Alexander Evgenievich Lebedev was born in Moscow on December 16, 1959. His father, Evgeniy Nikolaevich, is a professor, Doctor of Science, after graduating from Moscow Higher Technical University. Bauman devoted his entire life to teaching. In his youth, he was professionally involved in sports, played for the USSR national water polo team, was awarded the title “Honored Master of Sports”, and was friends with the famous Lev Yashin. Mother - Maria Sergeevna - after graduating from a pedagogical institute in Moscow, she worked as a rural teacher on Sakhalin, then taught English at a university.
In 1977, Alexander entered the Faculty of Economics of MGIMO, where he studied in depth the global monetary and financial system, paying special attention to the problems of international debt obligations.
In 1982, after completing his studies at MGIMO, A. Lebedev was assigned to the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System, where he began writing his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Debt problems and challenges of globalization.” However, he was soon asked to go to work for the Foreign Intelligence Service, where Alexander Lebedev worked until 1992, working, in particular, on issues of preventing capital flight abroad.
Having retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel, A. Lebedev decided to go into financial business and created his first brainchild - the Russian Investment and Financial Company (RIFK). In 1995, RIFK acquired the dwarf and troubled National Reserve Bank (NRB). In 2 years it has become one of the largest financial institutions in the country. NRB, along with Alfa Bank, are the only ones of the country's 10 leading private banks that survived the August 1998 crisis.
Today, the National Reserve Bank is one of the most stable and reliable Russian banks, enjoying the trust of domestic and foreign investors.
The NRB is the core of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC) created on its basis. NRC is one of the first large financial and industrial groups in Russia, focused not on making a profit from the exploitation of natural resources, but on financing high-tech industries and social sector enterprises.
In its investment policy, the corporation strives, first of all, to provide support to those industries whose development has a beneficial effect not only on the national economy, but also on the social sphere. Among the priorities are the implementation of investment projects in the aviation industry and air transportation, energy, agriculture, telecommunications, construction, mortgages and housing and communal services.
Along with the bank, the holding includes the National Housing Corporation, a leading company in the industry of low-rise individual housing construction, and the National Land Company, which occupies a leading position in the production of potatoes and other agricultural crops. The largest resort and recreational complex has been built and is operating in Crimea.
In 2003, Alexander Lebedev took part in the elections of the mayor of Moscow and in the elections of deputies of the State Duma. The first test of strength in the election of the head of the capital's executive power was quite successful - A. Lebedev received about 13% of the votes.
Following the results of the parliamentary elections, A. Lebedev was elected to the State Duma.
In this field, he became one of the most active legislators, introducing dozens of bills into parliament aimed at:
- increasing information openness and responsibility of government authorities;
- formation of an affordable housing market and development of the Russian aviation industry;
- reforming the judicial system and the law enforcement system (in terms of eliminating the accusatory bias, reducing administrative and financial pressure on Russian courts and law enforcement agencies at all levels, improving the institution of cooperation with investigators, etc.);
- reduction of privileges of officials at various levels (legislative prohibition of special signals, special license plates and special coupons on cars, etc.);
- tightening of penalties for the sale of tobacco and alcoholic beverages to minors;
- A. Lebedev is the author of a bill on the removal of gambling establishments outside Russian cities.
After the end of his term as a deputy in 2007, Alexander Lebedev returned to business. At the same time, he devotes a significant part of his time to public activities, being the president of the National Investment Council, the International Institute for World Development and the Center for Integration Problems of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Together with the Memorial Society, A. Lebedev began implementing a project to construct a Museum and Memorial Complex to the Victims of the Gulag based on the design of Ernst Neizvestny. In the fall of 2010, together with former USSR President M. S. Gorbachev, he co-founded the “Civil Dialogue” forum, designed to accumulate civil society initiatives.
Alexander Lebedev considers free media one of the most important institutions of a democratic society. As a shareholder of Novaya Gazeta, he supported the publication, which has become a symbol of independent investigative journalism in Russia. A. Lebedev is also the publisher of the British newspapers The London Evening Stadard and The Independent.
At the same time, Alexander Lebedev is active in charitable activities, being the president of the Charitable Reserve Fund (BRF) and the founder of the international fund named after. Raisa Gorbacheva. With the funds allocated by him, the largest children's oncology clinic in Russia was built in St. Petersburg, and the treatment of children at the Russian Oncology Research Center named after. Blokhin, purchases of medical equipment and internships of Russian doctors in the world's leading clinics are carried out.
Alexander Lebedev cooperates with the Russian Orthodox Church and provides support for its pastoral and missionary activities. The charitable reserve fund helps the Holy Trinity Lavra, the Sretensky Stavropegial Monastery, the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, and finances the restoration of the Spaso-Yakovlevsky and Assumption Cathedrals of Rostov the Great. With the funds of the NRC, a 65-meter lighthouse temple of St. was erected in the village of Malorechenskoye near Alushta. Nicholas of Myra, which has already become one of the attractions of Crimea.
Thanks to the support of Alexander Lebedev, the Theater and House-Museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta was restored, he helps the Theater-Workshop of Pyotr Fomenko, the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov, and the Galina Vishnevskaya Center for Opera Singing. The Charitable Reserve Fund, together with the New World magazine, presents the writer's prize to them. Yuri Kazakov. With funds from the foundation, a monument to Osip Mandelstam was erected in Voronezh. The BRF implements international projects aimed at supporting and disseminating the Russian language and culture outside of Russia. As part of this activity, a center for Russian culture, Château des Forgets, was opened in the vicinity of Paris, which in the future will become part of the network of “Russian houses in Europe.”
The monument to Alexander Suvorov was restored in Switzerland using the funds of the National Republic of Belarus, and the “Sorrowful” monument was erected in London - a sign of memory of the citizens of the USSR who died during the Second World War.
For active social and charitable activities, Alexander Lebedev was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, the Order of Ukraine “For Merit,” III degree, the Order of St. Innocent of the Moscow Russian Orthodox Church, the Order of St. Prince Vladimir of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the medal UNESCO "Dialogue of Cultures".
A. Lebedev is a Doctor of Economics, the topic of his dissertation is “Financial globalization in the context of problems of global, regional and national (Russian) development.”
Lebedev Alexander Evgenievich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC National Reserve Corporation (NRC), President of JSC AKB, President of the holding "New Media", deputy of the Slobodskaya District Duma, deputy of the State Duma of the fourth convocation (2003-2007).
Born on December 16, 1959 in Moscow. Father, Evgeniy Nikolaevich, Doctor of Technical Sciences, was a professor at Moscow Higher Technical University. Mother, Maria Sergeevna, teacher of English at MGIMO University of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Education
Graduated from English special school No. 17. At school I studied in the same class with Alexander Mamut.From 1977 to 1982 he studied at the Faculty of Economics of MGIMO, a specialist in the monetary and financial field.
In 1984 he graduated from the Red Banner Institute of the KGB of the USSR.
In 2000 he defended his Ph.D. thesis.
In 2003, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Financial globalization in the context of problems of global, regional and national (Russian) development.”
Doctor of Economic Sciences.
Speaks English, Spanish, French, Italian.
Professional activity
In 1982, he was assigned to the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences.In 1983 - in diplomatic work: in the information department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the department of international economic relations, then in the II European Department.
From 1988 to 1992 he worked as second secretary at the USSR Embassy in Great Britain.
In 1992 he left London and the diplomatic service.
In 1992 - representative of a Swiss company "Company Financier Tradition" in the CIS countries.
From 1992 to 1993 - Chairman of the Board "Russian investment and financial company".
From 1993 to 1995, he headed the foreign investment department of the bank. "Imperial".
He was a member of the political council of the “Our Home is Russia” (NDR) movement.
From 1995 to 2004 - President and CEO of AKB "National Reserve Bank", whose largest shareholder was Gazprom.
In 1996 - participation in the election campaign Boris Yeltsin.
In 1997, at the IV congress of the movement “Our Home is Russia” (NDR) Viktor Chernomyrdin was elected a member of the political council of the NDR.
In 1997, he was elected deputy chairman of the Kedr Ecological Party.
In 1999 - deputy head of the NDR.
In 1999, he stopped sponsoring the Ecological Party "Kedr"
In 2002 - member of the Board of Directors of OJSC "Federal Grid Company of the Unified Energy System" ("FSK UES").
In 2003, he took part in the elections for the mayor of Moscow as a candidate for this post and in the parliamentary elections, and headed the Moscow regional list of the Rodina bloc. In the elections for mayor of the capital, Lebedev won 12.35% of the votes.
In 2003, he formally resigned as president, chairman of the board of the National Reserve Bank, and his other positions in business.
In 2003, he left the Rodina bloc and joined the United Russia faction.
From 2003 to 2007 - Deputy of the State Duma of the fourth convocation
From 2004 to 2005 - Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Relations with Compatriots.
In 2005, he was released from the post of co-chairman of the bilateral interparliamentary commission on cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Council of Ukraine from the Russian part of this commission and was removed from the composition of the State Duma representatives in the Russian part of this commission.
In 2006, he transferred his share of shares in a Russian aircraft leasing company worth about one hundred million pounds (approximately $190 million) to the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation.
In 2007, he moved from United Russia to the A Just Russia party (remaining in the EdRa Duma faction).
In 2007, he sponsored the publication of the anti-Luzhkov newspaper “Moscow Correspondent” (closed due to the financial crisis on October 30, 2008).
In 2008, he was expelled from the A Just Russia party for anti-party activities.
In 2008, on the basis of the Novaya Gazeta publication owned by Lebedev, the New Media media holding was registered. It was planned that the new holding would include other media assets of the entrepreneur: the Moscow Correspondent newspaper and two radio frequencies. Lebedev took over as president of the new structure.
In 2008 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC National Reserve Corporation.
In 2009 - acquired a controlling stake in a London newspaper The Evening Standard holding Daily Mail & General Trust for the symbolic amount of £1.
In 2009 - Candidate for the position of Head of the municipal formation of the resort city of Sochi - Head of the city of Sochi, the registration of the candidate was canceled by the election commission by court decision due to an incorrectly completed financial report during registration.
In April 2009, he launched bankruptcy proceedings for a German discount airline. Blue Wings, of which he was the largest shareholder, after which he offered his stake in the airline Aeroflot for one euro.
In 2010, I purchased a British liberal-democratic newspaper for a symbolic 1 pound sterling. The Independent.
In 2011 - deputy of the Sloboda District Duma of the Kirov Region of the fourth convocation in the Ilyinsky four-mandate electoral district No. 5.
Awards:
Gratitude for active participation in organizing and conducting the election campaign of President B.N. Yeltsin.
Church Order of St. Innocent of Moscow. Awarded for missionary work.
UNESCO Medal “Dialogue of Cultures”. For active charity and sponsorship activities.
He enjoys fishing.
Married, has two sons.
The first wife, Natalya, is the daughter of the famous Soviet biologist, academician Vladimir Sokolov. Scientist, works at Moscow University.
Second wife Elena Perminova (born 1984).
Son Evgeniy (born 1980) lives in London, has two degrees, and is an economist. Also graduated from the Royal College of Fine Arts.
Son Nikita (born 2009).
Touches to the portrait
2006 | On January 20, 2006, on the initiative of Alexander Lebedev, a slot machine, a “one-armed bandit” with the inscription “A gift from Alexander Lebedev to lobbyists for the gambling business in the government and in the State Duma,” was installed near the passage leading to the plenary meeting hall of the State Duma. The machine stood for a day and was removed by employees of the State Duma apparatus (Rossiyskaya Gazeta dated January 21, 2006);2007 |
On September 21, in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper:
- However, you are a deputy of the State Duma, which adopts laws, including financial ones, for example the budget. Isn’t there a temptation to lobby for the interests of your business?
- All that I managed to “lobby” during the work of the current Duma was the law on the removal of gambling establishments to reservations. I also “lobbied” for the interests of the civil aviation industry - in the sense that I supported the creation of the United Aircraft Manufacturing Company and the allocation of money for the production of new aircraft. He also advocated for the implementation of a project for the construction of affordable low-rise housing. I didn’t even foresee any personal benefits from all this. (Komsomolskaya Pravda dated 09/21/2007)
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Panamagate of the “capitalist-idealist”
Many people now have a pressing question: what needs to be done to avoid being suspected of belonging to a company of tax frauds? And in general, is there a way to reliably disguise yourself in the “black holes” of the offshore web and protect yourself from publicity? It turns out that there is – and a very effective one: you just need to join the friendly chorus of those who angrily denounce capital holders in a tax paradise, while posing as a righteous person. It is this method that, apparently, Alexander Lebedev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Reserve Corporation (NRK), could successfully use for many years.
The so-called “Panama Papers” promise to name many more new offshore heroes to the world. So far, only a small part of the company’s archive has been processed Mossack Fonseca, containing about 11.5 million files, which mention many high-ranking officials and eminent businessmen.
The office of the Panamanian company itself was recently visited by law enforcement officers who found bags of destroyed documents there. Apparently, the owners of Mossack Fonseca and its extremely frightened clients are currently trying their best to cover the tracks of the financial schemes with which they evaded taxes.
Alexander Lebedev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Reserve Corporation, a well-known banker, was one of the main owners of the publication, which itself participated in the international investigation of the Panama Papers and wrote more than anyone else in Russia about the offshore scandal that broke out. And the businessman himself appeared in it as one of the most formidable accusers, condemning fellow entrepreneurs for using offshore loopholes.
“Sooner or later, offshores must be ended, and the leading countries of the world after the crisis began to fight this phenomenon,” said Alexander Lebedev. - After all, many people use offshore companies specifically to commit financial crimes. I am against offshore companies and believe that those “harbours” that are opaque and do not obey the rules of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development should be eliminated. All legal offices that serve crooks must be brought under control and bank secrecy limited. In general, it’s time to take it by the trunk and pull out from the shadows those trillions of dollars that are floating around offshore and could serve as disruptive material for the next crisis. Not to mention the corruption that is the source of these trillions..."
Beautiful words. However... However, as you know, not a single intelligence officer is immune from failure. This happened with Lebedev, who at one time worked in the Soviet station in London. We received unique, one might say sensational, documents, in my opinion, exposing this “knight of the cloak and dagger.” If you carefully study and trust the documents that have appeared on the Internet, you can conclude that the entrepreneur who calls himself an “idealist capitalist”, in fact, turned out to be not an idealist at all, but an active user of those same dubious methods of doing business that are consistently used to this day. fights in the media not without talent.
“For the last 15 years, I have been investigating the movement of “dirty money” in the global financial system and studying the mechanisms of functioning of the global offshore garbage dump,” the whistleblower tribune modestly recommends himself in his personal “information video blog.” “For my part, I invite the investigative committee, the prosecutor’s office and the tax service to act as parties in my trials abroad.”
In response to this proposal, we are starting a series of materials in which we will also engage in “investigating the movement of “dirty money” and “studying the mechanisms of functioning of the global offshore garbage dump” - using the example of offshore companies, as can be judged from the documents I have that belong to Alexander Lebedev himself. And just like him, we invite the investigative committee, the prosecutor’s office and the tax service to this case...
Master class from Alexander Lebedev
It’s not for nothing that Lebedev asks to call himself a journalist. He gives smart advice on how to get money back from offshore companies. Says the right words. Alexander Evgenievich’s yard is full of ideas. Let’s say, make a film for a hundred episodes: how, for example, they shot a Chinese man for kidnapping 14 billion, or punished someone for corruption in our country or in the West.
True, not everyone understands the soul of an anti-corruption banker. For example, in response to Lebedev’s message on Twitter that he is preparing to give a lecture at the London Anti-offshore Summit on the global banking system of fraud and laundering, one of his readers sarcastically asks: “Will you share your experience - how to wash in a bank?”
The person who asked this question apparently knows firsthand about some of the features of such an “experience.”
“A kind of money vacuum cleaner has been created, sucking out about a trillion dollars a year from all countries,” writes Alexander Lebedev. - At the same time, the vacuum cleaner also gives advice! Do you think the fugitive banker P. came up with the scheme himself? Of course not. First, lawyers from foreign funds came to him and said: “Create companies in offshore areas, give them loans. In New Zealand you will have 14 trusts and lawyers. And no court will get you.”
Our enterprising accuser knows what he is talking about. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Reserve Corporation is familiar with the advice of “lawyers from foreign funds” firsthand. It seems that the remnants of Alexander Lebedev’s business empire are drifting offshore, and despite all his loud statements, he is in no hurry to repatriate his capital to his homeland. But offshoring of business, no matter how much it is criticized, and no matter how much the head of the NRC himself denies it, is not a crime. But tax evasion is an international crime and a fatal blow to the image of any entrepreneur. And here, to avoid being caught red-handed, the advice of foreign lawyers and consultants, as Lebedev correctly teaches, is simply necessary.
It should be noted that the banker-whistleblower in reality does not overestimate his expert capabilities and constantly resorts to the services of Western super-professionals. We came across correspondence that was probably conducted between his consultants, both with the head of the NRC himself, and with the directors of his offshore divisions.
“The banker had the most honest rules...”
Among the documents that reveal Lebedev’s secret kitchen, there is a letter that ends with the line “Fabien Bossard” - this is one of the influential French lobbyists and the president of the publishing house Xorus Press Holding. In the letter, the author promises his addressee protection from possible “aggressive actions of the Russian authorities” of his “most vulnerable assets.” Here is an excerpt from his letter (translated from French):
“In order to “secure” the most vulnerable assets in the face of possible attacks from the Russian authorities, I believe it is necessary for one or more international investors who have connections among European and American politicians to become minority shareholders in NRC companies. Since it will be quite difficult to quickly conclude a contract with any significant European or Middle Eastern partner (from a month to three), I propose an intermediate solution. … Personally, I can take on the role of a potential investor from France to begin with. In fact, you will remain the real owner of that 1-2% of the property. ... I am close to the democratic administration of the United States, as well as the French government, so it would be quite easy for me to publicly intervene to protect "my investments" in Russia in the event of an attack ... "
Cynically? Yes. But frankly. Tell me who your consultant is and I will tell you what your true goals are! Here is a memo from another specialist in “cost optimization” (since he is a Russian citizen, we decided not to name his last name – ed.) which seems plausible to me:
“Dear Alexander Evgenievich! At the moment, there is a valid loan agreement from A.E. Lebedev to the company Sundeck Investment Limited, concluded for 500,000 Eur on April 3, 2009. In accordance with the agreement, 100,000 Eur were transferred and another 400,000 Eur remains to be paid... In order to avoid possible collection of funds under this agreement in the future, it seems appropriate to terminate or suspend it.” And then there are tips on how, with the help of competent lawyers, to conclude an agreement on changing the person in a loan agreement, terminating an existing agreement, etc.
As you can see, words about “dirty money”, “offshore garbage dump”, honest business and paying taxes are one thing. But it seems that the life of the moralist Lebedev and such advisers is completely different. Such people can only be called fighters for an idea if that idea is “currency”.
If you believe the documents we received, in 2013 Lebedev actively used a personal account he opened at EFG Bank in Zurich, which apparently was not registered with any tax service. He could tell the Swiss tax authorities that he is a tax resident in Russia, but it is far from a fact that even a penny of taxes was paid from this account in Russia.
Here is the IBAN account, that is, the international bank number of this account, opened in Zurich for a certain Lebed** Alexand** at EFG Bank Bahnhofstrasse, 16: CH59 0866 7005 **** **** 4
All the technical operations necessary to open this account, as follows from the correspondence we have, could have been carried out by Lebedev’s manager Fiorentino Parente, most likely a partner of the auditing company Maygold Ltd from the Swiss city of Zug, located on the picturesque shores of Lake Zurichsee. The company's website states that "MAYGOLD is an independent Swiss provider of accounting, outsourcing and corporate governance services for family offices, corporate entities and high net worth individuals." It seems that the funds in this account are constantly moving (how can one not recall Mr. Lebedev’s brilliant phrase about the “movement of dirty money”). So, for example, judging by the correspondence, on July 2, 2014, Fiorentino Parente emailed the number of this account to another possible manager of Lebedev, Michael Millership. Apparently, this was done so that he would transfer some additional amount of money to them.
Apparently, in 2013 alone, auditors were referred to for the transfer of tranches of $11,840,741.13, $10,470,000, 2,350,000 pounds sterling to the above-mentioned Swiss account within just two days (November 18 and 19). This conclusion can be made if you trust the report of the company CIS Interfincom AG (Kanonenstrasse 6003 Luzern), which is headed by the same Michael Millership.
This information should certainly be of interest to both Swiss and Russian tax authorities.
Dexterity of lawyers, and no fraud?
“Well, you, a fighter for the idea!” - Ostap Bender would say. How is a person treated if he takes large assets offshore and evades paying taxes by opening secret accounts in Switzerland, while at the same time managing to teach the whole world about honesty?
This is how, for example, this banking purist can use his many offshore companies to secretly withdraw funds from his own companies. I have at my disposal a copy of the agreement in two languages between the National Reserve Corporation and the Cyprus offshore Immortales International Inc., apparently connected with Lebedev. The document probably should have been signed on April 8, 2011 by the then general director of NRK Viktor Nekrasov and the head of Immortales International Inc. Andreas Mustras. According to this contract, the offshore borrowed a package of 76,300 shares of NRC worth 1,000 rubles each, and at only 0.5 percent per annum. Such operations could be made so that within a year, multimillion-dollar sums in the form of dividends would flow into the offshore accounts of the “idealist capitalist”, and not a penny of taxes would flow from them to the Russian treasury.
A year later, on April 2, 2012, in a letter No. 33/01 to the head of Immortales International Inc., apparently from the new CEO of NRK Alexey Tarasov after the cream, that is, the dividends, were withdrawn: “Dear Mr. A. Mustras. In connection with the expiration of the securities loan agreement dated 04/08/2011, CJSC National Reserve Corporation asks you to return the loan (76,300 shares) to our account...” The commission for the use of shares was, according to this document, only 379,115 rubles . On the first page of the letter there is a written instruction in English: Please, execute (please execute) and next to it there is a signature very similar to Lebedev’s signature.
Of course, NRC managers could perfectly understand the not-so-cunning manipulations of their boss. But it costs you more to contradict him. Chairman of the Board of the National Reserve Bank (NRB) Anton Dorokhov, who apparently refused to cover $17 million in legal costs this year in a lost lawsuit against one of the divisions of the American corporation General Electric, which would have punched a serious hole in the bank’s balance sheet, has left his post, and soon all at the insistence of Alexander Lebedev.
On the contrary, with his European counterparts, such as London lawyer and director Alastair Tulloch, who helps with sensitive banking issues, correspondence is conducted with the utmost politeness and discretion. The “Moscow boss” seems to understand that quarreling with him would be more expensive for himself. Judging by the documents, I have the impression that Mr. Tulloch can run the Lebedev family business and at the same time help run three Swiss companies most likely related to Lebedev Sr.: CIS Interfincom AG, Alpstream AG and Chateau Gutsch Imm AG. In a letter probably written by Allaster Tulloch on May 19, 2015 to the director of the offshore company Galama, Michalis Pittakis, the following text is given: “The subject of the letter (translated from English): “payment of bills through Galama for the Lebedev family.” Is it possible to use Galama to pay for services provided outside the UK to the Lebedev family by companies registered for VAT in the UK? Currently, invoices for services provided outside the UK to Lebedev's family are sent to Hawk Investment Fund Limited and paid from Hawk Investment Fund Limited's bank account in Switzerland. We are planning to close the bank account of Hawk Investment Fund Limited and would like to know if Evgeny Lebedev has the opportunity to periodically transfer funds from his personal account to Galama, which will accept invoices provided outside the UK by companies registered as VAT taxpayers in Great Britain".
In the letter, the London lawyer goes on to explain to Mr Pittakis the purpose of his financial scheme: “Such invoices may be subject to a zero rate of tax, since the place of supply for non-EU companies is considered to be the place of business of such non-EU companies.”
Hawk Investment Fund Limited apparently belongs to Lebedev Sr. And Alastair Tulloch, apparently, really wants to save his patron from having to pay extra taxes - this time to the budget of a European country.
As they say in such cases, “nothing personal, just business.” “In public” Alexander Lebedev is a champion of honest business, democracy, openness and generally all the best. Denouncing the offshore empire as a tool for exploiting developing countries, he writes: “It is no secret that old Europe has long become the Promised Land for numerous swindlers in power and swindlers from the banking business. We can only hope that the general cleaning of the Augean stables will affect not only Strasbourg and Frankfurt am Main, but also the numerous offshore harbors that European countries have created both on the continent itself and in their overseas territories.” And at the same time, he located his business empire in these same offshores? Without considering himself, of course, either a “swindler” or a “swindler” from the banking business?
Apparently, to further fit the image of Robin Hood, fighting corruption in the interests of democracy, he can seek help from the famous Toby T. Gati, a senior CIA officer, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Security (1993-1997). ), it seems that she also supervised Vladimir Gusinsky and Andrei Kozyrev at one time.
In a letter dated February 4, 2011, in which Toby T. Gati is listed as the sender, written on the letterhead of the company Akin GumpStrauss Hauer & Feld to the director of the Cyprus company NRK Holding Limited Geogrios Kr. Kira, the sender specifies the amount and procedure for payment for “consulting” services. Liberal Lebedev, apparently, is embarrassed to highlight his relationship with a representative of the American intelligence services, having concluded a direct agreement with the National Reserve Corporation?
“I am pleased to confirm our representation of the National Reserve Corporation in order to provide advice as part of the creation of Mr. Lebedev’s New Independent Media Initiative,” the letter states. The author says that she discussed this “important project” and that she will help him “continue cooperation with international and non-governmental organizations whose activities are aimed at combating corporate and government corruption”, as well as advise on issues related to “stimulating journalistic investigations" and the implementation of... World Press Freedom Day.
If you trust the document, it turns out that the sender informed the Cypriot director: for its services, the company will issue monthly invoices to the offshore company in the amount of $10,000, not counting the payment of other expenses, the listing of which takes up a whole paragraph in the letter.
If you delve deeply into the network, you can find out that some sites mention Ms. Gati in the list of co-authors of the scandalous report of the US Institute for Strategic and International Studies in 2007, where “one of the scenarios for the development of events in Russia was the assassination of the Russian President with the subsequent chaos of the country.”
Gati’s more than friendly relations with Hillary Clinton even allowed her to play the role of “boss” in the US National Security Council for some time. Today, Gati works as a senior consultant at the largest lobbying company in the world in terms of annual turnover, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and apparently helps Lebedev’s companies establish relationships, including with the US government. In this regard, Alexander Lebedev’s business partners and officials who have contacts with him should probably think about whether, if they continue their relationship with him, they will not find themselves in the field of view of the American intelligence services. Although they may have already found out...
And here is another equally interesting document. Alexander Lebedev could well have entrusted the well-known London private detective firm “The Corporate Intelligence Service Ltd” (333 CityRoad, London, EC1V 1LJ) with conducting an investigation called “Project Starlight”. A person involved in this investigation could be the famous Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko. On September 12, 2011, private detectives from London issued an invoice to “Alexander Lebedev” numbered 5456/2353 for this project (“to fees and disbursements on account in respect to our professional charges with regards to above named project”) for 10 thousand lbs. On the invoice there is a resolution very similar to Lebedev’s resolution, on which there is a stern inscription: “Please pay.”
So, as we can assume: based on the documents we have, the real Alexander Lebedev, a former Russian intelligence officer, banker and media magnate, leads a double life: “in public” he is a champion of honest business, democracy, openness and, in general, all that is good, and in the shadow, well hidden from the rays of the fiscal sun, he is an inveterate inhabitant of offshores and a malicious tax evader? Is he collaborating with obvious CIA agents, looking for skeletons in the closet of entrepreneurs from the inner circle of the Russian president, essentially paying out of his own pocket for the information that the British intelligence services need?
Where the warm sea splashes
The Ukrainian epic of Alexander Lebedev and his family is mysterious and dark. Back in the pre-Maidan era, in 2004, a neighboring state awarded him the Order of Yaroslav the Wise for some merit. In 2012, Alexander Evgenievich became an honorary citizen of the city of Alushta. However, not everything was so simple. In January 2013, before Svidomo began jumping in squares shouting “Moskalyaku nagilyak” and some kind of law enforcement system was still in effect, messages appeared on the Internet that Lebedev’s assets in Ukraine could be confiscated.
The Kyiv Ukraina Hotel, which Lebedev tried to privatize for next to nothing, was eventually returned to the state. But even without this hotel, Lebedev accumulated a lot of goods in Ukraine, especially in Crimea: among the assets under his control were the resort complex “Sea”, the sanatorium “Almond Grove”, the hotel “Morskaya”, the hotel “Slava”, the hotel “Sea Corner” and about three dozen more prestigious resort real estate properties. It may very well be that the “Crimean spring” saved Alexander Lebedev. The annexation of Crimea to Russia slowed down the claims of the Ukrainian authorities to its resort assets. Now, RBC reports, Lebedev’s hotel business consists of 25 hotels, villas and townhouses in Crimea with a total area of more than 100 thousand square meters. m, combined into several hotel complexes. The largest are “Almond Grove” and “Sea”, advertisements of which can be seen on Lebedev’s blog.
One can, of course, be glad that Crimean brands remained in Russian hands. But in Russian? This is who the property of the assets controlled by Alexander Lebedev was registered and re-registered to.
Resort and recreational complex "Almond Grove". Now its 100% founder, if you believe the documents, is the company HerschelConsultants (Overseas) Ltd, registered at the address: Republic of Cyprus, Nicosia, Agiou Pavlou, 15, Ledra House, Agios PK, 1105. The sole owner of this company, apparently, is the son of a banker, Eugene, permanently residing in London and having, we recall, British citizenship.
Wellness SPA Hotel "Sea", occupying 8 hectares in Alushta, on which there is a building with 232 rooms, 11 villas, 5 swimming pools, a spa center and a park of relict plants. Currently, its founders appear to be: LLG Lanivet InvestentsLimited, registered at: Agiou Pavlou, 15, Ledra House, Agios Andreas, 1105, Nicosia, Cyprus - 23.515% of shares (the only owner seems to be Evgeniy Lebedev); Allium Management Ltd, registered at Poseidonos 1, Ledra Business Centre, Egkomi, 2406, Nicosia, Cyprus - 0.2752% of shares (also 100% attributed to Evgeniy Lebedev); Gillick (Overseas) Limited, registered, like Lanivet Investments Limited, at the address already familiar to us: Agiou Pavlou, 15, Ledra House, Agios Andreas, 1105, Nicosia, Cyprus - 66.3409% of shares. Can you guess who owns one hundred percent of this Gillick (Overseas) Limited? According to the attached certificates, a certain British citizen Eugene appears - or maybe now Eugene Lebedeff?
We will not continue to burden the reader with these offshore “Limited”, “Overseas” and “Holdings”, of which the banker’s son may have much more than the cut up chairs of the Turkish citizen’s son from the novel by Ilf and Petrov. Apparently, all the other almost three dozen Crimean real estate properties are registered on them.
In other words, this entire resort economy seems to be de facto not in Russian ownership at all. And the income from it can most likely float far beyond the Black Sea, leaving the Crimean budget without the taxes due from them. We have already studied how effectively you can get rid of taxation in the document with the withdrawal of dividends using NRC shares “leased” by a native offshore company.
Facts are stubborn
“If they held a competition of liars, only the one who told the truth could win,” noted the authors of “The Golden Calf.” Indeed, it is very difficult to believe in the reality of those documents that came into our possession and which we quoted. But as the British say, facts are stubborn: facts are a stubborn thing.
“I am now watching with interest the development of the Panamagate scandal. “Everything that happened is further confirmation of the gospel truth that everything secret sooner or later becomes clear,” Alexander Lebedev wrote in early April in his latest (in time) article published on his personal blog.
Apparently, our accuser intended to increase not only his business potential, but also his own “image of morality” at Panamagate, in which his media resources actively participated. But in the end, it seems, he found himself at the point where he could lose his assets, his face, and his freedom... The gospel truth with which he illustrated his speech is indeed true: everything secret becomes clear. Sometimes even earlier than expected.
The facts that we presented in this material are not all that we wanted to cover. About them - in the next article.
Vladimir Prokhvatilov
Chairman of the Board of Directors, CJSC National Reserve Corporation
President, National Investment Council
President, Charitable Reserve Fund
Born in Moscow on December 16, 1959.
Education: Faculty of Economics, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (1982). Doctor of Economic Sciences, the topic of his dissertation is “Financial globalization in the context of problems of global, regional and national (Russian) development.”
He worked at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System, where he began writing his PhD thesis on the topic “Debt problems and challenges of globalization.” However, he was soon asked to go to work for the Foreign Intelligence Service, where Alexander Lebedev worked until 1992, working, in particular, on issues of preventing capital flight abroad.
Having retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel, A. Lebedev decided to go into financial business and created his first brainchild - the Russian Investment and Financial Company (RIFK). In 1995, RIFK acquired the dwarf and troubled National Reserve Bank (NRB). In 2 years it has become one of the largest financial institutions in the country.
The NRB is the core of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC) created on its basis.
NRC is one of the first large financial and industrial groups in Russia, focused not on making a profit from the exploitation of natural resources, but on financing high-tech industries and social sector enterprises.
Along with the bank, the holding includes the National Housing Corporation, a leading company in the industry of low-rise individual housing construction, and the National Land Company, which occupies a leading position in potato production. The airline Red Wings, owned by NRK, is the largest customer and operator of new domestic civil aircraft - Tu-204 aircraft produced by the Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SP plant. Subsidiary structures have been created and are being formed in the field of energy, telecommunications and urban electric transport, in the chemical and textile industries, in urban construction and the tourism business.
In 2003, Alexander Lebedev took part in the elections of the mayor of Moscow and in the elections of deputies of the State Duma and received about 13% of the votes.
Following the results of the parliamentary elections of 2003, A. Lebedev was elected to the State Duma.
After the end of his term as a deputy in 2007, Alexander Lebedev returned to business.
At the same time, he devotes a significant part of his time to public activities, being the president of the National Investment Council, the International Institute for World Development and the Center for Integration Problems of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. As a shareholder of Novaya Gazeta, A. Lebedev provides support to the publication, which has become a symbol of independent journalism in Russia. Together with the Memorial Society, A. Lebedev began implementing a project to construct a Museum and Memorial Complex to the Victims of the Gulag based on the design of Ernst Neizvestny. In the fall of 2010, together with former USSR President M. S. Gorbachev, he co-founded the “Civil Dialogue” forum, designed to accumulate civil society initiatives.
Alexander Lebedev considers free media one of the most important institutions of a democratic society. As the head of the New Media holding and a shareholder of Novaya Gazeta, he supports the publication, which has become a symbol of independent investigative journalism in Russia. A. Lebedev is also the publisher of the British newspapers The London Evening Stadard, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and “i”.
At the same time, Alexander Lebedev is active in charitable activities, being the president of the Charitable Reserve Fund (BRF) and the founder of the international fund named after. Raisa Gorbacheva.
Alexander Lebedev cooperates with the Russian Orthodox Church and provides support for its pastoral and missionary activities.
For active social and charitable activities, Alexander Lebedev was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, the Order of Ukraine “For Merit,” III degree, the Order of St. Innocent of the Moscow Russian Orthodox Church, the Order of St. Prince Vladimir of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the medal UNESCO "Dialogue of Cultures".
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