Askar Baitassov

Askar Baitassov
Born	Askar Bulatovich Baitassov (1984-09-25) 25 September 1984 (age 40) Village Mezhdurechenskoye, Almaty region, Kazakhstan
Occupation(s)	Founder and CEO of abr company

Askar Bolatuly Baitassov (Qazaq: Асқар Болатұлы Байтасов; Russian: Аскар Булатович Байтасов; born September 25, 1984, Mezhdurechenskoye, Almaty region) is a Kazakhstani businessman, founder of abr company, and owner of 50 restaurants in Kazakhstan.

Biography

Baitassov was born on September 25, 1984, in Mezhdurechenskoye, Almaty region to parents Baitassova Aiman Mukhamedzhanovna and Baitassov Bulat Bakhtygereievich.^[1]

In 2002, Askar graduated from Kazakh-Turkish Lyceum and in 2007, he graduated from the State University of Management Moscow, Russian-Dutch Department of Marketing. He spent 3 years studying in Moscow and 2 years at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede, Netherlands.

In 2007, he started managing the family restaurant business in Almaty.

In 2012, founded abr restaurant company. Askar Baitassov has upscaled the family business into a holding that has become the leader of the restaurant industry in Almaty.^[2]

In 2013, Ernst & Young named Askar Baitassov Entrepreneur of the Year in Kazakhstan.^[3]

In 2016, Askar Baitassov graduated from the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

In 2020, was included in the expert body of Almaty Business Council.^[4]

abr company

In 15 years of its existence in Kazakhstan, abr has grown to 50 restaurants united under 18 concepts (mono and chain): Del Papa, Афиша, Cafeteria, Огонёк,^[5] AUYL, Aroma, Дареджани, Julius, Luckee Yu, Бродвей Бургер, COCO, RAW, SPIROS, Blanca, TÖR, ŞYÑ 32, JINAU, Alma. In the nearest future several more projects await – for example, Astra cafe.

In 2024 two of abr restaurants — TÖR and AUYL — were included in the 52 Places to Go rating by The New York Times.^[6] Also, in 2024 Forbes USA has published a list of The 16 Most Beautiful Restaurants In The World, According To Prix Versailles^[7] – a yearly architectural prize by UNESCO, in which AUYL restaurant was included.

abr+ mobile app

In 2020 the company has switched to foodtech releasing abr+ app,^[8][9] and has gathered own development team by 2021, creating a full scale bonus experience for the offline. In 2023, the abr tech team has created a unique B2B product — the BEAST system for restaurant management.^[10]

References

1. "Европейская прописка Аскара Байтасова". Forbes Kazakstan.
2. "Как открыть свой ресторан: метод Аскара Байтасова". Forbes Kazakhstan.
3. "Предпринимателем года в Казахстане стал Аскар Байтасов". Forbes Kazakhstan.
4. "Zamandas podcast: Аскар Байтасов: моя работа быть недовольным / как построить сеть из 50 ресторанов". YouTube. kana beisekeyev. 17 January 2024.
5. "Ресторан Аскара Байтасова "Огонёк" назвали лучшим в стране". Forbes Kazakhstan.
6. "52 Places to Go in 2024". The New York Times. 9 January 2024.
7. "The 16 Most Beautiful Restaurants In The World, According To Prix Versailles". Forbes.
8. "Как abr меняет ресторанный рынок Алматы с помощью приложения abr+". Forbes Kazakhstan.
9. "50 крупнейших торговых интернет-площадок Казахстана — 2024". Forbes Kazakhstan.
10. "В Казахстане появилась инновационная платформа для управления ресторанами". Forbes Kazakhstan.