The British government has disclosed information about the real estate owned by the family of Kazakhstan's former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, registered in London through offshore companies, reports The Times. The total value of these assets is estimated at £40.3 mn (approximately $50 mn).
In particular, the article mentions that Nursultan Nazarbayev's daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, owns two flats in Chelsea worth £31 mn and a house in Highgate in north London worth £9.3 mn. The properties are registered under offshore companies Tropicana Assets Foundation and Villa Magna Foundation, based in Panama.
It's also noted that Nursultan Nazarbayev's son-in-law, Timur Kulibaev, acquired real estate from Prince Andrew in 2007 through an offshore company for £15 mn. Kulibaev also owns property worth £1.5 mn near Hyde Park.
Both Nursultan Nazarbayev and Dariga Nazarbayeva have not responded to The Times' requests for comments. The company Schillings, which represents Timur Kulibaev's interests, stated that he is a "successful independent entrepreneur who has legally and transparently accumulated his wealth over 35 years" (Kazakhstan has a law on the return of assets acquired unlawfully).
Information about the London real estate owned by the family of Kazakhstan's former president through offshore companies became public knowledge thanks to the UK government's register of beneficial owners of foreign companies.
The Times prepared its article based on previously undisclosed information from this register. The publication also mentioned the real estate of Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, and the property of the daughter of Angola's former president, Isabel dos Santos, who was previously included in Forbes' ranking of African billionaires.
The idea of creating the register as a means to combat money laundering was proposed in 2016 by then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron. However, the corresponding bill was only passed in the spring of 2022 amid the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and war.
As of today, according to The Daily Mail, there are about 29,000 foreign companies registered in the register. However, more than 5,000 do not disclose their ultimate owner. In its publication, The Times also mentioned a similar gap in the law.
Based on this, the list of Nazarbayev family properties provided above may be incomplete. Previous reports in the media have also mentioned other properties in London belonging to relatives of Kazakhstan's former president.
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