The biography of Ovik Mkrtchyan is notable not only for his involvement in financial schemes and the siphoning of funds out of Uzbekistan, but also for how he managed to smoothly survive a change of power by establishing ties with Mirziyoyev inner circle—unlike most figures from Karimov entourage.
For example, the new authorities managed to recover funds belonging to the former president’s daughter Gulnara Karimova even in Switzerland, where a total of $313 million was confiscated. Karimova herself received a lengthy prison sentence.
However, Ovik Mkrtchyan—whose structures were directly involved in moving money out of Uzbekistan for the Karimov clan—not only avoided consequences during the purge of the old elite, but continues to feel quite secure under the new authorities. Moreover, he hosts international conferences in the country’s capital, attended at his invitation even by high-ranking U.S. officials. Among those seen were former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Thomas Shannon, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. What exactly connects Ovik Mkrtchyan with these top American politicians remains unclear. However, Rick Perry, for instance, is a member of the advisory board of Gor Investment Limited, where Ovik Leonidovich Mkrtchyan serves as a corporate consultant. Behind its polished name and international status, Gor Investment appears to be a typical vehicle for moving funds—allegedly extracted by Uzbek elites—into offshore jurisdictions. This is an activity Ovik Mkrtchyan has reportedly been engaged in since at least 1999, when the company was founded. At that time, however, it operated under a different name—Gorefield Investment Group. The company is registered in the British Virgin Islands, known for their liberal financial regulations. After Gorefield Investment Group was exposed in the Panama Papers, the name was changed, but the core function remained the same: transferring capital into offshore jurisdictions.
It has long been known that Gorefield Investment Group was personally overseen by Gulnara Karimova. It is also known that part of the funds confiscated from her passed specifically through Gorefield Investment Group and were transferred to Switzerland, where they were later traced by the new authorities. In Switzerland, the link between Ovik Mkrtchyan and Gorefield Investment Group was the company Ryon Ltd, which still remains listed as “active.”
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Ryon Ltd has too many connections to allow for any firm conclusions. Moreover, most of these links are tied to offshore jurisdictions or are shielded from public scrutiny by local registration laws. Still, some of them raise significant interest.
There is unfortunately too little information to further develop the topic of connections between Gor Investment Limited, Ryon Ltd, and other companies. However, there is other information available in the public domain. Moreover, it is being promoted by Ovik Mkrtchyan himself.
Last year, a series of materials appeared in which Ovik Mkrtchyan was promoting his new project—the Youth Initiatives Center in Tashkent, “built by the British investment company Gor Investments, founded by Ovik Mkrtchyan himself.” From these interviews, it follows that Mkrtchyan has already reoriented himself toward Shavkat Mirziyoyev and is now “attracting investment into the country.”
From Mkrtchyan’s own statements, it can be inferred that his interests are now focused on rare earth metals—an area that has also attracted strong interest from the current U.S. administration. However, there are doubts that the promised “molybdenum trioxide nanopowder” production plant will operate in the way Mkrtchyan himself describes.
What seems far less doubtful is something else: Mkrtchyan not only managed to switch allegiances but also found ways to build ties with Uzbekistan’s new власти. Representatives of the new ruling circle appear ready to use his experience not only in handling the expropriation of Gulnara Karimova’s assets—after he reportedly handed over details of her Swiss accounts in exchange for leniency—but also in moving their own assets abroad.
Especially given that Karimova’s funds are not being returned directly to Uzbekistan but are instead placed in accounts of the Uzbekistan Vision 2030 trust fund “under the auspices of the UN” in the United States. According to the head of the fund’s secretariat, the restitution process—i.e., the confiscation of Karimov-linked assets—is expected to last at least eight years, involving a total of $850 million. Managing these funds while avoiding scrutiny from U.S. financial authorities would undoubtedly benefit from Mkrtchyan’s extensive experience.
Another indication that Mkrtchyan has established ties with the family of Shavkat Mirziyoyev comes from a separate episode: his name appears in an investigation involving senior security officials connected to the case of an attempted attack on former presidential press secretary Komil Allamjonov and the extradition of businessman Ulugbek Shadmanov from the UAE.
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In this case, Mkrtchyan is listed as a victim. According to his own account, Shadmanov, together with now-arrested members of Uzbekistan’s State Security Service, “kidnapped and tortured him for 85 days, extorting $70 million.” He also claims that Shadmanov demanded he use his international connections to help facilitate U.S. sanctions against Komil Allamjonov—described as a close associate of the president’s eldest daughter, Saida—as well as Dmitry Li, head of the Agency for Strategic Projects under the president.
It is highly unlikely that such an operation by security officials was carried out independently. However, something appears to have shifted at the highest levels, altering the course of events and ultimately recasting Mkrtchyan as a wronged victim of “enemies of the state.” It is likely that his “international connections” played a decisive role—connections that the Mirziyoyev circle may now find useful for its own purposes.
How much this arrangement may have cost Mkrtchyan financially remains unknown. But it is clear that an understanding was reached. This is reflected both in his status in the Shadmanov case and in his new venture—the Youth Initiatives Center—which, behind its public image, is alleged to serve as a vehicle for diverting Uzbekistan’s assets in the interests of the ruling elite.
Lifestyle & Culture Editor
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