Alexander Evgenyevich Lebedev

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Alexander Lebedev, 2019

Alexander Evgenjewitsch Lebedew ( Russian Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев ; born December 16, 1959 in Moscow ) is a Russian oligarch and politician .

In May 2008 Forbes Magazine listed him with a fortune of 3.1 billion US dollars on the 358th list of the richest people in the world, making him one of the richest Russians.

On August 3, 2012, he announced his withdrawal from Russia. He was exposed to threats and blackmail from the Russian Domestic Intelligence Service (FSB) , which he could no longer withstand.

Life

Alexander Lebedev is the child of a family belonging to the Moscow educated upper class ( intelligentsia ). His father was a professor at the Moscow Technical University and a former member of the Soviet national water polo team . His mother taught as an English teacher.

From 1977 to 1982 Lebedev studied economics at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations . He then worked at the Institute for Economics of the World Socialist System. There he began to write on his dissertation on the debt problems and economic development of Russia as well as on the challenges of financial globalization .

Soon afterwards he moved to managerial positions in the international department of the KGB and its successor organization, the FSB , where he worked until 1992. He was deployed to the financial center of London to combat capital flight from Russia, and was thus able to gain a good insight into Western finance.

Political career

In 2003 Lebedev ran for Moscow mayor, but lost with 13% of the vote. In the same year he successfully ran for the State Duma on the list of the conservative Rodina party . After the election, he moved to the pro-government United Russia party . After Rodina was absorbed in the socialist coalition Just Russia , he returned to the latter and is now represented in the party leadership. Lebedev is, among other things, vice-president of the CIS committee of the Duma.

At the end of September 2008 it became known that Lebedev wanted to found the Independent Democratic Party with the last Soviet head of state, Mikhail Gorbachev .

In the Russian regional elections in March 2011, Lebedev was elected a member of the Duma of Slobodskoi Raion in Kirov region , with the fourth best of four candidates from the village of Ilinski. It was speculated that he wanted to create the possibility to be delegated to the Federation Council ; Since 2011, this right has only been granted to members of regional parliaments.

Entrepreneurial activities

His first company was the investment company Русская инвестиционно-финансовая компания. In 1995 he bought the then small, financially troubled National Reserve Bank through this bank and quickly turned it into one of the largest Russian banks . Apart from Alfa Bank, the National Reserve Bank was the only one of the ten largest Russian banks to survive the 1998 financial crisis in Russia. Today it is one of the 30 largest banks in the country.

Among other things, the bank holds:

The bank is the core component of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC), which, according to Lebedev's own statements, holds assets of around US $ 2 billion. The National Reserve Corporation includes a meat company, a real estate company (Национальная Ипотечная Компания), construction companies and various subsidiaries in the textile industry, the telecommunications industry, in vehicle construction (buses, trams), electricity companies, chemical companies and in the tourism industry, a hotel chain (including the Ukraine ). . Lebedev also holds stakes in various media, including, together with Mikhail Gorbachev, 49% of the government-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta .

In Germany he owns 48% of the shares in the airline Blue Wings through a subsidiary of the NRC . In spring 2008 it was announced that Lebedev will take over 76% of the shares in the travel company Öger Tours , subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities; the Turkish activities of the Öger Group are not affected. He also submitted an offer for a stake in the financially troubled IKB Deutsche Industriebank that was several times higher than that of the US financial investment company Lone Star , which won the bid. However, it was not considered because it was allegedly not submitted within the submission period.

In early 2009 Lebedev bought the majority stake in the British daily Evening Standard .

In March 2010 Lebedev bought the British newspaper The Independent .

patron

Lebedew is a patron of numerous cultural and social institutions and has set up its own fund for this purpose.

retreat

On August 3, 2012, he announced his withdrawal from Russia. He was exposed to threats and blackmail from the domestic secret service, which he could no longer withstand.

The pressure on him has increased since Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency (there were presidential elections in Russia on March 4, 2012 ). He is accused of being the opposition's chief sponsor.

Previously, he had repeatedly expressed criticism of the government and supported opposition members. In 2012, Lebedev supported the well-known blogger and corruption critic Alexei Navalny , who was one of the leaders of the protests against then Prime Minister Putin in the winter of 2011/12.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d spiegel.de August 3, 2012: Oligarch announces withdrawal from Russia
  2. ↑ "A Tycoon Tweaks Putin and Gets Away With It" , New York Times , September 30, 2008
  3. ↑ http://www.alebedev.ru:/ Партстроительство: внесем ясность ( memento of October 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), September 30, 2008
  4. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / de.sputniknews.com
  5. ↑ http://www.kommersant.ru/Doc/1601194
  6. ↑ "IKB Bank: Russian allegedly wanted to pay much more" , Focus , August 22, 2008
  7. ↑ Russian billionaire takes over traditional British newspaper ( Memento from July 22, 2010 on WebCite ), Tagesschau , January 21, 2009
  8. ↑ TAZ: The league of dazzling gentlemen
  9. ↑ spiegel.de September 19, 2011: Moscow's last King Tiger (a portrait)
personal data
SURNAME Lebedew, Alexander Evgenyevich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Лебедев, Александр Евгеньевич (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian oligarch and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow