Russian ready to splash the cash

Russian billionaire Rashid Sardarov has large expansion plans on his 28 000-hectare Dordabis property, aiming to add 18 000 hectares of neighbouring farms. Concern has been expressed from various quarters of the country, including the farming community.The executive manager of the Namibia Agricultural Union, Sakkie Coetzee, said government has the right of first refusal when land is sold. Coetzee, however, added that if a foreign landowner is able to own 46 000 hectares of land, one of the biggest issues will be that local farmers will start to question why they are not able to own large tracts of land, especially if expropriation starts in Namibia. “Politically speaking, this could come under court scrutiny should expropriation take place in the future. The decision should be very carefully weighed,” he said. He pointed out that Namibia's laws have no limits on how much land a foreigner can own in the country. “This is entirely in the hands of the line minister.” However, the minister must be satisfied that this constitutes as an investment, he explained. “The minister will base his decision on the investment the foreigner is making in terms of the Foreign Investment Act,” said Coetzee. Sardarov's lawyer Sisa Namandje last week issued a statement regarding his client's intention to acquire additional land for expansion. Sardarov intends to donate N$24 million to government should he obtain the required waiver certificates from the landowners and ministerial consent to buy the land. The public has been asked to comment on the statement.Sardarov bought several farms in the Dordabis area measuring 28 000 hectares (around 28 000 football fields) in 2013 through his Switzerland-based company, Comsar Properties SA.Here the state-of-the-art ranch known as Marula Game Ranch was built. By the end of 2014, Sardarov already wanted to buy an additional 18 000 hectares of land for expansion. The owners of the commercial land are to apply for certificates of waiver for the property from the land reform ministry to sell the property to Sardarov. According to Namandje, deeds of sale will then be entered into with them and the land reform ministry will be approached for written consent to acquire the land. According to Namandje, his client carefully considered making a tangible financial investment to social programmes in Namibia upon him being given the necessary statutory permits or consents. “In this regard our client has decided to meet the government halfway in addressing a number of social challenges such as landlessness and rampant unemployment.”Sardarov acquired commercial and agricultural land on which he has developed a multi-million private game farm. He has since constructed other tourist attraction infrastructure on the land including a multi-million dollar lodge.Furthermore, he has constructed infrastructure totalling millions, including modern houses for the employees, dams, waterholes, roads and fences and created employment for locals. According to Namandje the investment by Sardarov is set to grow even more if approval is given to buy the land as plans are to establish a tannery creating further employment. He said an amount of N$12 million is to be given to the land reform ministry to purchase two farms to resettle landless persons. Also, a further N$10 million will be paid to the government to contribute to the Namibia Premier League and N$1 million to refurbish and renovate two primary schools. Sardarov the man Sardarov is described as a flamboyant Russian oligarch with an interest in energy businesses, property, aviation, hospitality and the hunting of wildlife as a sport.He is among high-profile business people that were exposed in the Panama Papers, an offshore leak which unveiled how the rich create offshore shell companies in tax havens to avoid paying taxes, conceal their riches and even engage in crimes such as money laundering.Sardarov chairs Comsar Energy Group and his other company named South-Ural Industrial Company (SUIC), two large private firms in Russia and in Eastern Europe.He is unapologetic about his riches, and was quoted by the Centre for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo as saying he's been “loaded” for years. “I've been a billionaire for years, and I'm not ashamed to say so.”A 2014 local environmental impact assessment (EIA) report stated the Russian billionaire visited Namibia in 2006 on one of his many hunting trips to Africa.According to the report, Sardarov owns the Namibian game ranch through Switzerland-based Comsar Properties SA, which in turn owns Marula Game Ranch (Pty) Limited, together with Namibian partners named as the Popa Group. This company is based in Windhoek and is described as an agent, a construction and engineering company in the mining, transportation, logistics and storage, commercial property development, oil and gas exploration and agriculture, amongst others.It is not clear whether the Namibian partners still own shares. The idea of establishing the Marula Game Ranch and proposed lodge arose out of Sardarov's passion and love for nature and wildlife, particularly the pristine ecosystem of Namibia, the EIA said.He claimed that he wanted to use the ranch to tap into the untapped Eastern, European, Middle Eastern and Asian affluent and high-spending tourists markets.There were over 7 000 wild animals by 2014 on the ranch which Sardarov bought for N$72 million, and the area will keep around 15 000 animals once completed. The total investment by the Russian billionaire would be over N$700 million, claims the EIA.The public can make comments for or against the proposal in writing within five days after the statement was published (3 November) to Namandje and it will be forwarded to the land reform ministry.Questions sent to the land reform ministry went unanswered. ELLANIE SMIT

Russian ready to splash the cash

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

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Russian ready to splash the cash

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

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