets.

Rakishev’s Ukrainian business

Among them is the same "BTA Bank", which in turn owns corporate rights in CJSC "FC Borysfen" and CJSC "Modus". However, in the latter, Rakishev’s share is minuscule – only 0.58%. "BTA Bank" itself ranks 59th out of 59 in the NBU ranking, with assets estimated at UAH 212 million and liabilities at UAH 125 million. But perhaps the most accurate description of the bank is given by a review on Minfin: "Interesting, how does this bank even stay alive?"

Kenes Rakishev has another asset in Ukraine – LLC "Innoving", but the situation in this company is even sadder than in the bank – the company’s profitability stands at minus 84,348.55%. No comments, as they say.

And here we have to return to Russia – we did not dwell in such detail on Kenes Rakishev’s ties with Russian business and Ramzan Kadyrov for nothing. In this context, it is also worth adding that Rakishev also owns the Russian "daughter" of "BTA Bank". And it is worth stopping at it in no less detail.

Russian "BTA Bank"

According to open data, Rakishev’s Russian business was mainly focused on managing distressed assets and real estate, rather than conventional retail banking. LLC "BTA Moscow" (later renamed "Prime Progress"): a publication about Rakishev’s Russian assets notes that the company had been showing losses of tens of millions of rubles for years. In 2024, its sale was reflected in the consolidated reporting of Fincraft Group.

The Russian "daughter" of "BTA Bank" also owned the Cosmos hotel complex in Moscow, which the bank held through the companies "Batial" and "Kronos". According to media publications, in 2024 these companies were sold. The buyer was named Galimzhan Ainabayev – a business partner whose family had previously appeared among the affiliated persons of the group.

Rakishev also had "TuranAlem Finance" in Russia, a Russian subsidiary of "BTA Bank", which had also been operating at a loss in recent years and was declared bankrupt in June 2025.

The former BTA portfolio included logistics complexes in Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk with a total area of about 400 thousand m², as well as commercial real estate projects in Moscow, including facilities near Paveletsky railway station and on Poklonnaya Hill. These assets were described by Rakishev himself in an interview with Kommersant in 2018. The current fate of these assets is unknown.

This brief reference leads to a simple conclusion: the Russian BTA was primarily a tool for Rakishev to recover, restructure, and subsequently sell distressed assets. In 2024, according to published data, the group sold several key Russian companies, including structures with stakes in the Cosmos hotel. However, at the same time, there are statements that Rakishev retained actual control over the sold assets through nominee owners.

What raises questions

Against this background, the activities of "BTA Bank Ukraine" and LLC "Innoving", which do not look like profit-generating assets at all, cannot but raise questions. Nevertheless, Kenes Rakishev not only held them for many years but also invested considerable money there – the authorized capital of "BTA Bank Ukraine" amounts to one and a half billion hryvnias, while in LLC "Innoving" the authorized capital not only amounts to UAH 166,827,900 but is regularly increased, with the latest increase dated August 2026: more than UAH 40 million were "poured" into the company. At the same time, the company has been loss-making since its founding, yet the capital continued to grow.

Against this background, questions cannot but arise. In addition, it should be remembered that Kenes Rakishev sold his Ukrainian asset only on the fifth attempt. Why did previous buyers, including Belarusian businessman Mykola Vorobey, Kazakhstani Kaspi.kz, Georgian entrepreneur Rati Tchelidze, and in 2025 – Ukrainian businessmen Vyacheslav Mishalov and Dmytro Shevchuk, ultimately refuse the deal? There is no answer to this question.

Now the buyer has become the group that controls one of Ukraine’s largest logistics and payment businesses. For Nova, the acquisition of the bank may become a way to expand the financial infrastructure around NovaPay. In June 2026, the possibility of creating a financial institution based on "BTA Bank" focused on financial inclusion was discussed.

But why did the asset have to be offered to several potential buyers and what exactly changed by the autumn of 2026 for the deal to finally appear? There are not enough public documents that would allow an unambiguous answer to these questions.

Nor is there an answer to other questions that arise in light of the practically completed deal. Who exactly is selling the shares and which individuals will participate in the settlements? What is the price of the deal and does it correspond to the value of the acquired asset? Are there any obligations of the seller or companies associated with him to Russian legal entities that may be relevant for assessing sanctions risks?

Separately, it is necessary to check what information about the ultimate beneficiaries and sources of funds is presented as part of the approval of the deal. Publications about ties with Russian business and Ramzan Kadyrov, Kenes Rakishev’s interests in the Russian defense sector, and participation in circumventing sanctions did not arise out of nowhere. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the activities of "BTA Bank" in Ukraine had a completely different purpose than stated, and its sale is a way to withdraw money to Russia, circumvent sanctions, or conceal assets. Neither the price of the deal nor the route of the proceeds has been disclosed.

Exit from Ukraine – not the end of the story

Kenes Rakishev has been trying to sell the Ukrainian bank for more than a year. Now the potential buyer has become the Nova group, for which a banking license may represent strategic value. For the seller, the deal will probably become another step in reducing banking assets outside Kazakhstan.

But the Ukrainian asset is owned by a businessman whose relations with Ramzan Kadyrov are confirmed by public statements, awards, and investigations into the financing of projects in Chechnya. His Russian business interests are also described in journalistic materials. Therefore, the main intrigue of this story is not that Rakishev is acquainted with Kadyrov. And not even that he is selling a small Ukrainian bank. It lies in what exactly will remain with the seller after the deal and where the money received from the Ukrainian asset will go.

The question that Ukrainian regulators and the seller himself will have to answer: who will ultimately receive the money from the sale of "BTA Bank Ukraine" and what business ties of Rakishev will remain outside this deal?