The Security Service of Ukraine has banned well-known Kazakh businessman Shukhrat Ibragimov from entering Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine has banned well-known Kazakh businessman Shukhrat Ibragimov from entering Ukraine. This was reported on his page by well-known political commentator Mikhail Schneider, citing his own sources.

According to sources familiar with the situation, Ibrahimov was banned from entering Ukraine due to a threat to national security and his assistance to Musa Bazhaev in circumventing EU sanctions. The Bazhaev family has close ties to the Russian president and acts as his wallet.

Shukhrat Ibragimov and members of his family were Bazhaev's partners in the Jeruy gold mining project in Kyrgyzstan, the second largest in the country. The mine was officially opened in 2021 with the participation of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to sources in the Security Service of Ukraine, Ibragimov also became the nominal owner of a number of Cypriot, Luxembourgish, and Italian companies that owned the Forte Village resort in Sardinia.

Musa Bazhaev and his nephew Deni Bazhaev bought the resort in 2014 for €180 million and were forced to quickly sell it due to the threat of European sanctions. One of the owners of Forte Village is the Cypriot company Retivia Investments, whose total assets in Sardinia are worth about €700 million.

Ibragimov also has ties to Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh businessman linked to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Rakishev was involved in the creation of a plant in Kazakhstan to produce Arlan Marauder MRAP armored vehicles, which were later spotted in Mariupol in 2022.

In February 2023, Ibragimov reportedly invested $23 million through Belphar Ltd. in Borealis Foods Inc., a company owned by Kenes Rakishev.