Central Paris Kidnapping Targets Uzbek Banking Magnate

Prominent Uzbek banker and majority owner of Anorbank, Kahramonjon Olimov, was abducted in central Paris and later released after a ransom was paid.

The 48-year-old financier, who owns 99.38 per cent of shares in Anorbank, a leading digital bank in Uzbekistan, was reportedly kidnapped in June in an upscale district of the French capital, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

He was transported to a villa basement near Nice, where he was beaten and threatened before his eventual release.

Doctors at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Paris confirmed that Olimov suffered multiple bruises and trauma-related symptoms, including insomnia and acute anxiety. His personal secretary described the incident as “unpleasant,” adding, “but it’s behind us now.”

Olimov had been in Paris for business talks and to close a real estate transaction with French partners.

French authorities have launched a criminal investigation under the charge of “unlawful confinement by a group”, and one suspect has been detained.

Olimov is a central figure in Uzbekistan’s banking and energy sectors. In addition to managing over $1 billion in assets through Anorbank, he is also involved in a gas-turbine power plant project in Surkhandarya, southern Uzbekistan, in collaboration with French energy firm EDF, via a Dutch-registered company.

His investment portfolio includes shares in several major financial and tech entities in Uzbekistan.

In 2023, Olimov was also named as a co-founder of the Uzbek branch of bi1, a French supermarket chain.