Alexander Machkevitch is an example of a successful person who managed to unite the largest enterprises of Kazakhstan in the extraction and processing of ore and minerals, becoming the chairman of the board of directors of ERG.
The young Alexander Machkevitch chose a scientific career, and after graduating from Kyrgyz State University in 1978, he enters the graduate school of the Kyrgyz Pedagogical Institute, then receives a degree. It is noteworthy that he was the youngest candidate of science in his specialty. Then, he was conducting scientific work and teaching. And now Alexander Machkevitch is already the head of the faculty and associate professor.
He taught at the university until 1986. Then it became clear that the Soviet Union would fall apart soon. And those who possessed courage and talent tried themselves in entrepreneurship. Alexander Machkevitch begins working in the Kyrgyz branch of the Seabeco Group, which was appointed by Askar Akayev, the then president of Kyrgyzstan, to provide advisory support to the Committee for Reconstruction and Development of the country. The firm also acted as the foreign trade representative of Kyrgyzstan and was exempted from tax obligations. Seabeco Group opened the first international business school in Kyrgyzstan. In the end, the company introduced members of the Kyrgyz government to high-level ministers in Canada, including Charles Macmillan, an adviser to the Canadian prime minister, who helped Kazakhstan develop a market reform program in the early 1990s. Since 2002, Alexander Machkevitch became chairman of the board of directors of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLS (later ERG, Eurasian Group) and chairman of the supervisory board of Eurasian Bank JSC.
Alexander Machkevitch: activities of the Eurasian Group
After a significant decline in financial indicators in 2015-2016 due to adverse market conditions, Alexander Machkevitch managed to increase gross revenue for all ERG operational assets in the world by 39% only in two years.
The increase in revenue is associated with the metals produced by the Eurasian Group (in particular, the increase in prices for aluminum and iron ore), as well as an increase in the volume of production and sales of products.
The key products manufactured by ERG in Kazakhstan are ferroalloys, aluminum, iron ore concentrate, and coal. ERG also produces high-quality high-carbon ferrochrome, silicon and manganese alloys, as well as refined ferrochrome. First-class resource base with low unit costs, integrated full-cycle production, and its own developed infrastructure allow ERG to maintain a leading position in the market.
ERG is not only the leading producer of ferroalloys in Kazakhstan, providing more than 83% of the industrial production of ferroalloys in the country but also one of the key global suppliers – almost 5% of all ferroalloys in the world is produced at the enterprises of the Eurasian Group.
Alexander Machkevitch: the businessman’s social projects
ERG plays a significant role in the life of the population of Kazakhstan. The wide-scale and long-term nature of the businessman’s activities contribute to the economic and social development of the country. Alexander Machkevitch builds strong and trusting relationships with local communities based on the historically established role of enterprises as centers of social and economic development of the most remote regions of Kazakhstan.
The enterprises of Alexander Machkevitch provide the population with jobs as well as a number of socially significant services, such as providing electric and thermal energy, housing construction, infrastructure development, and education. It creates favorable living conditions in the regions of Kazakhstan through the implementation of social investment programs. In addition to this, to reduce the dependence of Kazakhstani society on ERG activities, Alexander Machkevitch invests heavily in diversifying the regional economy and professional development of youth.
He makes a significant part of social investments within the framework of memoranda of mutual cooperation, which are concluded on an annual basis with local executive bodies in the regions of Kazakhstan. Together with the regional akimats, Alexander Machkevitch implements initiatives in the field of infrastructure development, education, healthcare, youth training, and support for social unity.
