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Alexander Lebedev

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For other people with a similar name, see Alexander Lebedev (disambiguation).
Alexander Y. Lebedev

Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Евге́ньевич Ле́бедев; born 16 December 1959 in Moscow) is a Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs.

In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion.[1] He owns a third of airline Aeroflot, and is part owner of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta[2] and owner of four UK newspapers with son Evgeny Lebedev: the London Evening Standard, The Independent, the Independent on Sunday and the new i newspaper.

Early life and education

Alexander Lebedev was born to a family which was part of the Moscow intelligentsia. His father, Evgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev, was a sportsperson - a member of the Soviet National Water polo team, and was later a Professor at Bauman Moscow Highest Technical School. Alexander's mother, Maria Sergeyevna, after graduating from Moscow Pedagogic Institute worked in a rural Sakhalin school, then taught English in a Moscow tertiary school.[3]

In 1977, Alexander Lebedev entered the Department of Economics at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. After he graduated in 1982, Lebedev started work at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System doing research for his Kandidat (equal to Ph.D.) dissertation The problems of debt and the challenges of globalization. However he soon transferred to the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence) of KGB. He worked there and at its successor Foreign Intelligence Service until 1992.[3] In London he had the diplomatic cover of an economics attaché. According to Lebedev's personal site his assignments included fighting capital flight from the Russian Federation.[3] The Sunday Express stated that he “spent more time studying finance and the City than British secrets”.[2]

Business career

Lebedev with President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 7 May 2002

Upon leaving the Russian intelligence community, Lebedev set up his first company, the Russian Investment-Finance Company. In 1995 this bought the National Reserve Bank, a small Russian bank which was in trouble at the time. The bank subsequently grew rapidly to become one of Russia's largest banks. It and the Alfa Bank were the only two out of the ten biggest Russian banks to survive the 1998 Russian financial crisis.[4] Among the bank's assets are:

  • 30% of the main Russian national airline Aeroflot (the largest private stock holder);
  • 44% of the Ilyushin Finance Co, that owns a significant share of Russian aircraft-building industry;
  • significant parts of Sberbank, Gazprom, RAO UES.

The bank is the core of the National Reserve Corporation, that according to Lebedev's personal site owns around US$2 billion of assets.[3] Forbes estimates Lebedev's fortune higher as US$3.5 billion.[1]

The National Reserve Corporation included the National Meat Company, National Mortgage Company (Национальная Ипотечная Компания), construction companies as well as interests in textiles, telecommunications, trams and trolleybuses, electrical power, chemical and tourist industries owning a large hotel network in the Crimea (Ukraine) and plan to create the National Reserve Park that will manage diverse tourist enterprises in Russia, Ukraine and France.

Lebedev used to own the Moscow Correspondent, but according to Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Lebedev closed it down "for political reasons after it published a spurious article about Vladimir Putin having an affair with an Olympic gymnast half his age." [5]

On 21 January 2009, Lebedev and his company Evening Press Corporation (UK), part of Lebedev Holdings, bought approximately a 75.1% of share in the Evening Standard newspaper for £1. The previous owners, the Daily Mail and General Trust, continue to hold 24.9% in the company in the new firm, named Evening Standard Ltd. Lebedev promised to not interfere with the editorial running of the paper. Lebedev commented that during his time as a spy in London, he used the Evening Standard to find information.[6] Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard at the time of the sale said: "It's a very sad day for the paper, it's a very sad day for the Rothermeres. We are very sorry that it leaked out, we had no control over that. Everyone's been working very hard and there's a lot of hope for the future of the Evening Standard."[7]

In 2009 he entered into exclusive negotiations with Independent News & Media to buy the company's British national newspapers, The Independent and Independent on Sunday. Before the purchase was completed, his representatives offered the editorship of The Independent to Rod Liddle, former editor of BBC Radio's Today Programme.[citation needed] The offer was withdrawn after Liddle became the subject of a campaign of intense hostility by critics. On 25 March 2010 Lebedev bought The Independent and Independent on Sunday for £1.[8]

In September 2011 while appearing on a Russian television programme, he punched a fellow guest, billionaire property developer Sergei Polonsky (Сергей Юрьевич Полонский).[9] Lebedev claimed afterwards that he had reacted to Polonsky's threat of violence towards him.[10][11]

Political career

In 2003, Lebedev stood as a candidate for elections to the Mayoralty of Moscow and the State Duma. He received 13% in the Mayoral elections, losing to Yuriy Luzhkov, but won a seat in the State Duma on the Rodina party list (he was actually number one on the Moscow regional list of the party). He remained in the Duma until 2007, when new elections were held. In the Duma, he initially moved from conservative "Rodina" to the pro-Government United Russia fraction,[3] but after Rodina was merged into the larger socialist coalition Fair Russia, he made his return and now is one of the party leaders.

Lebedev was formerly the Vice-Chairman of Duma's committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States; the coordinator of Duma's group on interactions with Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the coordinator of the State Duma group dealing with the city.[3]

Lebedev, together with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is the owner of 49% of Novaya Gazeta, one of the most vocal newspapers critical of the current Russian Government.[12]

After the assassination of a prominent Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya Lebedev praised in print the talents of Politkovskaya and suggested her assassins were actually trying to target the good names of her opponents.[13] [dead link] He pledged 25 million Russian rubles (around US$1million) for the information leading to the arrest of the assassins.[13]

Lebedev is a founder and the President of the National Investment Council, a non-political and non-Government organization working to improve the investment sentiments in Russia, protecting interests of the Russian business abroad and fighting the negative sentiments towards Russian business.[3]

In September 2008, Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev announced he was going to make a comeback to Russian politics along with Lebedev.[14] Their party will be called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia.

In March 2009, Lebedev announced that he would be running for mayor of Sochi, the city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics,[15] but a court ruling declared his candidacy invalid on April 13, 2009.[16] The court ruling was a result of a complaint by another candidate, Vladimir Turukhanovsky, that Lebedev's campaign received three donations from minors that is forbidden by Russian electoral law. According to the chief of Lebedev's electoral campaign, Artyom Artyomov, the three teenagers were led to Sberbank by a staff member of the Sochi council, given 500 rubles each (approximately $20), and told to donate the money to Lebedev's campaign. Lebedev campaigners sent the money back the same day it was received but still it was found sufficient to disqualify Lebedev. Lebedev said that he intended to appeal the court's decision.[17]

Charity

Lebedev has a long history of supporting culture and charity, and created the organization named Charitable Reserve Fund (Благотворительный Резервный Фонд) to bring order to these activities. Among the organizations and projects he (or BRF) have sponsored are:[3]

In October, Lebedev met with Tom Stoppard, John Malkovich, and Kevin Spacey to discuss a new Chekhov festival in Crimea, Ukraine.

Lebedev was awarded the Saint Innokenty of Moscow Order by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Medal Dialogue of Cultures by UNESCO.

References

  1. ^ a b Forbes listing
  2. ^ a b Tycoon linked with Litvinenko ‘survived poisoning’, John Elliott and Jon Ungoed-Thomas, The Sunday Times, January 7, 2007
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Biography
  4. ^ Harding, Luke (2009-01-11). "Alexander Lebedev: an oligarch we could learn to love". London: The Observer. Retrieved 2010-03-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Marie Woolf "Oligarchs hire ‘do-nothing’ peers to boost their prestige", The Sunday Times, 29 November 2009
  6. ^ "Ex-KGB spy buys UK paper for £1". BBC. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  7. ^ Brook, Stephen (2009-01-21). "Alexander Lebedev's Evening Standard takeover: Dacre announces sale to staff". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-01-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "The Independent bought by Lebedev for £1". BBC News. 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  9. ^ Alexandre Lebedev punches another CEO on Live Russian TV, YouTube
  10. ^ Alexander Lebedev in Russian TV punch-up, Guardian
  11. ^ "#962 Sergei Polonsky". Forbes. 2008-03-05.
  12. ^ Peter Finn "Gorbachëv Invests in Newspaper", Washington Post, 8 June 2006, p.A17
  13. ^ a b Alexander Lebedev "Shooting Anna Polikovskaya They Targeted Her Opponents", Novaya Gazeta, 9 October 2006
  14. ^ Mikhail Gorbachëv returns to Russian politics
  15. ^ Lebedev Running For Sochi Mayor SI.com, March 16, 2009
  16. ^ Alexander Lebedev disqualified from Sochi mayoral race Guardian.co.uk, April 13, 2009
  17. ^ Тирмастэ, Мария-Луиза (14 April 2009). "Александра Лебедева отослали переводом". Kommersant N66 (4121) (in Russian). Retrieved 2009-04-14.

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