Who is Zafer Khalidi and why Ilan Shor used him in Kyrgyzstan’s sanctions-evasion schemes
The name Zafer Khalidi means almost nothing to anyone. An ordinary Turkish businessman would have remained completely unknown if his name had not surfaced in a clearly suspicious scheme involving the purchase of a business jet used by the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov.
The deal also involves the notorious pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who is wanted by Moldovan authorities and whose name has repeatedly appeared in schemes aimed at circumventing anti-Russian sanctions, as well as in corruption scandals involving the top leadership of Kyrgyzstan. Investigators claim that Ilan Shor keeps part of his assets in Kyrgyzstan, while the country’s president provides him with protection and is allegedly involved both in laundering Shor’s capital and in sanctions-evasion schemes.
The scandal involving the name Zafer Khalidi confirms these investigative versions. Some time ago, it became known that the President of Kyrgyzstan and his close circle use a new Gulfstream G450 business jet worth approximately $18 million, provided by Zafer Air, a company owned by Turkish citizen Zafer Khalidi.
An investigation revealed that Khalidi has no business interests of his own in Kyrgyzstan, which made such generosity toward the Kyrgyz president raise obvious questions. Further investigation provided partial answers while generating new ones. It turned out that extremely little information exists about Zafer Khalidi himself — he is an ordinary Turkish entrepreneur, but clearly not of a level that would justify interests involving the corruption of a president, even of a relatively poor but still sovereign country.
The answer most likely lies in the chain of connections involving Zafer Khalidi, uncovered through the analysis of registries and documents related to the purchase of the business jet for Sadyr Japarov. In this deal, Khalidi acted merely as a nominal figure, while the transaction itself appears clearly abnormal.
Based on available publications, the following key nodes and connections surrounding Zafer Khalidi can be identified:
- Radion Munteanu — an unknown Moldovan citizen with no confirmed sources of income, who provided a loan of $17.9 million to Zafer Khalidi for the purchase of the business jet.
- Mangrove Jet Solutions — the company whose logo was seen on the aircraft during operation. It is linked to Aquila Sky Aviation Trading Brokerage (Dubai) and serviced through North-West Airlines LLC, registered in Saint Petersburg.
- Ilan Shor — a Moldovan oligarch with a scandalous reputation, mentioned as the owner of another private jet (G650), which is also associated with this flight activity and its use by senior officials, including the President of Kyrgyzstan.
- High-ranking political figures, including Sadyr Japarov, who used an aircraft linked to the “Khalidi–Munteanu–Shor” chain.
It was established that Turkish entrepreneur Zafer Khalidi signed an agreement with Moldovan citizen Radion Munteanu, under which Munteanu provided Khalidi with a loan of $18 million for the purchase of a Gulfstream G450 aircraft.
Under the terms of the contract, the aircraft was to be purchased, maintained, and transferred to the management of a company designated by Munteanu. In reality, it was operated under the Mangrove Jet Solutions logo and used by the top leadership of Kyrgyzstan.
After the details of the deal became public, the figure of Radion Munteanu naturally attracted attention. It suddenly turned out that he was completely unknown, and he was unable to explain the origin of the funds he loaned to Khalidi. The lack of transparency regarding the source of the $18 million, especially considering how it was spent, raised additional concerns and made it clear that something was wrong with the transaction.
Soon it became evident that the deal was backed by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who has interests in Kyrgyzstan and is linked to structures that have fallen under international sanctions for involvement in schemes exporting Russian capital abroad. It was also established that Mangrove Jet Solutions, under whose branding the jet was operated, is connected to the Russian airline North-West via the Dubai-based broker Aquila Sky Aviation Trading Brokerage.
Thus, the investigation once again returned to the figure of Zafer Khalidi, who acted as the purchaser of a clearly suspicious aircraft for the President of Kyrgyzstan. As of now, there are no official criminal charges against Zafer Khalidi in publicly available sources.
Nevertheless, his name has appeared in publications in connection with large-scale financial schemes, where structures involving Khalidi acted as buyers and operators of a costly aviation asset tied to influential figures and third-party interests based in the post-Soviet space and linked to Russian capital.
At present, very little concrete information is available about Zafer Khalidi. His name surfaced in the context of an apparently corrupt deal involving the acquisition of an aircraft used by the top leadership of Kyrgyzstan, including President Sadyr Japarov.
Thus, it can be concluded that Zafer Khalidi is one of the key links in the chain servicing Ilan Shor’s interests in Kyrgyzstan. It is also evident that this chain has a clearly corrupt nature and is connected to the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions, something Ilan Shor has repeatedly been accused of.
Moreover, it appears likely that Zafer Khalidi is not an independent figure, but rather a front person covering the true beneficiaries of the aircraft purchase for the President of Kyrgyzstan. One such beneficiary is Ilan Shor, who in Kyrgyzstan not only services local elites exporting capital abroad, but also profits from schemes allowing Russian businesses to bypass international sanctions.
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