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Yury Kovalchuk

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Valentinovich and the family name is Kovalchuk.
For the Ukrainian soldier, see Yurii Kovalchuk.

Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk (Russian: Ю́рий Валенти́нович Ковальчу́к; born 25 July 1951) is a Russian billionaire businessman and financier who is "reputed to be Vladimir Putin's personal banker".[1] The Panama Papers leak revealed that Kovalchuk had transferred at least $1 billion to an offshore entity.[2]

Yury Kovalchuk
Юрий Ковальчук
Born
Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk

(1951-07-25) 25 July 1951 (age 73)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Occupation(s)Chairman and largest shareholder, Rossiya Bank
Known for"Putin's personal banker"
RelativesMikhail Kovalchuk (brother)
Awards

Kovalchuk is a close friend of Putin: he hosted the wedding of Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova to Kirill Shamalov at his ski resort, Igora, in 2013.[3]

According to journalist Mikhail Zygar, Kovalchuk could probably be called Number 2 in today's Russia. While self-isolating from COVID-19 in 2020, Putin spent much time with Kovalchuk, and they share the view that the only important factor is to restore Russian greatness.[4] According to some experts, Kovalchuk played a role in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022.[5][6]

Life

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Yuri Kovalchuk spent his childhood and youth in Leningrad. He was the second child in a family of history teachers. His father, Valentin Mikhailovich Kovalchuk, is Russian, and his mother, Miriam Abramovna Kovalchuk (née Viro), is Jewish. His brother Mikhail is five years older than him.[7]

From 1987 to 1991, he was the first deputy director of Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute.

In 1992, Kovalchuk was a founder of the STREAM Corporation (Russian: ЗАО "Корпорация "СТРИМ").[8]

Kovalchuk is very closely associated with Vladimir Stolyarenko.[9][10][11][12][a]

Since the early 1990s, Kovalchuk has owned a dacha in Solovyovka in the Priozersky District of the Leningrad region, located on the eastern shore of the Komsomolskoye lake on the Karelian Isthmus near Saint Petersburg. His neighbours there are Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Yakunin, Andrei Fursenko, Sergey Fursenko, Viktor Myachin, Vladimir Smirnov and Nikolay Shamalov. Together they instituted the co-operative society Ozero (the Lake) which united their properties on 10 November 1996.[18][19][20]

In November 2000, he was a main shareholder of the Brewery "Baltika" (Russian: пивоваренная компания "Балтика").[10] Since 2004, he has been chair of Rossiya Bank and its largest shareholder.[21][20][22]

The May 2008 issue of Russian Forbes listed him for the first time in its Golden Hundred of Russia's richest, calling him and another new entrant to the List, Gennady Timchenko, "good acquaintances of Vladimir Putin."[23] The magazine placed him at number 53 on the Russians-only list, with an estimated fortune of $1.9 billion. After sanctions imposed on Kovalchuk in 2018, this dropped to $650 million.[24]

His elder brother Mikhail Kovalchuk is the scientific secretary of the Council for Science and High Technologies attached to the president of the Russian Federation.[citation needed]

In 2015, Yury Kovalchuk's National Media Group (NMG) and US Discovery Channel joined forces to form Media Alliance of which NMG owns 80%.[25] Later that year, Kovalchuk acquired the rights to Ted Turner's Russian assets including the Russian version of CNN, Cartoon Network and Boomerang. The reason for the sale was based on the Russian media ownership law that limits ownership of Russian media by foreigners.[26]

In 2017, Kovalchuk purchased the century-old Novy Svet vineyard in Crimea for $26.4 million in one of the first privatization deals in the region since the annexation of the region by Russia.[27]

As of January 2019, Kovalchuk and Nikolai Shamalov through their ownership of Rossiya Bank have become the most important investors in Russia's development of annexed Crimea.[28]

In 2020, the world's leading streaming entertainment service Netflix partnered with Kovalchuk's National Media Group to launch a local-language streaming service in Russia.[29]

On 15 April 2021, Alexei Navalny's website stated that since 2003 Kovalchuk is the owner of Putin's residence at Valdai which is on the southern 100 hectares (250 acres) of a peninsula between Lake Uzhin (Russian: Ужин) and Lake Valdai (Russian: озеро Валдай) in the Novgorod Oblast near Saint Petersburg and is across Lake Valdai from Valday (Russian: Валдай).[30][31] Often, Putin's Dacha, which was built in 1980, is called Valdai, Dolgie Borody, or Stalin's Dacha, but Stalin was not alive when Valdai was built.[32] Abutting north of this location is 150 hectares (370 acres) owned by the Russian Federation and is frequented by the Federal Security Service.[30] Kovalchuk leases Putin's Dacha to the Russian government for an undisclosed price.[30]

Kovalchuk owns shares in several of Russia’s most influential TV channels, including Channel One Russia.[33][34] In December 2021, Alisher Usmanov's holding company USM said it had sold its stake in Russia's leading internet group VK to state-run insurance company Sogaz, which is partly owned by Yury Kovalchuk.[35]

Sanctions

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Kovalchuk was one of several individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on 20 March 2014 in response to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. According to the U.S. Treasury, Kovalchuk is a close advisor to President Putin and has been referred to as one of his "cashiers".[36][37][38][39][40][41]

Kovalchuk was sanctioned by the UK government in 2014 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. [42]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ From 1989 to 1995, the president and chairman of the board of Tokobank was Viktor Konstantinovich Yakunin (Russian: Виктор Константинович Якунин) who created Tokobank.[13] On 28 April 1992 using DM 50 million from a "frozen" VEB account, Tokobank gained an 80.6% stake in Ost-West Handelsbank after the shareholders of Ost-West Handelsbank transferred the stake to Tokobank which was the first privatization of a former sovzagranbank (Russian: Совзагранбанк).[13][14][15] In May 1998, members of the St. Petersburg "Northern Alliance" (Russian: «Северный Альянс») including Vladimir Stolyarenko, held temporary directorships of Tokobank (Russian: Токобанк). In 1998, Tokobank owned a 28% stake in the German bank Ost-West Handelsbank. In 1998, "Northern Alliance" (Russian: «Северный Альянс») associated with Saint Petersburg included directors and shareholders of Tokobank including Sudhir Gupta, owner of Amtel Tire Holding and controlled Yunicbank (Russian: Юникбанк), whose August 1998 head of the supervisory board was Stepan Kovalchuk (Russian: Степан Ковальчук), the chairman of the board of Flamingo Bank (Russian: банк «Фламинг»). Stepan Kovalchuk is a grand-nephew of Yuri Kovalchuk.[11][16][17]

References and notes

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  1. ^ "Russians make leap forward on global billionaires' list". Radio Liberty. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  2. ^ "Revealed: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin". the Guardian. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ^ "The man who married Putin's daughter and then made a fortune". Reuters. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  4. ^ BBC Newshour, March 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "A look at the trio who convinced Putin to invade". Yahoo News. 9 January 2023.
  6. ^ "How Putin blundered into Ukraine — then doubled down". Financial Times. 23 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Юрий Ковальчук – миллиардер, в банке которого хранит деньги Путин". Дзен (in Russian). 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  8. ^ "НОВЫЕ "ОЛИГАРХИ": КТО ОНИ? Немногие сведения о Юрии Ковальчуке и Геннадии Тимченко едва ли позволяют поставить этих людей в один ряд с представителями сверхкрупного бизнеса" [NEW "OLIGARCHS": WHO ARE THEY? Few information about Yuri Kovalchuk and Gennady Timchenko hardly makes it possible to put these people on a par with representatives of super-large business]. ИД "МОСКОВСКИЕ НОВОСТИ" (Moscow News) (in Russian). No. 4. 2004. Archived from the original on 5 March 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  9. ^ Васильев, Юрий (Vasiliev, Yuri) (2004). "НЕВЕДОМЫЕ МИРУ ФАКТЫ: "Люди, очнитесь!" - призвал российский народ кандидат в президенты Иван РЫБКИН. Корреспондент "МН" Юрий ВАСИЛЬЕВ попытался внять его призыву" [FACTS UNKNOWN TO THE WORLD: "People, wake up!" - the presidential candidate Ivan RYBKIN called on the Russian people. MN correspondent Yuri VASILIEV tried to heed his call]. ИД "МОСКОВСКИЕ НОВОСТИ" (Moscow News) issue 4 (in Russian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b "НОВЫЕ "ОЛИГАРХИ": КТО ОНИ? Немногие сведения о Юрии Ковальчуке и Геннадии Тимченко едва ли позволяют поставить этих людей в один ряд с представителями сверхкрупного бизнеса" [NEW "OLIGARCHS": WHO ARE THEY? Few information about Yuri Kovalchuk and Gennady Timchenko hardly makes it possible to put these people on a par with representatives of super-large business]. ИД "МОСКОВСКИЕ НОВОСТИ" (Moscow News) Issue 4 (in Russian). 2004. Archived from the original on 5 March 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. ^ a b ""Дочерние" российские зарубежные банки и сеть ВТБ: доли ЦБ, ВТБ и др" [Russian Foreign "Daughter" Banks and the VTB Network: stakes held by Central Bank, VTB, others]. compromat.ru. February 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  12. ^ Бирман, Александр (Birman, Alexander) (21 February 2005). "В советских сетях: Нефтедоллары пойдут по проверенным каналам загранбанков" [In Soviet networks: Oil dollars will go through proven channels of foreign banks]. Компании Деловой Еженедельник (ko.ru). Archived from the original on 13 March 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ a b "Виктор Константинович Якунин: Нашим возможностям соответствовал, Ost-West Handelsbank" [Victor Konstantinovich Yakunin: Our capabilities matched, Ost-West Handelsbank] (PDF). letopis.org (in Russian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  14. ^ Симонов, Дмитрий (4 May 1992). "Выкуплен первый совзагранбанк: Чьи деньги, Зин?" [The first sovzagranbank was redeemed: Whose money, Zin?]. Коммерсантъ (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  15. ^ Буйлов, Максим (Builov, Maxim) (11 December 2001). "Банки-2001: Кому принадлежит Россия" [Banks-2001: Who owns Russia]. Коммерсант (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2021. Archived at compromat.ru on 11 December 2001.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Бирман, Александр (Birman, Alexander) (21 February 2005). "В советских сетях: Нефтедоллары пойдут по проверенным каналам загранбанков" [In Soviet networks: Oil dollars will go through proven channels of foreign banks]. Компании Деловой Еженедельник (ko.ru). Archived from the original on 13 March 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Рубин, Михаил (Rubin, Mikhail); Баданин, Роман (Badanin, Roman) (28 November 2018). "Телега из Кремля. Рассказ о том, как власти превратили Telegram в телевизор" [A cart from the Kremlin. The story of how the authorities turned Telegram into a TV]. Проект (proekt.media) (in Russian). Retrieved 15 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ How the 1980s Explains Vladimir Putin. The Ozero group. By Fiona Hill & Clifford G. Gaddy, The Atlantic, 14 February 2013
  19. ^ "Владимир Прибыловский, Юрий Фельштинский. Операция "Наследник". Главы из книги". www.lib.ru. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  20. ^ a b Pribylovsky, Vladimir (11 October 2005). "Происхождение путинской олигархии" [The Origin of Putin's Oligarchy]. AntiCompromat.ru (in Russian). Archived 22 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ^ Anna Shcherbakova. Interview with Mikhail Klishin, Director general of the Russia Bank. Vedomosti #35(1316), 1 March 2005. (in Russian)
  22. ^ The Russia Bank, Stockmap.spb.ru
  23. ^ Kremlin-linked tycoon eyes Russia media firm-report reuters.com 23 April 2008.
  24. ^ "Russia Loses 23 Billionaires to Economic Crisis". The Moscow Times. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Billionaire Kovalchuk's National Media Group to Buy Russian Distributor of CNN". The Moscow Times. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  26. ^ "'Putin's personal banker' Kovalchuk to buy CNN Russia as Turner moves out". Eurasian Business Briefing - Information for Investors. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  27. ^ "Putin Ally Targeted by U.S. Sanctions Buys Winery in Crimea". The Moscow Times. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  28. ^ Васильев, Андрей (Vasiliev, Andrey) (25 January 2019). "После Ротенберга хоть камни с неба. Как Крым стал прибыльным бизнесом для друзей Путина" [After Rotenberg, even stones from the sky. How Crimea became a profitable business for Putin's friends]. Insider (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[better source needed]
  29. ^ "Netflix partners with broadcaster linked to Putin ally Yury Kovalchuk". Business Day. 2 September 2020.
  30. ^ a b c "Тайны валдайской дачи Путина" [Secrets of Putin's Valdai dacha]. navalny.com (in Russian). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  31. ^ Матвеев, Владимир (Matveev, Vladimir) (12 September 2000). "Власть" [Vlast]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved 17 April 2021. Map showing location of Putin's dacha at Valdai{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Матвеев, Владимир (Matveev, Vladimir) (12 September 2000). "Путино-Дачное" [Putino-Dachnoe]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved 17 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Meet The Oligarch Who Whispers In Putin's Ear". Forbes. 18 March 2022.
  34. ^ "Putin cronies and criminals gear up to steal Russia". Japan Times. 14 February 2023.
  35. ^ "Telegram's Billionaire Founder Says He's Never Provided Ukrainians' Data To Russia". Forbes. 7 March 2022.
  36. ^ "Executive Order - Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine". The White House - Office of the Press Secretary. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Ukraine-related Designations". www.treasury.gov. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  38. ^ "Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List (SDN) Human Readable Lists". www.treasury.gov. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  39. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russian Officials, Members Of The Russian Leadership's Inner Circle, And An Entity For Involvement In The Situation In Ukraine". United States Treasury Department. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  40. ^ Shuklin, Peter (21 March 2014). "Putin's inner circle: who got in a new list of US sanctions". liga.net. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  41. ^ President of The United States (19 March 2016). "Ukraine EO13661" (PDF). Federal Register. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  42. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.


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