The Ministry of Justice aims to recover property illegally acquired by Maxim Bakiev
Kyrgyzstan has decided to initiate legal proceedings with the French authorities regarding the castle of the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. This became known through the Telegram channel "Eurasian Briefing".
The country's Ministry of Justice has begun the process in a French court with the aim of recovering property that was illegally acquired by Maxim Bakiev, the son of former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, who is currently in hiding.
It is expected that the legal proceedings will take a significant amount of time and could last several years, so it is unclear how this case will ultimately be resolved and whether it will be in favor of the Kyrgyz Republic, as it all depends on the decisions of French judges.
The case concerns the "Château de la Garoupe," located on the Cap Antibes in the famous "billionaires' bay." At one time, Maxim Bakiev registered this property in the name of his partner Boris Berezovsky, and after his death in 2013, Bakiev was unable to re-register it, leaving the property abandoned.
Currently, the process of recovering this luxurious property is being overseen by Ayaz Bayetov, the head of the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan.
Maxim Bakiev, the son of the country's second president, acquired the villa during his father's rule; however, the exact details of the transaction, including the date and amount, have not been disclosed. It is known that Berezovsky became the owner of the castle in 1996, paying 8.4 million euros. The villa is located in southeastern France on a plot of over 100,000 square meters and has a sea view. In 2001, Berezovsky also purchased the neighboring villa and plot, with a total cost of nearly 13 million euros. Ultimately, the total value of the oligarch's properties in this region reached about 74 million euros.
After Berezovsky's death in March 2013, an investigation into his assets began in France, and in 2015, the criminal court in Marseille sentenced French realtor Jean-Louis Bord to two years of probation and ordered the confiscation of the "Château de la Garoupe," establishing that it was acquired with illegally obtained funds.
French justice spent ten years examining schemes related to the purchase of this property, and in 2015, all assets previously owned by Berezovsky were confiscated.
In 2023, the French agency for managing confiscated assets put part of Berezovsky's property up for auction, and in 2024, the "Château de la Garoupe" was sold to American entrepreneur and programmer Jan Koum for 65 million euros.
After the overthrow of Kurmanbek Bakiev in April 2010, Kyrgyzstan nationalized 47 properties and companies owned by former officials. Of the 47 properties, at least 25 remained in state ownership, while 22 were alienated, with the revenue from their sale exceeding 200 million soms.
Kurmanbek Bakiev came to power in the spring of 2005 during the "Tulip Revolution," replacing Askar Akayev, who had been president of Kyrgyzstan for five years. In 2010, in an attempt to suppress the uprising, Bakiev ordered the shooting of protesters, resulting in the deaths of 84 people and injuries to 1,500. As a result of the "April Revolution," Bakiev and his family fled the country and are reportedly currently in Belarus.
Bakiev was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison and placed on the international wanted list. Authorities are also pursuing his family, known as the "Bakiev clan."
If Kyrgyzstan succeeds in recovering the castle, it could become the largest asset recovery in the history of the nationalization of the "Bakiev family" assets, considering the recent sale price of 65 million euros, which significantly exceeds previous revenues from the sale of confiscated assets.
It is believed that information about the purchase of the castle and other assets of Maxim Bakiev was provided by Alexey Shirshov, a former high-ranking official and close associate of Bakiev, who was considered the "gray cardinal" of the country's energy sector. Shirshov held key positions in energy companies and left Kyrgyzstan in 2010, being placed on the international wanted list. In May 2022, he was detained but was soon released under house arrest.
The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, released Shirshov, citing his willingness to cooperate with the investigation and assist in the recovery of Maxim Bakiev's assets, including 200 million dollars that are under arrest in several foreign jurisdictions.
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