Andrey Akimov
Born
Andrey Igorevich Akimov

(1953-09-22) 22 September 1953 (age 70)
Leningrad, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
OccupationBanker

Andrey Igorevich Akimov (in Russian: Андрей Игоревич Акимов, born 22 September 1953 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is the chairman of the management board of Gazprombank (open joint-stock company).[1] He is believed to be a former KGB agent with the rank of general and a member of the Russian Intelligence Community.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Akimov was born in Leningrad in 1953, but, when he was three months old, his family moved to Moscow.[5] His father was a military engineer that developed weapons for the USSR Ministry of Defense, and his mother was a mathematics teacher.[5] He graduated from a secondary school in Moscow that specialized in English.[5] At the Moscow Financial Institute, he became friends with both Valery Lyakin[a] and Vladimir Dmitriev and earned his degree in 1975, studying international economics, finance and banking.[5][8]

Career

Vneshtorgbank

From 1974 to 1987, Andrey Akimov was employed in Vneshtorgbank at senior positions heading the financial operations department, which was involved with securities, of VTB USSR until 1985.[3][9][10][11] In September 1975, he participated with the Soviet Foreign Trade Ministry (Russian: советский Минвнешторг) during the negotiations with Japan culminating in an agreement with the 1974 established Japanese company Sakhalin Sekiyu Kaihatsu Kyoreku Kabushiki Kaisha (Sodeco) (Japanese: サハリン石油開発協力) for the development of the Sakhalin-1 field on Sakhalin Island,[b] and, in 1977 for his first trip outside of the Soviet Union, he travelled to Japan as a government expert and an employee of Vneshtorgbank to negotiate trade in consumer goods and large-diameter pipes with Japanese officials.[5] In 1978, he had a six-month internship at the East-West United Bank in Luxembourg, and, in 1981, he went to Sweden and negotiated a $100 million loan with the export agency.[5] He travelled to many places after his 1981 success in Sweden including many trips to Switzerland to the famous Zurich based Sovzagranbank "Voskhod Handelsbank" (Russian: совзагранбанке «Восход Хандельсбанк») (Wozсhod Handelsbank), which was headed by Yuri Karnaukh,[13] in support of gold trades apparently transporting gold under aircraft passenger seats, according to Nikolai Krotov, until the collapse of the Swiss bank in 1984.[5] From 1985 to 1987, he held a post, which is usually given to an undercover KGB agent, as Deputy Director General of the Vneshtorgbank branch in Zurich (Switzerland).[2][4][11] From 1987 to November 1990, he held a post, which is usually given to an undercover KGB agent, as the Director General of the Soviet-controlled Donau Bank in Vienna (Austria) at the same time Alexander Medvedev worked at Donau Bank.[2][4][8][11][14] During this time, Donau Bank allegedly serviced very large debts of Bulgaria and, which the Austrian Die Presse wrote at the time, was "adherence to an overly expansive business strategy".[3] In the spring of 1990, Bulgaria declared a moratorium on servicing its external debt.[3]

IMAG GmbH

From January 1991 to 20 November 2002, he was a managing director of the Swiss financial company IMAG GmbH in Vienna (Austria), which specialized in financing the oil and natural gas industry, and was regular advisor to the chairman of the management board of Vneshtorgbank.[3][8][11][14][c] During the 1990s, he worked closely with the administration of the Governor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak and especially Vladimir Putin to provide more than $1 billion in foreign finance for the reconstruction of the Kirishi oil refinery (Russian: Киришинефтеоргсинтез), which is the only oil refinery in northwest Russia and is the largest oil refinery in Russia based upon the amount of fuel produced.[9][15][16][17] In 1992, his IMAG GmbH organized the financing from foreign banks for the Andrey Katkov (Russian: Андрей Катков), Yevgeny Malov (Russian: Евгений Малов), Adolf Smirnov (Russian: Адольф Смирнов) and Gennady Timchenko associated oil trader Kinex which, in 1993, the St. Petersburg mayor's office transferred oil export quotas which were coming from the Kirishi oil refinery to Kinex and, later, this allowed Timchenko to establish the oil trader Gunvor.[9][10][18][19][d] Upon the establishment of RosUkrEnergo (Russian: РосУкрЭнерго), many top managers at the Moscow office of the Swiss firm IMAG GmbH moved to Gazprombank.[16]

At IMAG, Akimov had a mandate from the Supreme Economic Council under the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation "in order to attract loans and investments in the Russian economy" (Russian: «в целях привлечения кредитов и инвестиций в российскую экономику»).[3] Through IMAG, Akimov participated in the Russian privatization project including attracting investment from Bear Stearns for AvtoVAZ instead of the traditional Soviet Union supporter Fiat, investment from Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) for KamAZ, and Bear Sterns for Tomskneft.[3][e]

Gazprombank (GPB)

In November 2002, Akimov has taken up a post of the chairman of the management board of the GPB (OJSC).[8][11] In January 2005, Sergei Ivanov (Russian: Сергей Иванов), who is the son of Sergei Ivanov and was Akimov's assistant to the chairman of the board at Gazprombank, became the vice president of Gazprombank.[25] Through Gazprombank, Akimov, Michael Hason, who is president of Liechtenstein-registered CAP Holding, a deputy chairman the Liechtenstein Sygma Bank and involved with a Martin Schlaff associated Latvian oil company, Martin Schlaff, who is associated with the Vienna based bank BAWAG also transliterated as BAVAG (Russian: банк «БАВАГ») and Robert Novikovsky also transliterated as Nowikovsky or Novikov (Russian: Роберт Новиковский), who was the chairman of the board of Baltic Holding (Russian: «Балтик Холдинг»), formed Yurimex also transliterated as Jurimex (Russian: «Юримекс») which is co-located with the Martin Schlaff associated firm Getex. Yurimex (Jurimex) later became Centrex (Russian: «Центрекс»).[26][27][28]

Krasny Oktyabr

Following the bankruptcy of Krasny Oktyabr in 2009 in which the Andrei Borodin led Bank of Moscow was a large creditor, Akimov, as the interim manager of the plant, appointed the Ukrainian Dmitro Gerasimenko, who is the owner of Dieg-Impex LLC (Russian: ООО «Диег-Импэкс»), to be executive director of Krasny Oktyabr[f] and who in November 2018 "sold" the plant to Pavel Krotov.[29][30][g]

Corporate boards

Since December 2006, Akimov is a member of the Novatek Board of Directors.[11] Since June 2011, he is a member of the Gazprom Board of Directors.[8] He is a member of the supervisory board of the CSKA ice hockey club.

Awards

Awarded the Order of Honor (2008), Order for Merit to the Fatherland, 4th Class (2013), and the Order of Alexander Nevsky (2017).[32]

Sanctions

In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals during the War in Ukraine.[33][34] Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Akimov was sanctioned by the UK.[35][36]

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.[37]

Personal life

In Russian media, his romantic partner has previously been identified as painter Marianna Chaykina (Russian: Марианна Чайкина).[38][39][40][41]

The Pandora Papers leaks revealed that Akimov owned at least eight shell companies over the period 2007–2018 which were registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and some of the companies were co-owned by Marianna Chaykina.[38]

As of December 2021, Akimov has been married since September 2021 to an unknown woman identified as an ex-aviation worker.[42]

Notes

  1. ^ Valery Vitalievich Lyakin (Russian: Валерий Витальевич Лякин; born 7 September 1953) became a member of the management board of Donau Bank from December 1989 to December 1991 in one source[6] heading it from November 1990 until November 1992 in another source[7] and later became chairman of the board of VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG in Frankfurt am Main which was formerly known as Ost-West Handelsbank.
  2. ^ The Japanese financing of the development of Sakhalin-1 led to the discovery of the oil and gas fields at Odoptu, Chayvo and Arkutun-Dagi on its northeast portion of the Sakhalin shelf.[5][12]
  3. ^ Alexander Medvedev, who is not related to Dmitry Medvedev, was Akimov's junior partner at IMAG GmbH.[4][9]
  4. ^ All settlements for the Kirishi oil traders was handled by Bank Rossiya.[20]
  5. ^ From 1994 to 1998, Austrian and University of Vienna graduate Wolfgang Skribot worked under Akimov at IMAG, then worked in the European division of Enron, and later worked with Boris Fyodorov, Charles Ryan and Ilya Sherbovich as the director at the United Financial Group (UFG) (Russian: «Объединенной финансовой группы» (ОФГ)) until one month after Gazprombank (GPB) acquired its stake in Mosenergo (Russian: «Мосэнерго») in 2003 after which Skribot began working at GPB. As of 2022, Skribot is a director at the London-based SEFE Marketing and Trading Ltd., which formerly was a unit of Gazprom PJSC.[3][21][22][23][24]
  6. ^ Dmitro Gerasimenko, who began his career with Dneprospetsstal (Russian: «Днепроспецстал»), placed numerous persons from Dneprospetsstal at positions at Krasny Oktyabr including his mother Svetlana Gerasimenko, who became financial director, Eduard Shifrin, who worked with Svetlana Gerasimenko at Dneprospetsstal, Vadim Leibenzon, who Gerasimenko calls his "right hand" and in the early 1990s led the steel shop at Dneprospetsstal and became general director of Dneprospetsstal in 1998-2001 and 2003-2004, and Konstantin Ryabov, who became the president of Red October International and was very close to Viktor Pinchuk who had been a co-owner of Dneprospetsstal until 2008.[29]
  7. ^ Pavel Krotov is a friend of Oleg Deripaska and Ramzan Kadyrov.[30][31]

References

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  2. ^ a b c "Report Links Putin to Dresdner". The St. Petersburg Times. 1 March 2005. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Бирман, Александр (17 May 2005). "Акимов и "Газпромбанк": Орден национального достояния. "Газпромовская" "дочка", которая гуляет сама по себе" [Akimov and Gazprombank: Order of the National Treasure. "Gazprom" "daughter", which walks by itself]. Компания (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 May 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2022. Alternate Орден национального достояния (Order of National Treasure) archive from the original.
  4. ^ a b c d "AGENTS IN POWER". The Saint Petersburg Times. 12 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Казьмина, Ирина (2 April 2015). "Банкир под прикрытием" [Undercover banker]. Forbes (in Russian). Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  6. ^ Кротов, Н И [in Russian], ed. (2007). ИСТОРИЯ советских и российских банков за границей. Воспоминания Oчевидцев Документы [HISTORY Soviet and Russian banks Abroad. Memories Eyewitnesses Documentation] (PDF) (in Russian). Vol. 1. Moscow: АНО «Экономическая летопись» (ANO "Economic Chronicle"). ISBN 978-5-903388-08-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022 – via vtb.ru. Other ISBN 978-5-903388-07-3. See page 506.
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  9. ^ a b c d Reznik, Irina; Baraulina, Anna (23 October 2014). "Cold War Banker to Putin Billionaires Walks Sanction Wire". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
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  18. ^ Рождественский, Илья (7 December 2022). "У Владимира Путина нашлась кубышка с миллиардом долларов от газовой аферы: Из нее заплатили за яхту Graceful" [Vladimir Putin Has a Billion Dollars Worth of Gas Scam: It was used to pay for the yacht Graceful]. Центра «Досье» (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. Alternate archive
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  21. ^ МЕДВЕДЕВА, Елена; ЗУБАРЕВА, Юлия (10 January 2008). "Газпромбанк продал за $374,4 млн миноритарные доли в "Мосэнерго", ОГК-4 и ОГК-5" [Gazprombank sold minority stakes in Mosenergo, OGK-4 and OGK-5 for $374.4 million]. Vedomosti (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023 – via banki.ru.
  22. ^ "Gazprom Trading Unit Says It Won't Return to Russian Control". Bloomberg News. 13 April 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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  28. ^ Weitz, Gidi (7 September 2010). "The Schlaff Saga Money Flows Into the Sharon Family Accounts". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  29. ^ a b Титов, Сергей (26 March 2016). "Борьба за "Красный Октябрь": Кому достанется крупнейший в России производитель спецсталей. Сталевар в электросталеплавильном цехе волгоградского металлургического завода "Красный Октябрь". Имущество завода "Красный Октябрь" арестовано, его владелец стал обвиняемым в уголовном деле и уверяет, что стал жертвой рейдерской атаки. РБК разбирался в скандале вокруг крупнейшего в России производителя спецсталей" [Fight for "Red October": Who will get Russia's largest producer of special steels. Steelmaker in the electric steel-smelting shop of the Volgograd metallurgical plant "Red October". The property of the Krasny Oktyabr plant was arrested, its owner became a defendant in a criminal case and assures that he was the victim of a raider attack. RBC dealt with the scandal surrounding Russia's largest manufacturer of special steels]. RBK (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  30. ^ a b ""Охотa на ведьм закончится»: Дмитрий Герасименко продал волгоградский «Красный Октябрь"" ["The witch hunt will end": Dmitry Gerasimenko sold the Volgograd "Red October"]. Finance.Rambler.ru (in Russian). 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  31. ^ Мышкин, Сергей (31 March 2010). "Кто Вы г-н Кротов? За бизнесменом Кротовым купившим долги Филарета Гальчева, может стоять Олег Дерипаска?" [Who are you, Mr. Krotov? Could Oleg Deripaska be behind the businessman Krotov, who bought the debts of Filaret Galchev?]. FLB (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Акимов, Андрей Игоревич". ТАСС. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  33. ^ "Ukraine-/Russia-related Designations and Identification Update". United States Department of the Treasury. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
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  36. ^ Stylianou, Nassos (16 April 2022). "Sanctioned Russian oligarchs linked to £800m worth of UK property". BBC.
  37. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  38. ^ a b Alecci, Scilla (2022-04-11). "Russian bankers shuffled personal wealth offshore long before latest sanctions, Pandora Papers show: Amid rounds of Western sanctions since 2014, executives at five of Russia's biggest financial institutions made moves to safeguard hundreds of millions in assets". ICIJ. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  39. ^ "Сборная по распилу. Как на "Первом канале" "потеряли" 500 млн рублей, выделенных на чемпионат мира по футболу" [Cutting team. How Channel One "lost" 500 million rubles allocated for the World Cup]. Baza (baza.io) (in Russian). 14 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023. Alternate archive as Сборная "Первого канала" по распилу: Как зам Эрнста Александр Файфман и продюсер Стародубцева вывели 500 млн руб. из бюджета церемоний на ЧМ-2018 (The team of the "First Channel" on the cut: How Ernst's deputy Alexander Faifman and producer Starodubtseva withdrew 500 million rubles from the ceremonies budget at the 2018 World Cup)
  40. ^ ""Газпромбанк" под армянским гнетом: Как Хачатуров создал свою команду и осваивает ресурсы банка" ["Gazprombank" under Armenian oppression: How Khachaturov created his team and develops the bank's resources]. smi6.ru (in Russian). 2 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  41. ^ "Компромат ГРУПП: Причиной падения финансовых показателей "Газпромбанка" может оказаться не только связанный с пандемией экономический кризис, негативным образом отразившийся на работе кредитных организаций, но и "теневая" деятельность собственных топ-менеджеров, проворачивающих "серые" схемы по продаже активов должников с последующим выводом полученных финансов. Одним из них является заместитель председателя правления банка Тигран Хачатуров по прозвищу "Сорока", отвечающий за управление проблемными активами" [Kompromat GROUP: The reason for the fall in Gazprombank's financial performance may be not only the economic crisis associated with the pandemic, which negatively affected the work of credit institutions, but also the "shadow" activities of their own top managers, who turn "gray" schemes for the sale of debtors' assets with the subsequent withdrawal of the received finances. One of them is the deputy chairman of the bank's board, Tigran Khachaturov, nicknamed "Soroka", who is responsible for managing distressed assets.]. Компромат ГРУПП (criminalru) (in Russian). 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Как прошел благотворительный аукцион Натальи Водяновой и фонда "Обнаженные сердца": На этот раз — под эгидой бренда Rаlph Lаurеn" [How was the charity auction of Natalia Vodianova and the Naked Heart Foundation: This time - under the auspices of the brand Ralph Lauren.]. Tatler (tatler.ru) (in Russian). 10 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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