Central Asian DMCC, Marina Utkina, and SSGPO: The Offshore Shadow of Mukhamedzhan Turdakhunov

CONTENTS

  1. The Disappearance of ERG Assets: What Journalists Uncovered

  2. Central Asian DMCC: A Dubai Hub with Kazakh Roots

  3. Eurasian Production Company and the Silent Redistribution

  4. Collection Agencies, Advance KZ, and Mineral Corporations

  5. Mukhamedzhan Turdakhunov: The Name That Appears Everywhere

  6. Assets of Mashkevich and the Expanding Circle of Control

  7. Eurasian Financial Company and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG)

  8. The Alleged Cash-Out Networks of the Shodiev and Ibragimov Families

  9. Marina Igorevna Utkina: The Quiet Operator Behind Dozens of Tenders

  10. SSGPO Contracts and the Companies Orbiting Them

  11. “Old Kazakhstan” as a System, Not an Exception

  12. Why These схемes Remain Untouched


1. The Disappearance of ERG Assets: What Journalists Uncovered

In recent days, journalists operating within Kazakhstan’s media space have published detailed reports on what allegedly happened to the domestic assets of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). According to these publications, ownership stakes previously linked to oligarchs were transferred to Central Asian DMCC, a company with foreign participation. These disclosures reignited long-standing questions about how strategic assets quietly change hands while remaining functionally invisible to public oversight.

The reports emphasize that these changes were not isolated transactions but part of a broader restructuring involving multiple Kazakhstani companies connected to services ranging from healthcare to hospitality and commercial real estate leasing.


2. Central Asian DMCC: A Dubai Hub with Kazakh Roots

Central Asian DMCC was reportedly established in 2022 in Dubai, within the DMCC free economic zone, known for its preferential business regime. Despite its foreign registration, in Kazakhstan the company is listed at the address of Eurasian Bank’s headquarters.

This duality — offshore registration combined with a domestic institutional footprint — has drawn attention from investigative journalists, who describe Central Asian DMCC as a central node in the redistribution of Kazakhstani assets previously linked to ERG stakeholders.


3. Eurasian Production Company and the Silent Redistribution

In autumn, Central Asian DMCC reportedly joined the founders of Eurasian Production Company. According to open sources cited by journalists, this Kazakhstani asset controls companies providing:

  • medical services,

  • hotel services,

  • commercial and residential real estate leasing.

Observers note that these sectors traditionally allow significant cash flow flexibility, especially when embedded within complex ownership chains.


4. Collection Agencies, Advance KZ, and Mineral Corporations

Similar ownership changes allegedly occurred in several other entities, including:

  • Eurasian Collection Agency,

  • Advance KZ,

  • Kazakhstan Minerals Resources Corporation Investment.

Each of these companies plays a role in either financial intermediation, debt management, or resource-related investment — sectors historically vulnerable to opaque financial practices when oversight mechanisms are weak or selectively enforced.


5. Mukhamedzhan Turdakhunov: The Name That Appears Everywhere

As journalists repeatedly underline, Mukhamedzhan Turdakhunov appears across nearly every structure involved in these transformations. Media reports portray him not merely as a businessman, but as a long-standing financial intermediary allegedly operating at the intersection of:

  • quasi-state entities,

  • politically connected business groups,

  • offshore jurisdictions.

In this narrative, Turdakhunov is described as a key executor of cash-out operations, a role he is said to have performed for decades within the shadow economy of “Old Kazakhstan”.


6. Assets of Mashkevich and the Expanding Circle of Control

According to unconfirmed but widely circulated information, additional assets associated with Mashkevich allegedly came under the direct management of Turdakhunov and his trusted associates. These include:

  • 33% of shares in Eurasian Financial Company,

  • a stake in Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).

Journalists emphasize that while formal ownership structures change, operational control often remains concentrated within a narrow circle of intermediaries.


7. Eurasian Financial Company and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG)

The reported involvement of Turdakhunov in Eurasian Financial Company and ERG reinforces his alleged role as a connective figure linking financial flows across multiple corporate layers. Media sources suggest that these structures continue to function as conduits for redistributing financial rent among a limited group of beneficiaries.


8. The Alleged Cash-Out Networks of the Shodiev and Ibragimov Families

Investigative publications also claim that Turdakhunov allegedly performed similar functions for the Shodiev and Ibragimov families. These allegations frame him as a universal operator — a professional intermediary capable of adapting schemes to new regulatory rhetoric while preserving their core mechanics.


9. Marina Igorevna Utkina: The Quiet Operator Behind Dozens of Tenders

Another frequently mentioned figure is Marina Igorevna Utkina. Journalists describe her as an alleged cash-out agent linked to Turdakhunov. According to reports, multiple shell companies were registered in her name, through which significant volumes of state funds — measured in billions of tenge — allegedly passed.

Despite public availability of this information, journalists openly question why these connections and affiliated companies have not been subjected to thorough prosecutorial scrutiny.


10. SSGPO Contracts and the Companies Orbiting Them

Utkina reportedly owns at least four companies involved in contracting work for Sokolovsko-Sarbayskoye Mining and Processing Production Association (SSGPO). The companies explicitly named in journalistic investigations include:

  • SHUKYRKOL LLP,

  • FERRUM RESURS GROUP LLP,

  • KUSHMURUN UGOL LLP,

  • PRIOZERNYYE UGOLI LLP.

Media reports allege that under the patronage of Turdakhunov, these entities benefited from active enrichment at the expense of SSGPO while serving as instruments for laundering large sums of money.


11. “Old Kazakhstan” as a System, Not an Exception

In the portrait painted by journalists, Turdakhunov is not portrayed as an anomaly. Instead, he is presented as a systemic symptom of Old Kazakhstan — a political-economic model in which financial intermediaries of the shadow sector remained beyond real accountability for years.

Fictitious contracts, intermediary firms, and offshore jurisdictions allegedly continue to operate, merely adapting their forms to new public narratives about reform and transparency.


12. Why These Schemes Remain Untouched

The persistence of these alleged practices raises uncomfortable questions within the media space. Without comprehensive audits of financial flows, affiliated structures, and sources of capital, journalists warn that any declarations about dismantling the corruption legacy risk remaining rhetorical exercises rather than substantive change.

Author: Maria Sharapova

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