Gennady Timchenko: biography. Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko: feedback

Gennady Timchenko (born in 1952) is a Russian businessman and billionaire. He owns the same established investment group "Volga Group", which specializes in investing in energy, transport and infrastructure assets. Previously, he was a co-owner of the international energy trader Gunvor Group. In 2014, Timchenko took 62nd place in the ranking of billionaires according to Forbes magazine. His own capital as of April this year, this magazine estimates at $ 11.3 billion.

The presidency of the directors of the KHL and the president of the club SKA (St. Petersburg) - it's the same Gennady Timchenko. The photo below is done last year and represents him as an open and benevolent person.

Youth and family

In the Armenian Leninakan (now Gyumri) in 1952, Gennady Timchenko was born. His family was quite typical for that time. His father served in the Soviet Army, and several years of his service were held in a group of Soviet troops in Germany (GSVG). Therefore, Gennady Timchenko spent 6 years of his childhood (in the period 1959-1965) in the GDR, where he learned German, as well as in Ukraine, in the city of Bolgrad in Odessa, where his father was subsequently transferred.

Where did Gennady Timchenko go after leaving school? His biography continued in Leningrad, where he studied in an elite Soviet university - Leningrad "military mechanics", training cadres for enterprises of the military-industrial complex. After graduating in 1976, he became an electromechanical engineer.

On whom is married Gennady Timchenko? His wife, Elena, who is a citizen of Finland, actively helps her husband in his affairs, especially those connected with charity. They have three adult children - two daughters and a son.

As of August last year, Timchenko and his wife lived in Moscow in a rented house, which was formerly the residence of Nikita Khrushchev. He also owns a house in Switzerland, by the way, next to the famous Ukrainian oligarch I. Kolomoisky.

As Gennady Timchenko himself told ITAR-TASS last year, his son continues to be a citizen of Finland and studies at the University of Geneva.

The way to the heights of business

In 1977, Timchenko began working as an engineer at the Izhora plant in Kolpino, near Leningrad. The enterprise specialized then in the production of large power generators for power plants, including atomic ones. Since the young specialist spoke German, he was transferred to the sales department of the plant. Here, Timchenko began to make a career, and in 1982 moved to Moscow in the Ministry of Foreign Trade for the position of senior engineer of one of the departments of the ministry.

In 1988, when Russia began to liberalize its economy, he was appointed deputy director of the state oil company Kirishineftekhimexport (Kinex), which was established in 1987 on the basis of the refinery in Kirishi (Leningrad region), one of the three largest refineries in The RSFSR. Timchenko's team built the first export routes for some petroleum products from the USSR to Western countries, and Gennady Timchenko himself became one of the leading figures in the Russian (then Soviet) oil trade. Timchenko was essentially a pioneer in the sale of liquid petroleum products to the West, which allowed him to build the way for the movement of commodity-cash flows in conditions of almost complete absence of competition, to establish long-term relationships with an eye to the market future.

And it did not take long. As soon as the USSR collapsed in 1991, Timchenko left Russia and was hired by a Finnish-based company, Urals Finland Oy, specializing in the import of Russian oil to Europe. He settled in Finland and became a citizen of this country.

That's where the achievements of the perestroika period came in handy. For four years of work, Timchenko rose to the post of first deputy and then CEO of the company, which became known as International Petroleum Products Oy (IPP). And Gennady Timchenko did not forget about the family. His children, born in Finland, daughter and son, became its citizens.

This period of activity includes acquaintance with VV Putin, who at that time worked in the mayor's office of St. Petersburg. However, it is naive to believe that the state of Timchenko arose thanks to the patronage of the then modest Petersburg official. Conditions for the accumulation of his initial capital were created much earlier, back in the late eighties. While in Finland, Timchenko continued to use the Kirishi refinery as a source for importing oil products to the West, especially since up until 1994 he was listed as the head of Kinex.

Having saved money from trading Russian oil abroad, in 1996 during privatization Timchenko and partners bought out Kinex. On its base in 1997 was founded the trading company Gunvor, specializing in oil trading. In addition to Timchenko, the second major shareholder was the Swedish businessman Thorbjørn Turnkvist. Who in an unbelievably successful manner bought back from Timchenko his stake in the company in March 2014 a day before the start of action against the latter and its assets of US sanctions.

In 2007, Timchenko founded the private investment fund Volga Resources. Gradually, he developed into the investment group "Volga Group", in which his Russian and international assets in the fields of energy, transport, infrastructure, financial services and the consumer sector were consolidated.

In July 2013, he became the Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honor for the organization of the permanent exhibition of Russian art in the Louvre, the support of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and the assistance to chess players in the holding of the tournament "Memorial Alekhine."

In March last year, after the Crimean referendum, the US Treasury brought Timchenko to the list of persons identified as "members of the inner circle of the Russian leadership." Sanctions froze all the assets he held in the US and banned him from entering that country.

Citizenship

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Timchenko said that in 1999 he ceased to be a Russian citizen and received Finnish citizenship. In 2004, Helsingin Sanomat wrote that he acquired the citizenship of Finland, living at that time in Geneva. In October 2012, in an interview with the Russian edition of Forbes, Timchenko said that he is both a Russian and a Finnish citizen. In August last year, he told ITAR-TASS that he needed Finnish citizenship to travel abroad in the 1990s, when it was difficult to travel on a Russian passport, and that he never concealed the existence of two passports. In the US, the Treasury Department, when listing individuals who are under sanctions in connection with the Crimean events of 2014, lists him as a citizen of Russia, Finland and Armenia.

Gennady Timchenko: the state

It has a stake in various gas, transport and construction organizations. Among its possessions: the gas company Novatek, the petrochemical concern SIBUR Holding, the railway operator for transportation of petroleum products Transoil, the construction corporation STG Group and the insurance corporation SOGAZ. He is considered one of the most influential Russian oligarchs, having close ties with VV Putin, for which he was subjected to sanctions by the United States as a punishment for joining the Crimea to Russia. In response, Timchenko said: "You must be responsible for everything, even for friendship with the president." Until March last year, was one of the founders of the Gunvor Group, one of the largest international energy traders.

According to the Russian edition of RBC, in 2012, Timchenko's assets were valued at $ 24.61 billion.

In addition to business assets, according to media reports, he also owns a property in Geneva with an area of 341 m², which is located on a plot of just over 1 hectare of land. According to the Land Register of Geneva, the purchase price of the property was SFR 8.4 million (at the time of purchase in 2001 - about $ 11 million).

His income, according to the data of the Finnish tax authorities, increased tenfold from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, he declared an income of EUR 4.9 million. Due to high taxes, Gennady Timchenko moved to Switzerland in 2002, however The last few years he lived in Russia.

Gunvor

Gennady Timchenko was a co-founder of the Gunvor Group corporation, registered in Cyprus and working in trade and logistics in the international energy market. On March 19, 2014, he sold his stake in Gunvor to another co-founder. The sale was made the day before Timchenko was on the US sanctions list. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

In November 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Justice Department of the eastern district of New York is considering charges of illegal transactions in which Gunvor Group bought oil from Russia from Rosneft and sold it to third parties through the US financial system. Gunvor issued a response on November 6, denying any crime.

"Volga Group"

In 2007, Gennady Timchenko founded the Volga Resources-based Luxembourg-based fund. The fund, which unites the assets of Timchenko, was renamed in June 2013 into the investment group "Volga Group", represented at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg. He noted that over the next few years his group will focus on the development of infrastructure projects in Russia.

The Group owns assets in the energy, transport and production infrastructure, as well as provides financial services, trades in consumer goods and real estate. Its most famous investments are investments in the gas company NOVATEK and the petrochemical company Sibur.

Last April, Gennady Timchenko sold a 49% stake in the Finnish company IPP Oy, which owned 99% of the Finnish airline company Airfix Aviation. It was a small part of the Volga Group portfolio.

"Volga Group" was listed on the Sanctions List of the Department of the US Treasury in 2014 (OFAC - Office for Control of Foreign Assets).

Sport and health business

In July 2013, together with brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, Gennady Timchenko created the company Arena Events Oy, which bought 100% of the shares of Helsinki's large sports hall Hartwall Areena. There is also a multi-storey parking lot with a capacity of 1,421 private vehicles. Partners also bought a stake in the club Jokerit, whose team became the six-time Finnish champion of the highest level of the hockey league Liiga. Consequently, Jokerit was transferred to the Continental Hockey League in the season 2014-15 season, where they played in the Western Conference in Bobrov's Division.

Social activities and charity

What else is known Gennady Timchenko? His biography will be incomplete, if not say a few words about his patronage. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society.

In 1998, he became one of the co-founders of the judo club "Yavara Neva".

In 2007, Timchenko and the Surguteks company founded the Klyuch charitable foundation, which supports family children's homes in Leningrad, Tambov and Ryazan regions.

In 2008, in the city of Timchenko, the Neva Foundation was founded with the help of Timchenko in order to support and finance cultural projects in Switzerland and Russia. The main direction of work was partnership with the Geneva Opera. The well-known conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Yuri Temirkanov was his trustee.

In 2010, they also created the "Ladoga" foundation. His main activity was aimed at helping elderly people, as well as restoring historical monuments, supporting cultural projects and introducing modern medicine technologies. Since September 2013 the "Ladoga" foundation has been called "The Charity Fund of Elena and Gennady Timchenko". Testimonials in the press indicate that his activities correspond to the stated direction, and the founders of the fund finance it on a regular basis.

Timchenko is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and the Tolerance Center in Moscow.

Sport and hobbies

Timchenko loves to play and watch a game of tennis. Thanks to the Finnish company IPP, which he previously owned, he sponsored an open tennis tournament in Finland since 2000. According to some reports, he was a sponsor of the Finnish national team in the Davis Cup and financed a number of Russian tennis players.

In April 2011, Timchenko became the board of directors of the SK SKA (St. Petersburg), having replaced Alexander Medvedev. In May of the same year, under the new management structure of the club, he was appointed its president.

In July 2012, he replaced Vyacheslav Fetisov as Chairman of the KHL Board of Directors.

Awards

October 12, 2013 Timchenko received the French Order of the Legion of Honor. This award served as an occasion for the opposition Russian publicist and writer Andrei Piontkovsky to write in his blog on Ekho Moskvy that "... the awarding of the criminal with the nickname of Gangren by the highest distinction of the country covers the French state with a shame." One thing is unclear: from which finger Piontkovsky sucked this "gangrene". Timchenko, of course, is not an angel, but he made his capitals clearly not in a criminal environment, but among the Soviet Party membership, which took advantage of the "Gorbachev" restructuring to accumulate its initial capitals.

Can I chat with Timchenko on the Web?

In an interview with ITAR-TASS on August 4, 2014, Timchenko said that he does not use a computer, unlike his wife Elena, who has her email address. According to him, she receives up to one and a half hundred letters a day and tries to answer everything. Imagine how many letters Gennady Timchenko himself could have received! Contacts with him for this reason are not available to the general public.

It turns out that this oligarch is a very closed figure. In fact, this is a very convenient position, which Gennady Timchenko has benefited from. Contacts, mail - all this carries the potential risks of information leakage on his business, which can inflict irreparable harm in conditions of very severe competition. That's why Timchenko is in no hurry to reveal himself before the public. However, if someone can not wait to communicate with him, then you can try to write to the email address of the "Foundation of Timchenko": inform@timchenkofoundation.org.