Askar Baitassov

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

Biography
Born on September 25th, 1984 in Mezhdurechenskoye town, Almaty region. Parents – Baitassova Aiman Mukhamedzhanovna, Baitassov Bulat Bakhtygereievich.

In 2002 graduated from Kazakh-Turkish lyceum.

In 2007 graduated from The State University of Management in Moscow, Russian-Dutch Department of Marketing. Spent 3 years studying in Moscow and 2 years at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede, Netherlands.

In 2007 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.

In 2013 Ernst & Young named Askar Baitassov Entrepreneur of the Year in Kazakhstan.

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.

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, 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. Also, in 2024 Forbes USA has published a list of The 16 Most Beautiful Restaurants In The World, According To Prix Versailles – 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, 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 an unique B2B product — the BEAST system for restaurant management.