Gennady Nikolaevich Timchenko
Gennadi Nikolajewitsch Timtschenko ( Russian Геннадий Николаевич Тимченко ; born November 9, 1952 in Leninakan (today: Gyumri) , Armenian SSR ) with residence in Cologny near Geneva ( Switzerland ) is a Russian - Finnish oligarch in the oil trade and close friend of President Vladimir Putin . In March 2013, Forbes Magazine estimated his fortune at $ 14.1 billion (8th place in Russia).
Life
Gennady Timchenko was born in Leninakan in 1952 in what was then the Armenian SSR. His father was a member of the Soviet Army who was often transferred. In 1959 , when he was six, Gennadi came to what was then the GDR , where he spent the next six to seven years of his life, until his family moved to the Ukraine. Gennadi Timtschenko's knowledge of German goes back to this long stay in East Germany during his childhood.
Timchenko studied at the Mechanical Institute of Saint Petersburg and finished his studies in 1977. After that, he is said to have worked as a workshop manager in the Ischorwski Sawod engineering factory . Because of his knowledge of German, he switched to the export business. From 1987 to 1994 Timchenko worked for the Russian company Kirischineftechimexport . In 1989 or 1990, according to his own account, he had a first meeting with Vladimir Putin. He later took on a managerial role at the Urals trading company . In 1991 he moved to Finland for this purpose and became a Finnish citizen in 1999. The Russian company Gunvor was founded in 1997 by him and Torbjörn Törnqvist . In 2007 Timchenko founded the Volga Group based in Luxembourg . Through the Volga Group, he first acquired five percent of the Russian company Novatek and increased his stake through acquisitions to 13 percent by May 2009 and to 20.77 percent by 2012.
In 2009 he acquired shares in the Schwarzmeer und Ostsee Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft (SOVAG) in Hamburg through Volga Resources . According to the US Forbes Magazine , Timchenko is one of the richest Russians . In 2001 he moved to Switzerland for tax reasons.
Business activities
Gunvor International
Gennadi Timchenko is (together with Torbjörn Törnqvist ) co-founder of Gunvor , a company registered in Cyprus with a focus on trade and logistics in connection with the international energy market .
Gunvor's headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. It also has offices in Singapore, the Bahamas and Dubai, and a network of agents around the world. The company is engaged in the trading, transportation, storage and optimization of petroleum and other energy products and has investments in oil terminals and port facilities. His endeavors consist of securing upstream crude oil and transporting it to market by pipelines and tankers. The company is the world's fourth largest crude oil trader behind Glencore , Vitol and Trafigura . Gunvor's profit in 2016 was $ 315 million.
Gunvor's Russian oil trading business accounts for about a third of its total trade, and Guvnor sources crude oil from more than 35 countries around the world. Guvnor's trading partners and customers include eight of the top 10 and 17 of the top 20 of the world's largest oil and energy companies. Gunvor also works with more than 50 highest ranking financial institutions around the world. Gunvor also has its own shipping company, Clearlake Shipping Ltd, which, according to company representatives, contributes to its leading position in the oil trade.
In May 2008, he publicly claimed that his "20+ year career in the oil industry was not built on favors or political connections."
At the end of July 2009, the British business magazine The Economist apologized in an article to Gennady Timchenko regarding the bribe allegations previously made in November 2008 in the article “Grease my palm” about the so-called “new corruption” in Russia. The editors of The Economist pointed out that these allegations did not relate to Gunvor and Timchenko and that the editors regret any misunderstanding in this regard. In return, Gennady Timchenko withdrew the lawsuit he had brought against the Economist to a British court because, as his British attorney Michael Prescott, who represented Timchenko on this matter, told the Guardian in March 2009, Timchenko was fed up with it that untrue stories were constantly being spread about him and Gunvor, and that the trial would be calm.
In view of the announced western sanctions in the context of the Crimean crisis , Gennady Timchenko sold his share to his partner Torbjörn Törnqvist in March 2014, who thus holds 87% of the shares.
Volga Resources Group
In 2007 Gennady Timchenko founded the Luxembourg-based and controlled fund Volga Group (Volga Resources Group). The purpose of this fund is "to invest in transferable securities and other assets and financial instruments (...) in order to enable shareholders to achieve long-term capital growth".
In 2013, at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, he presented his new investment group Volga Group, which brings together its holdings and management, and his management company Volga Advisors, which will monitor and support the companies in the Volga Group. Gennady Timchenko has given several interviews in which he spoke about the strategy of these companies. He noted that his group will focus on developing infrastructure projects in Russia for the next few years. The entrepreneur believes that there is currently a lack of investment in this sector and that the investment will pay dividends.
Participation in Novatek
In October 2008, Gennady Timchenko announced that Volga Resources had acquired a 5% stake in the gas production company Novatek for an estimated US $ 500 million. In May 2009, Volga Resources announced that it had agreed to acquire 13.13% of Novatek and that Gennady Timchenko had been elected to Novatek's board of directors. He now owns a 23.5% stake in the company.
Participation in Stroytransneftegaz
Timchenko's family owns at least fifty percent of Stroytransneftegaz, a Gazprom contractor . Timchenko was able to generate good income from the construction of Gazprom's politicized large-scale projects.
capital
According to Forbes Magazine, Timchenko is among the richest people in Russia and the world:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assets ($ billion) | 2.5 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 9.1 | 14.1 | 15.3 | 10.7 |
| World ranking | 462 | - | 536 | 185 | 99 | 62 | 61 | 118 |
| Russian ranking | 43 | 98 | 36 | 26th | 12 | 9 | 6th | 9 |
According to the Russian publication РБК , Timchenko's fortune in 2012 amounted to US $ 24.6 billion.
In addition to his business assets, according to media reports, Gennady Timchenko also has real estate in Geneva, Switzerland, which amounts to just over 1 hectare of land and an indoor area of 341 m². According to the land registry office in Geneva, the purchase price of the property was 8.4 million SFR (at the time of purchase in 2001 about 11 million US $).
According to the Finnish tax authorities, his income increased tenfold between 1999 and 2001. In 2001 he reported an income of € 4.9 million. Because of his high tax burden, Gennady Timchenko moved to Switzerland in 2002.
US sanctions list
On March 20, 2014, Timchenko was placed on the US sanctions list in the wake of the Russian Federation's involvement in the Crimean crisis and the crisis in Ukraine and its proximity to President Putin. In April 2014, the US government put Timchenko on a sanctions list as a result of the Ukraine crisis, which bans Timchenko from entering the United States.
Personal and private
family
Gennady Timchenko is married and has three children with his wife Jelena. The family lives in Cologny near Geneva. She lives there in a villa estimated at 18 million francs in 2014 . The family also bought several holiday homes and hotels in France. A private jet fleet is also part of their lifestyle .
citizenship
According to the Russian website lenta.ru, Timchenko gave up his Russian citizenship in 1999 and became a Finnish citizen.
The international edition of the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported in 2004 that the Russian oil trader Timchenko had obtained Finnish citizenship but lived in Geneva.
In an interview with the Russian news agency TASS in August 2014, Timchenko stated that he had never made a secret of his dual citizenship and that everything happened within the framework of the applicable laws. The reason he gave was that the difficult conditions for travelers with Russian passports in the 1990s made him take this step.
Social Commitment
With his fortune, Gennady Timchenko is able to work as a philanthropist . The Timchenko couple have been involved in various charitable projects that they control. In 2008, he and his wife founded the Neva Foundation in Geneva to promote cultural projects in Switzerland and Russia. In 2010, the couple established the Ladoga Foundation, which is dedicated to the advancement of the elderly and cultural heritage. This foundation was later renamed the Jelena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation .
Since 2011 he has been president of the SKA Saint Petersburg ice hockey club . Timchenko is close friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin . In July 2012, Timchenko was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the supranational Continental Hockey League . In Switzerland he is one of the patrons of the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Servette ice hockey club. In 2013 he was awarded the Legion of Honor in France .
Gennady Timchenko has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Center for Tolerance in Moscow since 2012 .
Web links
- Forbes Magazine: Gennady Timchenko
- The Wall Street Journal: Excerpts: Gunvor's Timchenko On His History, Putin and Gunvor, 2008
- Guardian: Russian billionaire drops libel case against Economist
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Gerald Hosp: Tamed Oligarch - Gennady Timchenko is one of the many commodity magnates in Geneva. He is Putin's friend. It has nothing to do with his success, he says. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Folio): Raw materials . No. 278 . Zurich September 2014, p. 42 ff .
- ↑ Gennady Timchenko in Forbs-Magazine
- ^ " I was born in Armenia, in the city of Leninakan. My father was in the military. He was transferred from place to place because of military service. When I was 6 we moved to East Germany. I spent there another six to seven years. Then we moved to Ukraine. " Excerpts: Gunvor's Timchenko On His History, Putin and Gunvor , wsj.com, June 11, 2008
- ↑ Путь Тимченко: от мастера цеха до миллиардера , forbes.ru, October 26, 2012
- ^ The Wall Street Journal: Excerpts: Gunvor's Timtschenko On His History, Putin and Gunvor, 2008
- ^ Volga Resources
- ↑ Rian.ru : CEO Michelson wants to increase stake in Russia's second largest gas producer
- ↑ sovag
- ↑ GUNVOR GROUP 2016 RESULTS - Gunvor Group. In: gunvorgroup.com. December 31, 2016, accessed August 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Gunvor Wins More Russian Oil With Surgut Tender ( English ) Shana News Agency. December 22, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ↑ Letter to the Financial Times, May 22, 2008: Gunvor, Putin and me: Gunvor, Putin and me: the truth about Russian oil trader ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Grease my palm , economist.com, November 27, 2008
- ^ Gennady Timchenko and Gunvor International BV , economist.com, July 30, 2009
- ↑ action Economist settles Russian billionaire's libel , theguardian.com 29 July, 2009
- ↑ Russian billionaire drops libel case against Economist , theguardian.com, July 30, 2009
- ↑ Gunvor Ensures Continued Operations. Gunvor press release. March 20, 2014, accessed March 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Volga Group website
- ↑ Vedomosti: Timchenko Bundles Assets into Volga Group (in Russian)
- ↑ Business FM: Gennady Timchenko: We understand that the most important thing is a businessman's reputation (in Russian)
- ^ RIA Novosti: Volga Resources acquires 5% stake in NOVATEK
- ↑ Investments: Energy and Mining ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2014 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.
- ↑ Timchenko's family turns out to be owner of half of Gazprom's major contractor , crimerussia.com, February 9, 2017
- ↑ Gazprom loses, and with it Russia , Novaya Gazeta, May 24, 2018
- ^ The World's Billionaires
- ^ The World's Billionaires
- ^ The World's Billionaires
- ↑ a b The World's Billionaires
- ^ The World's Billionaires - Russia
- ↑ 100 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2008
- ↑ 100 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2009
- ↑ 100 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2010
- ↑ 200 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2011
- ↑ 200 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2012
- ↑ 200 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2013
- ↑ 200 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2014
- ↑ 200 богатейших бизнесменов России - 2015
- ↑ Г.Тимченко дослужился до первого места в рейтинге богатейших миллиардеров ( memento of the original dated November 6, 2013 in the Internet archive ) Info: The archive link has not yet been automatically checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Нефтетрейдер "прозрачной воды"
- ↑ Дома и отели супругов Тимченко
- ↑ Тимченко Геннадий ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2013 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.
- ↑ "Ukraine-related Designations" US Department of Treasury of March 20, 2014
- ↑ zeit.de: EU-Russia Sanctions: List, Timtscheno
- ^ Forbes Magazine: Gennady Timchenko
- ↑ Тимченко, Геннадий Совладелец группы компаний Gunvor и венчурной компании Volga Resources , lenta.ru
- ↑ Kremlin favorite Gennadi Timchenko is Finnish citizen ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2013 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. , hs.fi, Feb. 17, 2004
- ↑ " I've never made a secret of my dual citizenship. I did everything legally, with a due observance of law. You remember the 1990's. I needed a second passport then to be able to move around the world freely and to prevent a waste of time while awaiting foreign entry visas. Our business was developing rapidly then and mobility meant really much for me ... " Timchenko: Everything has to be paid for, and acquaintance with top officials as well , tass.ru, August 4, 2014
- ^ Neva Foundation
- ↑ Геннадий Тимченко показал лицо филантропа , fontanka.ru, June 4, 2012
- ^ Guardian: Russian billionaire drops libel case against Economist
- ↑ Bloomberg: Billionaire Timchenko Elected Chairman Of Russia's Hockey League
- ↑ Фонд целевого капитала - Эндаумент Фонд , jewish-museum.ru
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Timchenko, Gennady Nikolaevich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Тимченко, Геннадий Николаевич (Russian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Russian-Finnish entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 9, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gyumri , Armenian SSR |