Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk (Russian:Ю́рий Валенти́нович Ковальчу́к; born 25 July 1951) is a Russianbillionaire businessman and financier who is "reputed to beVladimir Putin's personal banker".[1] ThePanama Papers leak revealed that Kovalchuk had transferred at least $1 billion to an offshore entity.[2]
In 2022 journalistMikhail Zygar said Kovalchuk could probably be called Number 2 in Russia.[4] While self-isolating fromCOVID-19 in 2020, Putin spent much time with Kovalchuk, and they share the view that the only important factor is to restore Russian greatness.[5] According to some experts, Kovalchuk played a role in Putin's decision toinvade Ukraine in 2022.[6][7]
Yuri Kovalchuk spent his childhood and youth inLeningrad. 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), isJewish. His brother Mikhail is five years older than him.[8]
The May 2008 issue of RussianForbes listed him for the first time in itsGolden Hundred of Russia's richest, calling him and another new entrant to theList,Gennady Timchenko, "good acquaintances of Vladimir Putin."[24] 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.[25]
In 2015, Yury Kovalchuk'sNational Media Group (NMG) and USDiscovery Channel joined forces to form Media Alliance of which NMG owns 80%.[26] Later that year, Kovalchuk acquired the rights toTed Turner's Russian assets including the Russian version ofCNN,Cartoon Network andBoomerang. The reason for the sale was based on the Russian media ownership law that limits ownership of Russian media by foreigners.[27] In 2020, the world's leading streaming entertainment serviceNetflix partnered with the National Media Group to launch a local-language streaming service in Russia.[28]
In 2017, Kovalchuk purchased the century-oldNovy Svet vineyard inCrimea for $26.4 million in one of the first privatization deals in the region since theannexation of the region by Russia.[29] As of January 2019, Kovalchuk andNikolai Shamalov through their ownership of Rossiya Bank have become the most important investors in Russia's development of annexed Crimea.[30]
On 15 April 2021,Alexei Navalny's website stated that since 2003 Kovalchuk has owned Putin's residence at Valdai, which is on the southern 100 hectares (250 acres) of a peninsula betweenLake Uzhin andLake Valdai in theNovgorod Oblast nearSaint Petersburg and across Lake Valdai fromValday.[31][32] Built in 1980, Putin's Dacha is often calledValdai,Dolgie Borody, orStalin's Dacha, though Stalin was not alive when it was built.[33] Abutting north of this location is 150 hectares (370 acres) owned by the Russian Federation and used by theFederal Security Service.[31] Kovalchuk leases Putin's Dacha to the Russian government for an undisclosed price.[31]
Kovalchuk owns shares in several of Russia’s most influential TV channels, includingChannel One Russia.[34][35] In December 2021,Alisher Usmanov's holding company USM said it had sold its stake in Russia's leadinginternet groupVK to state-run insurance companySogaz, which is partly owned by Yury Kovalchuk.[36]
^From 1989 to 1995, the president and chairman of the board of Tokobank was Viktor Konstantinovich Yakunin (Russian:Виктор Константинович Якунин) who created Tokobank.[14] On 28 April 1992 usingDM 50 million from a "frozen"VEB account, Tokobank gained an 80.6% stake inOst-West Handelsbank after the shareholders of Ost-West Handelsbank transferred the stake to Tokobank which was the first privatization of a formersovzagranbank (Russian:Совзагранбанк).[14][15][16] In May 1998, members of the St. Petersburg "Northern Alliance" (Russian:«Северный Альянс») includingVladimir Stolyarenko, held temporary directorships of Tokobank (Russian:Токобанк). In 1998, Tokobank owned a 28% stake in the German bankOst-West Handelsbank. In 1998, "Northern Alliance" (Russian:«Северный Альянс») associated withSaint 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.[12][17][18]
^Буйлов, Максим (Builov, Maxim) (11 December 2001)."Банки-2001: Кому принадлежит Россия" [Banks-2001: Who owns Russia].Коммерсант (in Russian). Retrieved12 August 2021.Archived at compromat.ru on 11 December 2001.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^abPribylovsky, Vladimir (11 October 2005)."Происхождение путинской олигархии" [The Origin of Putin's Oligarchy].AntiCompromat.ru (in Russian). Archived fromthe original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved11 January 2007..
^abc"Тайны валдайской дачи Путина" [Secrets of Putin's Valdai dacha].navalny.com (in Russian). 15 April 2021. Retrieved17 April 2021.
^Матвеев, Владимир (Matveev, Vladimir) (12 September 2000)."Власть" [Vlast].Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved17 April 2021.Map showing location of Putin's dacha at Valdai{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Матвеев, Владимир (Matveev, Vladimir) (12 September 2000)."Путино-Дачное" [Putino-Dachnoe].Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved17 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
