Kazakhstan: Charity Appeal: Help Mukhtar

As Kazakhstan celebrates its 25th anniversary of escaping from under the Soviet yoke, spare a thought for a Kazakh who is on his uppers in France.

A worthy plea to help a poor man in need

At risk of trying the goodwill of readers – even at this festive season – Lord Venal brings before you a desperate appeal for another of Kazakhstan’s finest men who has fallen on hard times:

Sad news has just reached me from Paris of the tragic plight of someone I was close to many years ago. His name is Mukhtar, and we would enjoy a quiet glass or two (occasionally a few more) in some of Almaty’s finest nightclubs, accompanied by invariably charming young women. Mukhtar even put a small investment into one of the first funds I established in an attempt to boost the economy of the British Virgin Islands, to which I have always felt an obligation.

Alas, those halcyon days are far off, and the news from Paris that Mukhtar has not a penny to rub together after release from jail brought a tear or two to my eye. A modest man, he is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He did not complain when imprisoned solely through a misunderstanding back in 2013. Nor has he charged Kazakhstan for looking after money from BTA bank for all these years.

Indeed, Mukhtar’s modesty is legendary: when leaving London in February 2012 he forsook the luxury of a private jet, choosing instead to travel as a simple man, anonymously, on a regular coach from London’s Victoria Coach Station. No one would have cast a second glance at him as he travelled. An example to us all.

Mukhtar is intelligent, witty and – apart from a misguided wish to remove from office Kazakhstan’s Great Helmsmen – a model of selfless service to his country. Do dig deep for a man brought up in poverty who once touched riches but is now once again cast into poverty.

Yacht appeal update: Lord Venal would like to thank ever so generous readers who contributed towards a fund to buy a replacement yacht for another promising young man fallen on hard times. Sadly the funds were insufficient for a new yacht, but they were enough to buy him an Uz-Daewoo Tico. Nurali Aliyev told Lord Venal joyfully that if he falls on hard times again, he can always turn his new vehicle into a tuk-tuk to earn a few pennies to keep body and soul together.