Adil Toktarov

Adil Toktarov (born November 19, 1984) is an Iradi property developer who heads the Talas Commercial Development Group, one of the largest owners of commercial real estate in Talas. He is the fourth son of Governor Erlan Toktarov. Like his brothers Timur and Bekzat, he keeps a low public profile, holds no political office and concentrates on the family's business interests in the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ).^[1][2]

Early life and education

Adil was born on November 19, 1984, the fourth child of Erlan Toktarov and Anara Toktarova. He completed secondary school in Talas under the US territorial administration and studied international business and urban economics in Geneva.^[2]

Business career

Adil returned to Irad in 2007, after the Second Iradi Civil War, and founded the Talas Commercial Development Group, which obtained municipal land and zoning approvals in the center of Talas and along the commercial corridor toward Talas Air Base.^[1] The group's properties include:

• the Silk Road Financial Tower, which houses the headquarters of Talasbank and the offices of foreign mining and energy companies;
• the International Diplomatic Hotel, off the central square on the central avenue, used by visiting delegations and contractors;
• shopping centers and residential complexes in the city;
• the football club Tulpar Talas, bought in 2011, and its stadium, the Silk Road Arena, rebuilt in 2014 (see Kara-Ak derby);
• holiday chalets in the lower Besh-Tash valley, on the ISEZ side of the Qara-Chik Demarcation Line, near the Besh-Tash Ecological Conservation Area.

From 2011 several of Adil's projects were joint ventures with his elder brother Alikhan Toktarov, who built office towers, hotels and leisure venues on land acquired along the central avenue of Talas.^[2]

Controversies

Opposition members of the Talas city council and investigative journalists have argued that municipal land was allocated to the Toktarov brothers' companies without competitive auction, and that the group's projects received tax holidays and priority utility connections from the Talas Municipal Water Authority. The municipality has said that the transfers were lawful.^[3] Conservation groups have objected to the construction of chalets near the Besh-Tash conservation area. The oil executive Kamran Bekzatov has named family-controlled construction among the monopolies he wants ended.

Public profile

Adil rarely speaks in public. The group's Silk Road Financial Tower also houses offices of the Irad Foreign Trade Escrow Authority, which supervises the escrow accounts into which the proceeds of Irad's main exports are paid.^[1]

References

1. ^ Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Irad (2023). Real Estate and Commercial Property Directory. Talas.
2. ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2024). 'Urban Transformation and Capital in the ISEZ.' Academic Press, pp. 78–94.
3. ^ Talas Herald (2013). 'Council Questions Avenue Land Transfers.' Talas.