In the lab of an ecological research firm that Rakishev’s wife Asel Tasmagambetova built in Almaty. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
KENGES Rakishev, one of the richest men in Kazakhstan, stepped off a private jet at a Soviet-era airport and hopped into the lead car of a convoy of sport utility vehicles. The cars tore down a two-lane road, zipping past the snow-covered steppe in eastern Kazakhstan at 145kph.
Riding shotgun, Rakishev gestured toward the vast emptiness.
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