Gennady Timchenko (born 1952) is a Russian businessman and billionaire. He owns the same founded Volga Group investment group, which specializes in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets. Previously, he was a co-owner of the Gunvor Group international energy trader. In 2014, Timchenko took 62nd place in the ranking of billionaires according to Forbes magazine. As of April of this year, this magazine estimates its net worth at $ 11.3 billion.
The KHL board of directors and the president of the SKA club (St. Petersburg) are all the same Gennady Timchenko. The photo below was taken last year and presents him as an open and friendly person.
Youth and family
In 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 in the group of Soviet troops in Germany (GSVG). Therefore, Gene Timchenko spent 6 years of his childhood (between 1959-1965) in the German Democratic Republic, 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 graduation? His biography continued in Leningrad, where he studied at the elite Soviet university - the Leningrad military school, which trains personnel for enterprises of the military-industrial complex. After graduating from it in 1976, he became an electrical engineer.
Who is Gennady Timchenko married to? His wife, Elena, who is a citizen of Finland, actively helps her husband in his affairs, especially those related to 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 previously the residence of Nikita Khrushchev. He also owns a house in Switzerland, by the way, in the neighborhood of the famous Ukrainian oligarch I. Kolomoisky.
According to ITAR-TASS last year, Gennady Timchenko himself, his son continues to be a citizen of Finland and studies at the University of Geneva.
Way to the top of the business
In 1977, Timchenko began working as an engineer at the Izhora plant in the city of Kolpino near Leningrad. The company then specialized in the production of large electric generators for power plants, including nuclear 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 already in 1982 he moved to Moscow to the Ministry of Foreign Trade for the position of senior engineer of one of the departments of the ministry.
In 1988, when Russia began liberalizing its economy, he was appointed deputy director of the state-owned oil company Kirishineftekhimeksport (Kineks), which was established in 1987 on the basis of the refinery in Kirishi (Leningrad Region), one of the three largest refineries in RSFSR. Timchenko’s team built the first export routes for certain petroleum products from the USSR to Western countries, and Gennady Timchenko himself became one of the leading figures in 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 ways of movement of commodity-cash flows in the conditions of almost complete absence of competition, to establish promising ties with an eye to the market future.
And it did not take long to wait. As soon as the USSR collapsed in 1991, Timchenko left Russia and was hired by Finland-based Urals Finland Oy, a company specializing in the import of Russian oil into Europe. He settled in Finland and became a citizen of this country.
This is where the developments of the perestroika period came in handy. Over the four years of work, Timchenko rose to the post of first deputy, and then general director of the company, which became known as International Petroleum Products Oy (IPP). And the family did not forget Gennady Timchenko. His children born in Finland, a daughter and a son, became her citizens.
This period of activity also included acquaintance with V.V. Putin, who at that time worked in the mayor's office of St. Petersburg. However, it is naive to believe that Timchenko’s fortune arose thanks to the patronage of the then modest Petersburg official. The conditions for the accumulation of initial capital by him were created much earlier, back in the late eighties. While in Finland, Timchenko continued to use the Kirishi Oil Refinery as a source for importing petroleum products to the West, all the more so until 1994 he was listed as the head of Kineks.
Having accumulated money from the trade in Russian oil abroad, in 1996, during the privatization of Timchenko and partners, he bought Kinex. Based on it in 1997, the trading company Gunvor, specializing in oil trading, was founded. In addition to Timchenko, the second major shareholder was Swedish businessman Thorbjörn Turnkvist. who inexplicably successfully bought from Timchenko his stake in the company in March 2014 the day before the start of action against the latter and its US sanctions assets.
In 2007, Timchenko founded the private investment fund Volga Resources. He gradually developed into the Volga Group investment group, in which his Russian and international assets in the field of energy, transport, infrastructure, financial services and the consumer sector were consolidated.
In July 2013, he became a holder of the French Order of the Legion of Honor for organizing a permanent exhibition of Russian art in the Louvre, supporting the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and helping chess players to hold the Alekhine Memorial tournament.
Last March, after the Crimean referendum, the US Treasury put Timchenko on the list of individuals identified as "members of the inner circle of the Russian leadership." Sanctions froze all the assets that he held in the United States, and barred 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 had acquired Finnish citizenship while residing in Geneva at that time. In October 2012, in an interview with Forbes, a Russian newspaper, Timchenko said that he was both a Russian and a Finnish citizen. Last August, he stated in an interview with ITAR-TASS that he needed Finnish citizenship to travel abroad in the 1990s, when it was difficult to travel with a Russian passport, and that he never hid his two passports. In the United States, the Treasury Department, when listing individuals sanctioned by the 2014 Crimean events, lists him as a citizen of Russia, Finland, and Armenia.
Gennady Timchenko: state
He has a stake in various gas, transport and construction organizations. Among his possessions are the gas company Novatek, the petrochemical concern SIBUR Holding, the railway operator for the 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 V.V. Putin, for which he was subjected to sanctions by the United States as a punishment for joining Crimea to Russia. In response, Timchenko said: "You must be responsible for everything, even for friendship with the president." Until March last year, he was one of the founders of 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 real estate in Geneva with an area of 341 m², which is located on a plot of just over 1 hectare of land. According to the Geneva Land Register, the purchase price for the property was SFR 8.4 million (at the time of the purchase in 2001 - about $ 11 million).
His income, according to Finnish tax authorities, increased tenfold from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, he declared 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 got 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 was investigating allegations of illegal transactions in which the Gunvor Group bought oil from Russia from Rosneft and sold it to third parties through the US financial system. Gunvor issued a retaliatory statement on November 6, denying any crime.
Volga Group
In 2007, Gennady Timchenko founded the Luxembourg-based Volga Resources Fund. The fund, which combines Timchenko’s assets, was renamed in June 2013 into the Volga Group investment group, presented 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. Her best-known investments are investments in the gas company NOVATEK and the petrochemical company Sibur.
In April last year, Gennady Timchenko sold 49% of the Finnish company IPP Oy, which owned 99% of the Finnish airline Airfix Aviation. It was a small part of the Volga Group portfolio.
Volga Group was listed on the 2014 U.S. Treasury Department Sanctions List (OFAC - Foreign Assets Control Office).
Sports and fitness business
In July 2013, together with his brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, Gennady Timchenko created Arena Events Oy, which bought a 100% stake in Helsinki's large sports hall Hartwall Areena. There is also a multi-story parking with a capacity of 1, 421 private vehicles. The partners also bought a stake in the Jokerit club, whose team became the six-time Finland champion of the highest level of the hockey league Liiga. Consequently, Jokerit were transferred to the Continental Hockey League in the 2014-15 season, where they played in the Western Conference in the Bobrov Division.
Social Activities and Charity
What else is Gennady Timchenko famous for? His biography will be incomplete, if not a few words about his philanthropy. 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 Surguteks founded the Klyuch charity foundation, which supports family orphanages in Leningrad, the Tambov and Ryazan regions.
In 2008, the Neva Foundation was founded in Geneva by the fourth Timchenko in order to support and finance cultural projects in Switzerland and Russia. The main area of work was a partnership with the Geneva Opera. The famous conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Yuri Temirkanov, was his trustee.
In 2010, they also created the Ladoga Fund. His main activity was aimed at helping older 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 Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charity Fund. Reviews in the press indicate that its activities are consistent with the declared focus, and the founders of the fund finance it on a regular basis.
Timchenkr is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance in Moscow.
Sport and hobbies
Timchenko is a fan of playing and watching a game of tennis. Thanks to the previously owned Finnish IPP, he has sponsored an open tennis tournament in Finland since 2000. According to some reports, he was the sponsor of the Finnish national team in the Davis Cup and financed a number of Russian tennis players.
In April 2011, Timchenko became the chairman of the board of directors of SKA HC (St. Petersburg), replacing Alexander Medvedev. In May of that year, as part of the new club management structure, 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 Legion of Honor. This award served as an occasion for the opposition Russian publicist and writer Andrei Piontkovsky to write in his blog on "Echo of Moscow" that "… the award of a criminal with the nickname Gangren’s highest honor honors the French state." Only one thing is not clear: from which finger Piontkovsky sucked this “gangrene”. Timchenko, of course, is not an angel, but he obviously did not make his capital in a criminal environment, but among the Soviet party-farm nomenclature, which took advantage of Gorbachev's perestroika to accumulate its initial capital.
