Lebedev Alexander Evgenievich. Biography

Nikolay Kletochnikov

Everyone knows about agent 007 James Bond. Much less is known about his colleagues who worked under other numbers. Maybe because they were professionally laconic. The career of Alexander Lebedev, a spy and oligarch, is very reminiscent of the story about a deeply secret “LLC agent”: no one has ever seen any documents confirming the numerous stories that the owner of the NRB tells about himself, but the exploits that Alexander Evgenievich does not like to remember can be easy to find in the archives of scandalous chronicles of the last decade. The name of a spy, banker, oligarch, sponsor of political parties, secret owner of newspapers and magazines and future air transportation monopolist also appears in the high-profile story of the removal of the notorious “copier” box from the White House, and in case of “a man similar to the Prosecutor General”, and in a good dozen more scandals, from which the modern history of Russia took shape in the 90s.

But if earlier Alexander Evgenievich was content with the usual role of the main myth-maker among domestic oligarchs, then the latest step of the banker forced people to seriously talk about the growing political ambitions of Mr. Lebedev: the head of the NRB seriously wanted to take the chair of the mayor of Moscow.

Agent 000

And how well it all started. Shura Lebedev was born on December 16, 1959 in a decent Moscow family. Dad is a professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, mother is an English teacher at MGIMO.

It is no wonder that with such a pedigree, Shura entered the super-elite English special school No. 17. Children from ordinary families, even very talented ones. the way there was blocked. (Those few sons and daughters of proletarians who ended up in the 17th grade thanks to the fact that they lived in the neighborhood were getting rid of by demanding teachers by all means by the fourth grade.)

Our hero, as you understand, did not face this fate. Despite. that a student of class “B” (and in high school - “A”), the cute blond Shura Lebedev had the reputation of a spoiled hooligan and a budding womanizer, he received a quite decent certificate.

There, at school, Shurik first learned about the existence of such a mysterious and legendary organization as the KGB. Many offspring of Lubyanka leaders studied here. For example, a certain Sasha Preobrazhensky, whose father served in the special services with the rank of general, ended up in the same class with Lebedev. So the students of the 17th special school on Lubyanka were closely watched almost from the first grade. They also had their eye on Lebedev, although they recruited him, most likely, already at the institute.

The fact that of all the capital’s universities, Shura Lebedev chose and managed to enter MGIMO, where his mother worked, is not surprising. Shurik studied in the eighth English-Spanish group of the monetary and financial department. But then the versions diverge.

According to the official version, after graduating from MGIMO in 1983, Alexander Lebedev first worked at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System at the USSR Academy of Sciences and then moved to the European Department of the Central Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the unofficial story, in 1983 Alexander Lebedev entered the Foreign Intelligence Academy. After graduation, he allegedly worked in the central office, but not in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. and the first directorate of the KGB of the USSR (now the Foreign Intelligence Service). According to the same version, it was as an intelligence officer that Mr. Lebedev was sent to the Soviet embassy in London in 1987.

Where the second version came from is now difficult to find out, but given Mr. Lebedev’s passion for myth-making, it is possible that the now successful banker himself was at its origins. In any case, it was not possible to find real confirmation that Alexander Lebedev was really involved in intelligence activities or at least was on the KGB staff. Moreover, service workers laugh at any hints about this:

Lebedev? Spy?

However, Alexander Evgenievich himself, at every opportunity, likes to hint at his underground past and threaten his competitors with “torture in Yasenevo” (where the headquarters of the SVR is located). Recently, a banker “confessed” to Russian Focus:

I once told German Gref: “Give me the right, within the framework of this project (we were talking about the Ila aircraft leasing), to torture officials. I also have experience... In Yasenevo we still have a torture room.” German Oskarovich made such a stern face and seriously replied: “We are building a liberal state, Alexander Evgenievich.” And he looked at me again, expressively.

However, the name of the spy Alexander Lebedev was not included in the list of legendary SVR agents. The only useful thing that Lebedev did as the second secretary of the embassy during his 5 years of work in the UK was that he made a close acquaintance with the future head of Vnesheconombank, and at that time the embassy's caretaker, Andrei Kostin. And even then, the benefit from this acquaintance was more likely for Lebedev himself, but not for his native intelligence service.

Two comrades served

In the early 90s, intelligence diplomats turned to commerce. Kostin in London established and headed a certain enterprise called Greinlodge Limited. Lebedev simultaneously created Greinsale Limited. Interestingly, both companies were born at about the same time and were registered at the same legal address. A little later, friendly companies established a joint child - The Milith PLC. By the way, all this was done without any intermediaries or front companies - evidence that there were certain forces in Russia behind the embassy businessmen.

When a correspondent of a newspaper controlled by our hero once asked Lebedev how he managed to retrain from a diplomat to a banker, he replied:

A lucky coincidence. Let's consider ourselves lucky. You still won’t believe it if I say that this is only the fruit of my efforts, and you’ll be right.

Soon, having finally made a choice between diplomacy and commerce in favor of the latter, Lebedev and Kostin created the Russian Investment and Financial Company in Moscow. Since 1993, RIFK, with management rights, became part of the Imperial Bank, and Lebedev himself became the head of the bank’s foreign investment department. By the way, it was not by chance that our hero ended up in Imperial. One of the founders of the bank was Lebedev’s classmate Sanya Mamutso with his company Project Finance Company (KOPF). At school, they didn’t really get along with each other, but in business they found a common language.

“I came to Imperial on April 1, 1992,” Sergei Rodionov, former chairman of the bank’s board of directors and now president of Diners Club Russia, shared his memories. - Within two weeks, everything became clear to me: the bank was created by complex structures with a difficult past. The organizers were cooperatives of various profiles. The first chairman and owner of the bank, as it turned out, had a criminal record. True, he died quickly. By his death, which is very atypical for our country. His colleagues still have problems. They arose due to the fact that they had an incorrect relationship with Otari Vitalievich Kvantrishvili... There, among the founders of the first row, was the ALM company of Alexander Leonidovich Mamut. But they, too, immediately experienced a rather severe conflict, which resulted in the courts with the Lefortovo bank. Since then we have not been friends.

The conflict was quite remarkable. After the collapse of the USSR, all Vnesheconombank's debts to Russian importers were frozen, and debts to commercial banks had to be repaid. To turn these debts into cash, classmates introduced a simple scheme.

So, in April 1993, the Technopromimport company sold one of its $15 million debts at a reduced rate to Mamut’s new bank, the Project Finance Company (KOPF). Which, in turn, undertook to contribute this debt to the authorized capital of Lefortovo Bank, where the same Mamut was an advisor and co-owner. And from Imperial, where the Technopromimport accounts were located, they demanded a web loan for the entire amount of the debt.

Sergei Rodionov tried to disagree with this scheme, but Lefortovo Bank, by appealing to the arbitration court, achieved his goal. Economists calculated that then, due to exchange rate differences, the budget lost $8.8 million. Together with KOPF, Lebedev and Kostin also made a living from the abandoned “Imperial”, also, following the example of Mamut, they earned money in the bank on web loans. Their archive contains the Peruvian debts of Aviaexport.

Our home is Gazprom

Nevertheless, the enterprising financier Lebedev was noticed at the top. Not only was he not reprimanded for the scam, but they began to actively push him up the oligarchic ladder. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the fact that it was Lebedev who became the head of the National Reserve Bank in 1995, the largest shareholder of which was Gazprom (read NDR Chernomyrdin and the government).

Without this connection, the future career of our hero would be in great doubt. Judge for yourself, in 1995 alone, the bank’s assets increased from 60 billion rubles to 3 trillion. In September 1996, JSCB National Reserve Bank received a general license to carry out banking operations and by the end of that year became one of the ten largest banks in Russia. The explanation for this meteoric rise is more than simple: connections.

As a White House source once admitted in an interview with Profile:

Lebedev is a typical example of a designated "oligarch". Just as during the Chubais privatization people were appointed millionaires, so Gazprom appointed Shurik an “oligarch”. As soon as Gazprom placed part of its funds in NRB accounts, the bank’s business immediately went uphill. Gazprom is a multifaceted structure, and each “face” requires a financial structure to serve it.

Lebedev provided full service, but, of course, not disinterestedly for himself and his patrons.

In 1995, the government transferred $300 million to the Gazprom bank, and “without making ruble cover,” that is, simply put, for nothing. A few weeks later, the NRB released another 50 million to “ensure the effective use of temporarily free government resources.” Lucky.

And here is another episode from the banker’s rich biography. NRB received 2 billion Indian rupees from the Ministry of Finance for the construction of ships ordered by Sovcomflot. According to the letter from the Ministry of Finance dated 08/21/95, the entire amount was transferred to the accounts of the National Reserve Bank, but... The money arrived at the Baltic Plant only on 03/5/96, that is, seven months later. All this time, $45 million was apparently circulating in the National Reserve Bank.

The further growth of the banker's career was ruined by the notorious greed. In 1995, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, which by that time had long lost hope of paying Russia with real money, issued government bonds worth $1.4 billion. The piece was very tasty - after all, 85% per annum and large-scale repayment since 1997. These securities were transferred to offset the debt to our Gazprom.

Then everything seemed to go according to the script. Gazprom transferred half of the cash prize to the Ministry of Finance, which, according to Lebedev, should have placed it in the NRB. However, either Lebedev “slowed down”, or the gas workers, in defiance of the National Reserve, wanted to create another reserve bank, but 43% of Ukrainian bonds on November 19, 1995 went straight to Unicombank.

Lebedev tried to make a scandal, but he was quickly put in his place: Gazprom withdrew part of its shares from NRB. It smelled like bankruptcy.

Shurik's election adventures

The situation was saved only by elections. In June 1999, a friend of Alexander Lebedev, the head of Vnesheconombank, Andrei Kostin, visited the “eternal city” of Rome. The scandalous newspaper Versiya received fascinating information that Kostin had his confessions about the ins and outs of the presidential elections in the summer of 1996 notarized in Italy.

“Only one of the facts of Kostin’s connection with the presidential election campaign has become public knowledge - the same notorious copier box that Lisovsky and Evstafiev took out of the White House on June 19, 1996. According to data from the Prosecutor General's Office and the Presidential Security Service, the National Reserve Bank (read Kostin-Lebedev) is directly related to the placement of this box in office No. 2-17 of the White House, from where it came to Lisovsky and Evstafiev. It is also well known that a certain Lavrov, who at that time was an employee of the NRB, also appears in the case of the box.”

However, something else is also well known. After the arrest, Lisovsky and Evstafiev, although they gave evidence, were quite meager, but national reservist Lavrov was frank in full. It was he who readily told the Korzhakovites about who, how much, and for what purpose, brought in and took out of the White House. It was as if someone deliberately wanted to cast suspicion on Lebedev, leaving Yeltsin’s true financiers in the shadows.

It followed from this story that on the eve of the elections (and, as is suspected, to finance them), the Ministry of Finance issued web loans for the 6th and 7th loans. The bulk of them (almost a billion dollars) went to the NRB. A significant part of these funds, according to witnesses. migrated to offshore zones, but some were stuffed into notorious boxes. So if Lebedev was behind the sponsorship of Yeltsin’s election headquarters, it was only as a figurehead.

Why was it later necessary to leak information about Kostin’s “compromising letter” in Rome? The answer is obvious - this was only part of the extensive myth-making with which the head of the NRB likes to surround himself: he is a spy, an oligarch, and even a president-maker. In the absence of concrete evidence, this does not lead to any trouble with the law, but it brings dividends in the political and even financial markets.

In 2000, for example, newspapers published fragmentary hints about Lebedev’s possible involvement in the election of Putin to the post of President of the Russian Federation. It worked flawlessly on particularly naive partners and competitors of the banker. In moments of crisis for the NRB, when the banker was threatened with financial collapse. Articles appeared in the media with headlines like “They are attacking Lebedev. They hit Putin."

Break the bank

There are so many myths floating around about the all-powerful oligarch, but upon closer examination one gets the impression that their author is Alexander Lebedev himself.

Take, for example, the high-profile attempt on the life of First Deputy Minister of Finance Andrei Vavilov, who lost his official SAAB in February 1997. The press unanimously listed the head of the NRB as the main suspect, although for Lebedev Vavilov played the role of a cash cow. And Vavilov himself blamed the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Sergei Dubinin, for the incident, linking the car explosion with the story that became known as the “scam with 170 million government dollars.”

However, Lebedev chose not to deny rumors about his involvement in the terrorist attack. to maintain the image of a “reputable” businessman.

This image finally stuck with him only two years later. On February 22, 1999, Novaya Gazeta published an article about the existence of a certain video recording in which a man who looked like the Prosecutor General was having fun with girls who looked like prostitutes. Journalists also named the organizer of the compromising evidence, Nazir Khapsirokov. However, soon another name appeared in the “independent investigations” - as you probably already guessed, Alexander Lebedev.

There were only two main arguments for the mountain. First: the day before, the Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case against the NRB (as if it were the only one that Skuratov was involved in). The second, even more funny: “several companies belonging to Mr. Lebedev are registered hundreds of meters from the “bad apartment.”

Do you think Lebedev was indignant, sued the slanderers, or began to make excuses? Nothing happened. In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, when he was asked who was really behind the filming of the porn tape, Lebedev replied:

I laugh it off more. Perhaps it would be flattering to appear as a modern Danton and Robespierre. In principle, bringing to light an official who deals with such things could be an honor to any citizen.

An omnipotent arbiter of destinies, and nothing more, however, upon closer examination, this power looks somewhat ostentatious. In the late 90s, grenades and TNT bombs exploded several times in the offices of the National Reserve Bank, and one of the guards was wounded. And what? There was no vendetta. The NRB security service never promoted any of the terrorist attacks; apparently, their owner’s hands are not that long.

In 1995, Fedorov lived in the States and did not have Russian citizenship, which was extremely convenient - he was not subject to taxation. So Lebedev invited the submariner to become an intermediary in the transfer of money from the NRB to offshore banks. But Fedorov, as they say, “chucked it and quit”: heated the NRB for 7.2 million greenbacks, and fled to his beloved America.

No matter how hard Alexander Lebedev tried to find the scam. I even mobilized several detective agencies: all in vain. Themis was more favorable towards the “dispossessed”. Lebedev won his claims in the English and Swiss courts, and... immediately withdrew them back.

Apparently, smart people hinted to the banker that being abandoned in our difficult time for survival is not very prestigious - they will stop respecting him.

It was then that the press was full of notes that it was not Fedorov who ditched Lebedev, but just the opposite - the poor submariner became a victim of the speculation of an unscrupulous financier and is now trembling for his life, having hired an entire staff of private security guards with his last dime.

The Discreet Charm of the Oligarchy

Lebedev once admitted:

The acquisition of yachts, planes, and real estate interests me little. I do not have it. I don't spend much time in nightclubs and have never been to the Cote d'Azur. Money for me is rather an opportunity to pursue certain policies, achieve certain goals, and influence public life. In everyday life, I am a poorly organized person. My wife, son and I still live in an apartment with my parents. We do not have our own country house. Of course, when I go abroad, I stay in the most expensive hotels, but not because I strive for luxury, but for reasons of prestige. Try to settle in a “four stars” - rumors will immediately spread throughout Moscow: Lebedev is on the verge of ruin.

Alexander Evgenievich was lying, oh, how he was lying. Perhaps, once upon a time, in Soviet times, everything was so, but today's facts indicate the opposite.

Lebedev has a yacht, real estate, and even his own jet plane. And in warm regions, including the Azure regions, Lebedev can easily be found. And it’s not worth talking about some London or Paris. Try calling the NRB office and asking the boss - they will invariably tell you that he is on a business trip abroad.

The banker gave his son an excellent British education, but, according to him, he does not spend a lot of money on his wife Natalya Lebedev (“She never demanded insanely expensive fur coats and jewelry”), although he could have forked out. After all, it was thanks to his marriage to her, the daughter of the famous Soviet academician Sokolov. Lebedev largely began his career growth in the diplomatic field.

Alexander Evgenievich really adores cheap effects, and if he doesn’t produce them himself, he smears himself on them. A few years ago, for example, Lebedev’s native school widely celebrated its 45th anniversary at the Theater of Facial Expression and Gesture. Since many of the graduates are not poor, everyone chipped in in full. The lion's share of the money for the anniversary was contributed by the head of IK Troika Dialog, Alexander Mamut. However, Mamut himself does not like to shine in public, so his classmate Lebedev pulled all the laurels of the sponsor onto himself, to whom they sang hosannas from the stage.

Lebedev also loves it when someone (maybe himself) throws misinformation into the media that he is being tipped for the position of chairman of the Central Bank, head of the Ministry of Finance, or even a freelance adviser to the president. Perhaps he hopes that the Kremlin will take note of these rumors and bring them to life. In vain.

Life is not newspaper ducks. She puts everything in its place, showing that Lebedev simply cannot have any political, financial or even criminal influence on the development of the country.

Clipped wings

Alexander Lebedev told everyone about his own importance for so long that he probably believed it himself. He even made an attempt to spread his wings and go on a big flight on his own, pinching off a significant piece of Aeroflot this year.

Aeroflot is a well-known airline. Its fleet includes more than a hundred aircraft, a third of which are foreign cars. Last year, Aeroflot carried 5.489 million people, more than any other Russian airline.

When in March NRB bought a 26% stake in Aeroflot from Millhouse Capital, an investment company representing the interests of Roman Abramovich. -the transaction amount was initially hidden. However, a little later, a leak of information still occurred - $133 million, that is, 50 million more than the shares were actually worth.

Such generosity could be understandable if we were talking about a super-profitable acquisition, but no. Aeroflot's net profit at the end of 2002 was nothing at all, 3.198 billion rubles. Dividends on a ruble share are about 6 kopecks.

The highlight of the purchase lay elsewhere. By that time, Alexander Lebedev was already the owner of 46% of the shares of Ilyushin Finance Co. and manager of 57% of the shares of the Voronezh Joint Stock Aircraft Company.

In 1999, an agreement was concluded between Aeroflot and the leasing company Ilyushin Finance for the supply of six Il-96-300 aircraft, which are produced by the Voronezh Aviation Plant controlled by IFC. The contract stipulated that for each long-haul airliner Aeroflot would pay about 350 thousand dollars per month (the same as for BOINR). However, in 2002, Lebedev raised the payment rate to 500 thousand dollars. This was already too much. Aeroflot, of course, refused to pay.

For NRB, the failure of the contract with Aeroflot would mean the loss of all investments in the Voronezh aircraft plant (over the last year alone, the bank invested $50 million in its restoration). Lebedev decided to invest this money in the purchase of an air carrier, hoping to thereby resolve the leasing problem. But I miscalculated.

Other Aeroflot shareholders have decided. that Lebedev’s appetite was too big, and they were in no hurry to buy the Ilya, which had increased in price. Only in October, after going through a series of lawsuits against each other, the parties came to a mutual agreement. Ilyushin Finance has reduced its requests. To what extent? There are rumors in aviation circles about the amount of 350 thousand dollars, that is, what was originally intended. Lebedev himself prefers to remain bashfully silent. 50 million dollars was wasted.

The epic struggle of the People's Republic of Belarus for Sheremetyevo-Z, the construction of which Mr. Lebedev so dreams of, turned out to be just as inglorious. What did he not do? And he came to an agreement with the administration of the Khimki region, and wrote a tearful letter to Putin, and promised to increase the number of government representatives on the Aeroflot Board of Directors - if only the development would be given to his airline. Everything is useless, neither connections nor finances helped. Despite the active opposition of the NRB, in December the government will hold a tender for Sheremetyevo-3, and the fact that Lebedev’s company will become the winner of the open tender is a very big question.

It is quite possible that White House officials are confused by one small nuance in this matter. Aeroflot's partner in the construction of the terminal should be the French credit bank Creidit Agricole Indosuez (CA1), whose claims against Russian financiers in 1999 became the cause of the protracted Russian-French conflict.

At one time, NRB itself also sued CAI, but this year a settlement agreement was concluded between the banks, the details of which are kept secret by both parties. Only once did Lebedev let it slip that “the largest bank in Europe is showing interest in participating in the construction of Sheremetyevo-3.” Foreign investment, of course. it's a good thing, but the airport is still a strategic object. So, most likely, the construction of the new Sheremetyevo terminal will be carried out by someone more patriotic than the former “intelligence officer” Alexander Lebedev.

Lebedev himself, however, is not discouraged. Every now and then he gives out interviews with promises to leave his post in the NRB and head the Aviation Financial-Industrial Group (FIG) he is creating:

It is possible that I will stop being involved in operational activities at the bank and will focus on the functions of the owner and on work in the NRB-group holding.

The oligarch has ambitious plans - to become a monopolist in the aviation industry and transportation.

To the question of a “Company” correspondent in May of this year: “As I understand it, you hope that the National Aircraft Company will become for you approximately the same as YUKOS for Mikhail Khodorkovsky?” - Lebedev answered sincerely:

I would like it to be that way.

In light of the latest events with YUKOS and Khodorkovsky, the answer is more than funny.

Entrepreneur, co-owner of the NRB (National Reserve Bank), former State Duma deputy, publisher of Novaya Gazeta, banker, billionaire, president of the New Media media holding.

Biography

His father, Evgeniy Nikolaevich, is a professor, Doctor of Science, after graduating from Moscow Higher Technical University. Bauman devoted his entire life to teaching. In his youth, he was professionally involved in sports, played for the USSR national water polo team, was awarded the title “Honored Master of Sports”, and was friends with the famous Lev Yashin.

Mother - Maria Sergeevna - after graduating from a pedagogical institute in Moscow, she worked as a rural teacher on Sakhalin, then taught English at a university.

Lebedev studied at a special school with in-depth study of the English language. According to some reports, Alexander Mamut studied in the same class with Lebedev, who later, like Lebedev, became a major entrepreneur.

Education

• In 1977, Lebedev entered the Faculty of Economics at MGIMO.
• In 1982, upon completion of his studies, Lebedev was assigned to the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1990 - Institute of International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), where he began writing his Ph.D. thesis. However, he was soon asked to go to work in the First Main Directorate of the KGB (foreign intelligence).
• From 1987 to 1991, Lebedev worked at the USSR Embassy in London as an attaché, third, and then second secretary. According to media reports, there he met his future business partners - diplomats Andrei Kostin and Anatoly Danilitsky.
• In 1982, after completing his studies at MGIMO, A. Lebedev was assigned to the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System, where he began writing his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Debt problems and challenges of globalization.”
• However, he was soon asked to go to work for the Foreign Intelligence Service, where Alexander Lebedev worked until 1992, working, in particular, on issues of preventing capital flight abroad.

Business and political activities

• Having retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel, A. Lebedev decided to go into financial business and created his first brainchild - the Russian Investment and Financial Company (RIFK). In 1995, RIFK acquired the dwarf and troubled National Reserve Bank (NRB). In 2 years it has become one of the largest financial institutions in the country.
• NRB, along with Alfa Bank, are the only ones of the country's 10 leading private banks that survived the August 1998 crisis.
• Today, the National Reserve Bank is one of the top thirty leaders in the Russian banking system and is one of the most stable and reliable Russian banks, enjoying the trust of domestic and foreign investors.
• The NRB is the core of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC) created on its basis.

Alexander Lebedev

Banker, billionaire, owner of the National Reserve Corporation, president of the National Investment Council, president of the New Media media holding. Deputy of the Slobodskaya District Duma for the Ilyinsky multi-mandate district No. 5 (Kirov region). In the past, he was a deputy of the State Duma of the fourth convocation: in the elections in 2003 he headed the Moscow regional list of the Rodina bloc, in the same year he left the bloc and joined the United Russia faction, and in 2006 he left it and became an independent deputy , collaborated with the A Just Russia party. Former KGB officer of the USSR. Doctor of Economic Sciences.

In 1977, Lebedev entered the Faculty of Economics at MGIMO. In 1982, upon completion of his studies, Lebedev was assigned to the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1990 - Institute of International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), where he began writing his Ph.D. thesis. However, he was soon asked to go to work in the First Main Directorate of the KGB (foreign intelligence). From 1987 to 1991, Lebedev worked at the USSR Embassy in London as an attaché, third, and then second secretary. According to media reports, there he met his future business partners - diplomats Andrei Kostin and Anatoly Danilitsky.

In 1991, Lebedev retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel and went into business. In 1992, he represented the Swiss bank Companie Financier Tradition in Russia and the CIS countries. In 1993, Lebedev created and headed the Russian Investment and Financial Company (RIFK). In 1995, RIFK acquired the National Reserve Bank (NRB), whose founders included Gazprom.

In 1999, together with the heads of large Russian companies and banks, Lebedev initiated the creation of the National Investment Council (NIC), whose main task was to contribute to the formation of a favorable investment climate in Russia. In March 2001, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was called in the media one of the founders of the organization, agreed to become a co-chairman of the NIS. Subsequently, he appeared in the press as the chairman of its board of trustees, and Lebedev - first as chairman, and later as president of NIS.

In October 2000, Lebedev defended his candidate's dissertation on the topic "Problems of Russia's External Debt" at the Institute of International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Three years later, he defended his dissertation on the topic “Financial globalization in the context of problems of global, regional and national (Russian) development”, becoming a Doctor of Economic Sciences.

In December 2003, Lebedev ran for mayor of Moscow and received 12.35 percent of the vote. Yuri Luzhkov won the elections with 74.82 percent of the votes. During the elections, Lebedev was supported by the Rodina bloc, but he nominated himself as a candidate for mayor in order to, in his words, “not politicize” the electoral process.

During the election campaign, Lebedev promised, if elected, to double the income of the city treasury and all Muscovites within 500 days after taking office as mayor. Lebedev intended to implement his program through more efficient management of city property, as well as the demonopolization of the capital's construction complex.

At the same time, Lebedev stated that for him, winning the elections is not an end in itself. He noted that he considers it more important to declare an alternative development program for the city. A number of media outlets suggested that Lebedev’s election campaign in 2003 was just a way for him to make a name for himself in politics and preparation for a more serious fight for the post of mayor in 2007, when the situation would change dramatically due to the absence of Luzhkov himself among the future candidates (according to the law, he will no longer be able to participate in elections).

The same sources claimed that during the mayoral elections, Lebedev was supported by representatives of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation - allegedly in this way the Kremlin wanted to show that in the future it sees its own person as the leader of Moscow.

During his election campaign, Lebedev repeatedly noted that his “media” capabilities are significantly inferior to those of his main rival, the current mayor Luzhkov. In particular, Lebedev argued that Luzhkov has his own television channel, his own newspapers and his own radio. When Lebedev announced his withdrawal from the election campaign on November 28, he explained this precisely by the inequality of candidates in access to the media. However, the very next day, after consultations with the leadership of the Rodina bloc, Lebedev changed his decision and continued to participate in the elections.

Then, in December 2003, Lebedev took part in the parliamentary elections, heading the Moscow regional list of the Rodina bloc. Following the election results, Lebedev was elected to the State Duma of the fourth convocation. After winning the election, Lebedev, according to his official biography, left the post of president, chairman of the board of the National Reserve Bank and his other posts in business, concentrating on his work as a deputy.

However, already on December 20, 2003, deputy Lebedev left the Rodina bloc and joined the Duma faction of the United Russia party. The reason for this decision, according to Lebedev, was his disagreement with some extremist ideas of one of the leaders of Rodina. Lebedev did not specify which leader he meant.

In the State Duma of the fourth convocation, Lebedev took the positions of deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots, coordinator of the inter-factional deputy association "Capital", coordinator of the group for relations with the Parliament of Ukraine, member of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

On December 5, 2003, during the campaigns for the election of the mayor of Moscow and State Duma deputies, Lebedev announced the decision to consolidate his business - to unite under the auspices of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC) assets controlled by him and his partners worth more than $2.2 billion. At the same time, Lebedev himself became the owner of 60 percent of NRC shares.

In 2003-2004, Lebedev was a participant in events related to the tender for the transfer to management of Sheremetyevo International Airport (SIA). In the spring of 2003, Lebedev's National Reserve Bank acquired 30 percent of Aeroflot shares (51.17 percent of the company's shares remained with the state). In October, the Russian government decided to hold a competition for the management of Sheremetyevo Airport, which was actively used by Aeroflot. Lebedev categorically objected to its holding, saying that “the airport should be managed by the state together with Aeroflot.” In January 2004, Alfa-Sheremetyevo, a subsidiary of Alfa Group, won the tender to select a management company for SIA, and the losing side turned out to be the owners of Aeroflot, including Lebedev. In June 2004, the Russian government decided to involve Aeroflot in developing a concept for the development of Sheremetyevo. In fact, this meant a revision of the results of the competition. According to media reports, the reason for this decision was a statement by representatives of Aeroflot "about the intention to transfer all airline flights from Sheremetyevo to Domodedovo and Vnukovo in the event that Aeroflot is not allowed to manage the airport.

On June 7, 2006, at the World Newspaper Congress in Moscow, it was announced that Lebedev and ex-USSR President Gorbachev had purchased 49 percent of the shares of Novaya Gazeta. According to media reports, 39 percent of the shares went to Lebedev, 10 percent to Gorbachev. The remaining 51 percent of the shares remained with the publication staff.

In June 2006, Lebedev intervened in the conflict between residents of the Yuzhnoye Butovo microdistrict and the Moscow authorities, who attempted, on the basis of a court decision, to forcibly relocate residents from their private homes. Lebedev stated that he took a commercial lease of one of the houses intended for demolition. Thus, according to Lebedev, parliamentary immunity applies to this premises. Some media outlets linked Lebedev’s activism during the conflict in South Butovo with the long-standing confrontation between him and Luzhkov, dating back to the Moscow mayoral elections in 2003.

In June 2006, Lebedev announced his entry into Mironov’s party, in connection with which he announced his imminent departure from the United Russia faction and transition to the Duma faction A Just Russia. Some time later, information appeared in the press that the businessman, at the request of the Kremlin, would not head the Moscow party list in the elections.

In September 2007, reports appeared about a conflict between Lebedev and the leader of the A Just Russia - Rodina faction, Alexander Babakov, who told New Region correspondents: “Lebedev is in United Russia, do you know about this?” Commenting on this statement, Lebedev noted that he is an independent deputy: “I left the United Russia faction, but did not join the Just Russia faction because it was too weak.” Lebedev especially emphasized that he is not going to leave anywhere and will definitely will participate in the election campaign."

Meanwhile, by 2006, the total assets of Lebedev’s National Reserve Corporation exceeded $2 billion. The main asset of NRC at that time was called the second largest stake after the state in the Aeroflot airline (about 30 percent) and the leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co (IFK, 44 percent), which in turn owned a controlling stake (56 percent) "Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company". In addition to the bank, the NRC included: “National Meat Company”, “National Mortgage Company”, “NRB Finance” company and a number of construction organizations.

In 2007, observers started talking about Lebedev’s connection with the A Just Russia party, headed by the Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov. Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote in the spring of that year that Lebedev might actually exercise leadership of the Moscow branch of A Just Russia. The publication cited the appointment as head of the capital branch of the party of a fellow banker and State Duma deputy Andrei Samoshin as confirmation of this. NG experts believed that Lebedev would become the person who would sponsor the “Right Russia” during the election campaign. In May 2007, it became known that Lebedev would become number one on the Moscow list of A Just Russia in the upcoming State Duma elections. However, party leader Mironov said that the final decision will be made at the pre-election congress of A Just Russia.

On September 23, 2007, the A Just Russia congress approved the list of candidates for the upcoming State Duma elections, but Lebedev was not on it. During the congress, he himself announced that he was ready to refuse to participate in parliamentary elections in order to engage in charitable activities and party work. “I will integrate deeper into the party,” he said.

The media wrote about Lebedev as a famous blogger. In his LJ “Capitalist-idealist” he noted: “This is not an election project. And not an illegitimate child of PR. This is precisely what is above all commercialism, because it does not cost me anything, not a cent, not a penny - only emotional experiences and nervous cells". However, on the pages of his LiveJournal one could find many comments regarding the activities of the Moscow government and the political situation in the country as a whole.

In September 2007, during the press conference “Problems of urban planning policy in Moscow,” Lebedev spoke as one of the members of the inter-factional deputy association “Our Capital.” It was reported that its parliamentary participants decided to create an alternative “shadow government” of the capital, which will independently identify and solve the problems of Muscovites, since, in their opinion, the main motive of the existing city management system is making a profit. At the same time, Lebedev noted that he does not expect that the Moscow government will treat their initiative well. “We will most likely be called traitors,” he said.

In 2007, after leaving the Duma, as president of the National Investment Council, Lebedev appeared in reports about the presentation of the International Institute for Comparative Studies of Political Cultures (MISIPC), among the founders of which was NIS, as well as the Gorbachev Foundation, the Independent Institute of Elections, the Institute of Economics RAS, Institute of Europe RAS, Institute of USA and Canada RAS and other organizations. Vedomosti noted that NIS, the Gorbachev Foundation and the Independent Institute of Elections have been engaged in a project to develop a national system for assessing democratic procedures since the beginning of 2007. At the presentation, Lebedev himself said that as a result of the elections, “one and a half centimeters of research” had appeared.

In January 2008, Lebedev was named as one of the authors (editors) of a report prepared by the Russian Institute for National Monitoring of Democratic Procedures. The co-authors of this study were former USSR President Gorbachev and the head of the board of directors of the Independent Election Institute, Alexander Ivanchenko. The document noted that in 2005-2007, the basic principles of electoral legislation in the country “were completely or partially revised,” as a result of which passive electoral law (the right to be elected) in Russia became more limited. According to the authors of the report, during the election campaign to the State Duma of the fifth convocation, there were “serious deviations from the principle of free elections, which were expressed in the coercion of some voters to participate in the elections, as well as in individual cases of attempts to control the will of voters.” However, in general, they noted, “these elections largely satisfy the proclaimed principles of universal, equal and direct suffrage.”

In March 2008, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, announced that Gorbachev and Lebedev suggested that he create a holding company based on the publication, “which would include several newspapers, radio stations, Internet resources, and possibly its own sociological service.” In April of the same year, the media reported that the shareholders of Novaya Gazeta decided to create a media holding, which included Novaya Gazeta and the Moscow Correspondent newspaper (published since September 2007). It was reported that subsequently the holding was supposed to expand and be replenished with other media, including a glossy magazine “for smart people” and a number of Internet resources. At the beginning of June 2008, the media holding was registered. It was called "New Media". Lebedev took over as president of the new structure.

In July 2008, Kommersant, citing a source close to Lebedev, reported that his National Reserve Corporation (NRK) was buying 76 percent of the Oger group - the sixth largest tour operator in Germany (the main direction is Turkey, as well as tours to Cuba, in Thailand, Tunisia and Dominican Republic). According to experts, the transaction amount could be 100-125 million euros. Market participants noted that the purchase of a tour operator would help Lebedev “load the airlines owned by NRK” - Red Wings, 100 percent owned by the corporation, and the German Blue Wings (NRK owns 49 percent of the shares).

In October 2008, the Basmanny Court of Moscow upheld Luzhkov's claim against GQ magazine and businessman Alexander Lebedev for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. The reason for the lawsuit was Lebedev’s interview with a magazine, in which he called “Yu.M. Luzhkov” the source of a rumor published by the newspaper “Moscow Correspondent” about Putin’s alleged upcoming marriage to Kabaeva. Lebedev stated that by “Yu.M. Luzhkov” he did not mean the mayor of Moscow, and after the court decision he filed an appeal.

In January 2009, information appeared in the media that Lebedev was negotiating the purchase of the influential British publication Evening Standard, but such reports were followed by denials. On January 16, the acquisition of the newspaper by a Russian entrepreneur was spoken of as a fait accompli, and The Times also reported the estimated cost of the transaction. The only paid newspaper in London was going to be sold for 1 pound sterling (approximately 48 rubles), since the publication of the newspaper brought multimillion-dollar losses to its owners. The deal took place on January 21, 2009 and became, according to The Guardian, a “watershed moment” for the British print industry - the Evening Standard became the first major publication to be acquired by a Russian. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Lebedev said he was giving the Evening Standard three years to start making a profit. Otherwise, the newspaper will be closed, since in the conditions of falling markets the entrepreneur was not able to support the unprofitable newspaper for longer than this period.

In mid-March 2009, Lebedev announced that he was going to run for the post of mayor of Sochi and promised voters to reduce the bureaucracy “by more than half” and also to develop infrastructure. Lebedev officially submitted documents to the local election commission on March 24, 2009. On April 1 of the same year, he was registered as one of the contenders for the position of mayor of the future capital of the 2014 Winter Olympics. However, in the same month, Vladimir Trukhanovsky, another candidate for the post of mayor of Sochi, filed a lawsuit to invalidate the decision of the election commission to register Lebedev. He motivated his demand by the fact that errors were allegedly made in Lebedev’s registration. Soon after this, by decision of the court of the Central District of Sochi, the registration of the entrepreneur was canceled.

Due to economic problems in the spring of 2009, German authorities refused to renew Blue Wings airline's license. However, she was still allowed to fly after a businessman provided 10 billion euros to save her. However, in January 2010, Blue Wings stopped flying again. The company's financial problems led to the fact that in May 2010, seven of its airliners were sold at auction, and Lebedev admitted that he would not be able to restore its activities.

In January 2010, Aeroflot's board of directors approved the purchase of 25.8 percent of the company's shares from NRK. According to sources of the Kommersant newspaper close to the board of directors of Aeroflot, the transaction amount was supposed to be $400 million. Lebedev himself clarified that one of its conditions was “reinvestment of the proceeds from the sale of NRC packages into the Russian assets of the corporation” - the Red Wings airline, the National Land Company and the National Housing Corporation. At the same time, an agreement was reached that NRC would sell VEB a 26 percent stake in the leasing company IFC.

The sale of Aeroflot shares was supposed to be carried out in two transactions with Aeroflot Finance. The first of them - the repurchase of 6.3 percent of shares - was closed at the end of February 2010; its details and the amount of the transaction were not reported, but it was noted that Lebedev was ultimately supposed to sell the entire package for 11.07 billion rubles. In March of the same year, the media noted that Lebedev lost 3.33 billion rubles on the sale of Aeroflot shares, selling the air carrier's shares at a 28 percent discount to the market price. However, the second deal never took place: the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation opposed VEB’s purchase of IFC shares, after which Lebedev refused to further sell the shares.

In March 2010, it became known that Lebedev had made a deal to purchase the British newspaper The Independent and its Sunday version, The Independent on Sunday, which were suffering losses. On March 25, the transfer of two publications to the company Independent Print Limited, owned by the Lebedev family, was officially announced. The company was headed by Lebedev’s son Evgeniy, and the entrepreneur himself became a member of its board of directors. In October of the same year, Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev launched a new publishing project - a “light” version of The Independent, called “i”.

Back in December 2006, it became known about Lebedev’s intention to create his own oil business, in connection with which he created the NRK-Oil company. However, in April 2009, Lebedev put his oil assets up for sale, explaining this by strong competition, significant state involvement in the industry and the futility of small oil businesses in Russia. Almost a year later, in early April 2010, two of the four oil companies controlled by NRK-Oil were acquired by the TNK-BP corporation; the amount of this transaction was estimated by experts at 60-70 million dollars.

In December 2010, the NRB confirmed the fact of the sale during the placement (as part of a private placement) of 4 of the 19 percent of Aeroflot shares owned by the businessman. The transaction amount was not disclosed; According to analysts, it could be $110 million. Observers linked Lebedev’s decision to sell the airline’s shares “with problems at the National Reserve Bank,” which “faced an outflow of funds” after searches carried out by security forces in early November 2010. The searches in the NRB were carried out as part of the investigation of a criminal case initiated in August of the same year under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("fraud on an especially large scale") on suspicion of misuse of state support funds allocated to Lebedev Bank in 2008 for the bank's reorganization "Russian capital". It was reported that it was about the theft of 450 million rubles. The businessman himself called the case fabricated: according to him, funds were withdrawn from Russian Capital even before its reorganization.

In his letter sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in February 2011, Lebedev indicated that the employees who inspected the bank he headed did not hide: they came “on a “special task” to punish the owner for his “newspapers.” In the same letter, the businessman asked the head of state to instruct the Investigative Committee and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation to check the work of the NRB. In the same month, Lebedev was summoned for questioning as a witness in a fraud case to the Main Investigation Department of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate. Then, in February 2011, it became known that the businessman sold 15 percent of NRB shares to his son Evgeniy. According to Lebedev, he “was not afraid to purchase the bank’s shares at the “right” price”; the transaction amount was not disclosed.

In March 2011, Kommersant reported that Lebedev, who acted as a self-nominated candidate, was registered as a candidate for deputy of the Slobodskaya District Duma in the Ilyinsky multi-mandate constituency No. 5 (Kirov region). The entrepreneur denied assumptions that he needed a deputy’s mandate to become a member of the Federation Council. “I really want to work in a depressed region,” he said in an interview with the publication. The businessman also announced a joint plan of events drawn up by him together with the regional governor Nikita Belykh. In the same month, Lebedev took part in the elections as a candidate, and having received just under 40 percent of the votes, he became a deputy of the district duma.

In May 2011, the public movement "Our Capital", which was headed by Lebedev, expressed a desire to join the All-Russian Popular Front. At the same time, Lebedev announced that he was leaving business and selling a significant part of his assets, including part of the airwaves on his radio frequency Radio Liberty and the Russian service of the BBC, a development business, as well as 56 percent of the shares of the National Reserve Bank. At the same time, Lebedev decided to maintain his printing business by merging Novaya Gazeta and The Independent. The businessman cited his desire to fight corruption in the credit and financial sphere within the framework of the All-Russian Popular Front as the reason for stopping his business activities.

At the end of January 2012, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation began an inspection of the NRB, unprecedented in scale; In addition, in February, law enforcement agencies conducted searches at the bank's offices. Lebedev himself again connected what was happening with his financing of the opposition press. One of the results of the audit was that Lebedev was forced to suspend financing of Novaya Gazeta due to the blocking of his bank account.

In February 2012, Lebedev proposed including the famous blogger and founder of the RosPil project, Alexei Navalny, on the Aeroflot board of directors. In June of the same year, the general meeting of shareholders supported Navalny's candidacy with two-thirds of the votes, and he became an independent director of the airline.

In April 2012, Lebedev joined the coordination council of the new social democratic movement "Left Alliance". The initiators of the creation of this union were State Duma deputies from A Just Russia Gennady and Dmitry Gudkov, as well as Ilya Ponomarev, who saw in the alliance “a unifying platform on the basis of which all left-wing forces will be grouped.”

In early August 2012, Lebedev said in an interview with Reuters that he planned to sell all his assets in Russia in order to avoid political persecution by the authorities and arrest. At the beginning of the next month, it became known that Lebedev had resigned as president of NRB, but would work for the bank for free “as part of a cost-cutting strategy.”

It was noted that Lebedev is actively involved in charitable activities. On his initiative, a “Charitable Reserve Fund” was created.

According to some media reports, Lebedev maintains friendly relations with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev.

Awards

Lebedev was awarded the Order of the Russian Orthodox Church and the UNESCO Medal "Dialogue of Cultures".

State

According to Russian Forbes magazine, Lebedev's fortune by 2006 was estimated at $3.7 billion. According to the magazine, Lebedev took 23rd place in the list of the richest people in Russia. In 2008, the publication placed him in 39th place (his fortune was estimated at $3.1 billion).

Family

Lebedev is officially divorced. He divorced his first wife Natalya in 1998, their son Evgeniy worked as chief executive officer of the Evening Standard as of early 2010; in the same year he took over the company that published The Independent and The Independent on Sunday newspapers.

In addition to Evgeny, Lebedev has a son, Nikita, from model Elena Perminova.

51-year-old Alexander Lebedev is a successful entrepreneur who holds the high position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC NRK. Under his leadership, the London newspapers Independent and Evening Standard are published. But the gray-haired handsome man has a turbulent past: Lebedev is a former State Duma deputy, known for espionage activities. There was also a girl to match such a man.

Alexander’s wife is model Elena Perminova (she is 26 years old, the age difference between the spouses is 25 years). A simple girl from Berdyansk became known not only as a Playboy star and the heroine of video clips of domestic stars - the model attracted public attention after an unpleasant incident with charges of drug trafficking. Then 17-year-old Perminova, who had fallen under the influence of her then boyfriend, who was involved in an illegal business, just like in a fairy tale, Alexander Lebedev came to the rescue. The girl got off with a suspended sentence, reformed and thanked her savior with love, devotion and her son Nikita, who was born to the couple in 2009.

Relationship secret: noble knight. A strong and powerful patron - isn’t this the kind of companion that a good half of women dream of? Elena Perminova got not only strong and powerful, but also extremely rich. Let us remind you that, according to Forbes magazine, Lebedev has a personal fortune of $2.1 billion, lives in London, and is friends with Natasha Vodianova. They say the marriage is very strong - the couple are expecting a second child.

Interests

Lebedev enjoys football and swimming.

Compromising evidence

At the end of 2004, Lebedev supported the “orange” during the presidential elections in Ukraine. A number of analysts substantiated Lebedev’s position by the fact that the latter was involved in Ukrainian business and expected to receive support from the new government for his commercial projects, which he began back in 1995 by purchasing the NRB-Ukraine bank and the Eurasian Insurance Alliance company. In addition, in the late 90s, Lebedev actively worked in the Ukrainian real estate market, investing about $100 million in it.

However, in 2005-2006, Lebedev repeatedly stated that the new Ukrainian government was putting pressure on him and his business partners. In particular, the Ukrainian authorities initiated a trial to review the results of the privatization of the Kyiv hotel "Ukraine" owned by Lebedev. In April 2009, Lebedev won: the Economic Court of Kiev awarded ownership of the hotel to the Commercial Company included in the NRC and the Hotel Ukraine enterprise. In September 2011, it became known that the NRC got rid of all assets and real estate in Ukraine ( including a share in the Ukraina Hotel and resort complexes in Crimea), while Lebedev motivated this by the fact that he wants to focus on publishing and social activities. The businessman continued to engage in only a few philanthropic projects in Ukraine.

In August 2007, a member of the United Russia faction, Vladimir Medinsky, sued Lebedev for “severe moral suffering” caused to him by publications on the blog and on the Kommersant website (meaning accusations of lobbying for the gambling business). Medinsky demanded that Lebedev publish a refutation, and that the court demand compensation in the amount of 100 million rubles. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 13, 2007 (the results were not reported).

However, it is known that the conflict has not subsided: on August 21, an online debate between Medinsky and Lebedev took place on the Kommersant website. In June 2008, the Basmanny Court of Moscow ordered Lebedev to compensate for moral damages to Medinsky and to publish a refutation of his statements that were made on the entrepreneur’s LiveJournal. At the same time, despite the fact that Medinsky demanded to recover 100 million rubles from the defendant, the court ordered Lebedev to pay the plaintiff 30 thousand rubles in compensation for moral damage caused.

In the spring of 2008, Lebedev was mentioned in the media in connection with the material published on April 11 in the daily newspaper Moscow Correspondent, which he owns, about the possible wedding of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former gymnast, State Duma deputy Alina Kabaeva. Putin denied this information and said: “I have always had a bad attitude towards those who, with some kind of flu-like nose and with their erotic fantasies, meddle in someone else’s life.” After this, a number of publications disseminated information that for financial reasons the newspaper was closed by Lebedev. Subsequently, it turned out that this was not the case - the publication of the newspaper was suspended and, as reported, should be resumed, but the concept of the publication would change. The editor-in-chief of Moscow Correspondent resigned - as reported, of his own free will.

The story of the scandalous publication developed: the press started talking about it as the forerunner of the end of Lebedev’s political career. The reason for this was the approval at the congress of the A Just Russia party of a new charter and leadership, from which Lebedev was removed. Mironov, who was re-elected chairman of the party, said that there should be no “random fellow travelers” in the ranks of the party, one of which, according to him, is Lebedev. Mironov decided that their joint activity had come to its logical conclusion, and also expressed dissatisfaction with the publication about the upcoming wedding of Putin and Kabaeva: “Publishing such articles about the president is vile!” At the same time, Lebedev is confident that he will be the party's only random fellow traveler. According to the businessman, he never hid the fact that he was not a member of any party, but he collaborated with Our Home Russia, United Russia, and A Just Russia when interests coincided. He added that he accepted Gorbachev's offer to become co-chairman of the Socialist Party, which he had recently registered.

In September 2011, it became known about a claim for compensation for moral damage that former Moscow mayor Luzhkov filed against Lebedev and the Ekho Moskvy radio station. The reason for the lawsuit was Luzhkov’s accusations of theft of state property, made by the entrepreneur on the radio. A month later, the court found Lebedev guilty, and also ordered him to refute his allegations and pay the ex-mayor 80 thousand rubles in compensation. The claim against the radio station was not satisfied.

In mid-September 2011, Lebedev found himself at the center of a scandal when, during a recording of the NTVshniki program on the NTV channel, he publicly hit the famous businessman Sergei Polonsky in the face. In this regard, at the beginning of October 2011, a criminal case was opened against Lebedev on charges of hooliganism. That same month, Polonsky sued Lebedev in the UK, accusing him of libel: Lebedev had previously stated in the British press that he had hit Polonsky in response to his aggressive behavior. On September 26, 2012, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for Moscow charged Lebedev with hooliganism and battery, choosing him a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place.

5 September 2017, 09:37

Vasily Klyukin - remember this guy? - brought the installation

Wikipedia

Alexander Lebedev, biography, news, photos -

Name: Alexander Lebedev

Place of birth: Moscow

Height: 180 cm Weight: 95 kg

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Eastern horoscope: Pig

Occupation: entrepreneur

BIOGRAPHY OF ALEXANDER LEBEDEV

Alexander Evgenievich Lebedev is a major entrepreneur, banker, beneficial owner of the financial and industrial holding National Reserve Corporation, which includes about a hundred enterprises in various sectors of the economy, media magnate, owner of a large stake in Novaya Gazeta, the British TV channel London Live, the influential publications Evening Standard, Independent, I Newspaper and other media resources. Previously, a people's deputy and KGB officer.

According to Forbes, he amassed a billion-dollar fortune in the late 1990s through transactions with commercial and government debt. In 2006, his capital reached $3.7 billion, but subsequently the entrepreneur lost most of his assets. In 2015, his assets were valued at $400 million.

CHILDHOOD AND FAMILY OF ALEXANDER LEBEDEV

The future oligarch was born on December 16, 1959 in Moscow. The head of the family, Evgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev, was a well-known optical physicist in professional circles, a professor at the Moscow Higher Technical University. Bauman. Mom, Maria Sergeevna, taught students a foreign language at MGIMO.

The parents gave their son an excellent education. At first he studied at school No. 17 with an English bias, then at the economics department of the Institute of International Relations. In 1982, upon completion of his studies, he began working at the academic Institute of Economics of the World Social System.

CAREER OF ALEXANDER LEBEDEV

In 1983, he was offered to join the ranks of state security officers. In 1984, Alexander graduated from the Red Banner Institute. Yu. Andropov KGB USSR. As an undercover intelligence officer, he held various positions in Soviet diplomatic missions abroad. Since 1987, Alexander lived and worked in the capital of Foggy Albion, which allowed him to make many useful contacts.

A successful diplomat, intelligence officer, involved in British history, acquired useful connections in business circles,

Personal life of Alexander Lebedev

At the moment, the oligarch is married for the second time. His first wife was the daughter of academician Vladimir Sokolov, Natalya. Their common son, Evgeniy, was born in 1980. In 1998, the marriage broke up. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich became an economist and was the executive director of English media resources owned by his father (Independent, I Newspaper, Evening Standard). The second choice of the millionaire was model Elena Perminova, who was 27 years younger than her husband. She gave him three children: Nikita (born in 2009), Egor (born in 2011) and Arina (born in 2014). According to media reports, at a young age (17 years old) she was prosecuted on charges of drug distribution. The young girl faced a prison sentence of up to 6 years in prison. However, allegedly thanks to the support of Alexander, a deputy in those years, to whom Lena’s father turned for help, she received a suspended sentence. The businessman’s main hobbies are swimming and football.

Alexander Evgenievich Lebedev
Occupation: entrepreneur
Date of birth: December 16, 1959
Place of birth: Moscow, USSR
Citizenship: Russia

Alexander Evgenievich Lebedev(b. December 16, 1959 in Moscow, USSR) - Russian entrepreneur. Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC National Reserve Corporation, former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Deputy of the Sloboda District Duma (since 2011). Former intelligence officer, as well as owner of the British newspapers Independent and Evening Standard.

Father Alexandra Lebedeva, Evgeniy Nikolaevich, - professor, doctor of sciences, after graduating from Moscow Higher Technical University named after. Bauman devoted his entire life to teaching. In his youth, he was professionally involved in sports, played for the USSR national water polo team, was awarded the title “Honored Master of Sports”, and was friends with the famous football player Lev Yashin.
Mother Alexandra Lebedeva, Maria Sergeevna, after graduating from a pedagogical institute in Moscow, she worked as a rural teacher on Sakhalin. Teacher of English at MGIMO University of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Education of Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Lebedev He successfully graduated from English special school No. 17 and back in 1977 he entered the Faculty of Economics at MGIMO, where his mother worked, and studied the global monetary and financial system, paying special attention to the problems of international debt obligations.
Alexander Lebedev studied in the eighth English-Spanish group of the monetary and financial department of the Faculty of Economics of MGIMO. In 1982 he graduated from MGIMO with a degree in international economic relations.
In the early 1980s Alexander Lebedev began writing his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Debt problems and challenges of globalization.”
In 1984 Alexander Lebedev Graduated from the Red Banner Institute of the KGB of the USSR.
In 2000 Alexander Lebedev defended his Ph.D. dissertation.
In 2003 Alexander Lebedev defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Financial globalization in the context of problems of global, regional and national (Russian) development.” Thus, Alexander Lebedev became a Doctor of Economic Sciences.

Activities of Alexander Lebedev in 1979-1992

* 1979-1991 Alexander Lebedev- member of the CPSU
* 1982-1983 Alexander Lebedev- worked at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
* 1983-1992 Alexander Lebedev- worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held various diplomatic posts in Russian embassies. He worked in the Office of Information, the Office of International Economic Relations, and the 2nd European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dealing, in particular, with issues of preventing capital flight abroad.
* 1987 - move to London. He worked at the Soviet embassy in Great Britain, where he made close acquaintance with his future partner, and then the head of Vnesheconombank and Vneshtorgbank, at that time the embassy's caretaker, Andrei Kostin.
* 1987-1992 - went to work at the First Main Directorate of the KGB (foreign intelligence). Under the guise of a diplomatic mission, he worked in London at the USSR Embassy in the positions of attaché (1987-1988), third secretary (1988-90), second secretary of the embassy (1990-92).
* 1991 Alexander Lebedev- retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel and went into commerce (in particular, banking business).

Activities of Alexander Lebedev in 1993-2011

* 1993 - Alexander Lebedev together with Andrey Kostin, he founded the Russian Investment and Financial Company JSC RIFK, where he took the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors.
* 1993 - RIFK, with management rights, became part of the Imperial Bank, and itself Alexander Lebedev became head of the bank's foreign investment department.
* 1995-2004 Alexander Lebedev- President and General Director of the National Reserve Bank (JSC), whose largest shareholder was Gazprom.
* 1996 - took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin.
* 1997, April - at the IV congress of the movement “Our Home is Russia” (NDR) by Viktor Chernomyrdin Alexander Lebedev was elected a member of the political council of the NDR.
* 1997, August - Alexander Lebedev was elected deputy chairman of the Ecological Party "Kedr".
* 1999 - stopped sponsoring the Ecological Party “Kedr” due to lack of prospects
* 2002 Alexander Lebedev- Member of the Board of Directors of OJSC Federal Grid Company of the Unified Energy System (FGC UES).
* 2003 - Alexander Lebedev took part in the elections of the mayor of Moscow as a candidate for this post and in the parliamentary elections, headed the Moscow regional list of the Rodina bloc. In the election of the mayor of the capital Alexander Lebedev received 12.35% of the votes. Following the parliamentary elections Alexander Lebedev was elected to the State Duma.
* 2003, December - Alexander Lebedev formally left the post of president, chairman of the board of the National Reserve Bank and his other posts in business.
*December 20, 2003 Alexander Lebedev left the Rodina bloc and joined the United Russia faction.
* 2004-2007 - deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the fourth convocation from EdRa
* 2004, January - 2005, March Alexander Lebedev- Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Relations with Compatriots.
* 2005, March 16 - Alexander Lebedev relieved of the post of co-chairman of the bilateral interparliamentary commission on cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Council of Ukraine from the Russian part of this commission and removed from the composition of the representatives of the State Duma in the Russian part of this commission.
* 2006 - Alexander Lebedev transferred to the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation his share of shares in a Russian aircraft leasing company worth about one hundred million pounds (approximately $190 million)
* 2007, June - moved from United Russia to the A Just Russia party (prudently remaining in the Duma faction of EdRa)
* 2007, summer - Alexander Lebedev sponsors the publication of the anti-Luzhkov newspaper “Moscow Correspondent” (closed due to the financial crisis on October 30, 2008).
* 2008, January - present - Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC National Reserve Corporation.
* 2008, April Alexander Lebedev- expelled from the A Just Russia party for anti-party activities
* 2008, June - based on owned Lebedev publication of Novaya Gazeta, the media holding New Media was registered. It was planned that the new holding would include other media assets of the entrepreneur: the Moscow Correspondent newspaper and two radio frequencies. Lebedev took over as president of the new structure.
* 2009, January - acquired a controlling stake in the London newspaper The Evening Standard of the Daily Mail & General Trust holding company for a symbolic sum of 1 pound sterling.
* 2009, from April 1 to April 17 Alexander Lebedev- a candidate for the position of Head of the municipal formation of the resort city of Sochi - Head of the city of Sochi, the registration of the candidate was canceled by the election commission by court decision due to an incorrectly completed financial report during registration.
* 2009, April - Alexander Lebedev launched bankruptcy proceedings for the German discount airline Blue Wings, of which it is the largest shareholder, after which Alexander Lebedev offered his stake in Aeroflot airline for 1 euro.
* 2010, March - for a symbolic 1 pound sterling Alexander Lebedev acquired the British liberal-democratic newspaper The Independen.
* 2011 - March 14, in the elections to the Legislative Assembly, Alexander Lebedev became a deputy of the Sloboda District Duma of the Kirov Region of the fourth convocation in the Ilyinsky 4-mandate electoral district No. 5.

Personal wealth of Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Lebedev took 26th place in the list of the richest businessmen in Russia for 2005, compiled by Forbes magazine, with a fortune of $1.6 billion. In the world list of billionaires for the same year, he took 413th place. On the Forbes list for 2006 Alexander Lebedev rose to 23rd place with a fortune of $3.7 billion. In the lists for 2007-2009 Alexander Lebedev constantly fell in the ranking of the richest businessmen and by 2009 took 63rd place with a fortune of $600 million.

In April 2009 Alexander Lebedev wrote a letter to Forbes magazine with a request to exclude him from the list of the richest businessmen in Russia. In response, Nikolai Mazurin, deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian version of the magazine, said: “We take into account wishes in some way, but we keep all calculations honestly. That's if Alexander Evgenievich (Alexander Lebedev) believes that he has little money, then let him show the statements of his banks, his business and confirm that he has no money at all.”

* With a personal net worth of $2.1 billion in 2011 Alexander Lebedev took 45th place in the list of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia (according to Forbes magazine)
According to foreign media reports, Alexander Lebedev hides his money in Azerbaijan and Georgia. The top leadership of these states is aware of this, with the approval and participation of which money Lebedeva used to finance opposition events in Russia.
According to analysts, Alexander Lebedev secretly owns real estate in Azerbaijan and Georgia worth more than $1 billion, which is listed as belonging to the Cyprus company Broomhause Limited, part of NRC Holding.

Family of Alexander Lebedev

* First wife Alexandra Lebedeva: Natalya is the daughter of the famous Soviet biologist, academician Vladimir Sokolov. Scientist, works at Moscow University.
* Second wife Alexandra Lebedeva: Elena Perminova (b. 1986).
* Son Alexandra Lebedeva from his first marriage: Evgeniy (b. 1980) - lives in London. Has two educations. Economist. Also graduated from the Royal College of Fine Arts.

* Son Alexandra Lebedeva Nikita (06/17/2009)

Awards of Alexander Lebedev

* 1996, July 25 - gratitude for active participation in organizing and conducting the election campaign of President B. N. Yeltsin.
* 2000, October 17 - church order of St. Innocent of Moscow. Awarded for missionary work.
* UNESCO Medal “Dialogue of Cultures”. For active charity and sponsorship activities.

Books by Alexander Lebedev

Films about Alexander Lebedev

* 2007 - 2nd episode “The World’s Richest People” (Russian: “The richest people in the world”). Documentary series. - Discovery.
* 2008, May 25 - “Katala. Dirty games of the “capitalist-idealist.” Documentary. - TV Center.

Great Britain has firmly taken first place in popularity among Russian exiles. Something similar was observed at the beginning of the last century, when the leader of the first proletarian revolution chose foggy Albion to live for several years. One of the first political emigrants of our time moved to England, the late Boris Abramovich Berezovsky. Chichvarkin and others followed him. The stronghold of bourgeois democracy, Great Britain reliably guarantees that fugitives will not be extradited at the request of Russian law enforcement agencies.

One of the last famous Russian people who decided to move to London unexpectedly turned out to be entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev, who had not previously been noted for dissent or conflicts with the authorities. He explained his decision very vaguely by the unexpected desire to curtail his business in Russia. Nowadays Alexander Lebedev prefers to devote more time to himself rather than to his hectic business life.

The typical image of a Russian entrepreneur who has achieved success in business, with a belly bulging from physical inactivity and bags under the eyes from fighting constant stress with the help of strong drinks, does not correspond to the youthful and active Lebedev. From his youth, the chairman of the board of directors of CJSC National Reserve Corporation was friends with sports and a healthy lifestyle. It couldn't have been any other way. The entrepreneur’s father, a teacher at the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, was known in his youth as a good water polo player and a friend of the legendary football goalkeeper Lev Yashin. When it came to choosing a profession, Alexander Lebedev was more inspired by the example of his mother ─ a teacher at MGIMO, where he headed his steps after school. In 1982, the most famous “bursa” of Soviet diplomats produced another certified specialist in international economic relations.

Lebedev immediately sat down to write his dissertation, simultaneously agreeing to work in the KGB structures. In 1984, without much fanfare, he still graduated from the KGB Institute, which gave him the opportunity to work in the embassies of developed capitalist countries. In 1987, he walked along the Thames embankment for the first time. At the Soviet embassy in Great Britain, he met another young promising diplomat, Andrei Kostin, the current head of the second largest Russian bank, VTB. Alexander Lebedev served simultaneously in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Intelligence Service, retiring in 1991 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

It is not known what training program at the intelligence school the MGIMO graduate completed at one time. Japanese intelligence officers during World War II, for example, were taught to distinguish each other by smell. Perhaps Lebedev’s studies instilled in him a pronounced “sixth” sense, which rarely let him down. In the late 80s, he felt his career would be threatened if he continued to wear shoulder straps. The next decade actually turned out to be very difficult for the “service” people, even for the elite that the intelligence officers always considered themselves to be.

Alexander Lebedev figured that he had enough business experience and established connections to develop his own business. He wasn't wrong. By 1996, the former intelligence diplomat felt quite respectable. The election headquarters of President Boris Yeltsin, which gathered all the active and “moneyed” representatives of the newly formed class of the Russian bourgeoisie, willingly included him in its composition. A decade later, Lebedev will try to play his own political party, getting into the State Duma, but things will not work out for him. He will bet on the Rodina political association, which willingly absorbed former military and intelligence officers into its composition, but a “sixth” sense will tell Lebedev that this political force was destined to trail along in the rearguard, if not in the wagon train, constantly playing a secondary role for the ruling "United Russia".

In United Russia, where he will quickly defect from Rodina, he will get lost among the crowd of equally, if not more successful politicians and businessmen. The ambitious Lebedev could not arrange such a situation. Soon he moved to a new political project just organized by the Kremlin ─ the pseudo-opposition party “A Just Russia”. There, the businessman’s initiative and creativity were not appreciated and he was removed from the party lists for subversive activities. However, he was not particularly upset. A well-developed instinct suggested that A Just Russia would clearly not become a springboard for a powerful leap in politics.

Alexander Lebedev oligarch

With Lebedev’s business, everything went much more successfully from the very beginning. Together with a senior fellow diplomat, Andrei Kostin, he profitably dealt with the debts of the former USSR in the Russian Investment and Financial Company. In 1995, Alexander Lebedev founded the National Reserve Bank, where the same Kostin worked for a short time as his deputy. In the future, the old acquaintance will be far ahead of Lebedev, although he will occupy an honorable place in the third ten richest people in Russia. The pace of the entrepreneur in the coming century will slow down somewhat.

He will retreat to 89th position with a capital of just over $1 billion. This was facilitated by Lebedev’s unexpected constant vacillation as a businessman. He relied on potatoes, trying to feed the whole of Russia with high-quality foreign varieties. Then he built cheap housing for the people and tried to develop the domestic aviation industry. Russian people, in his opinion, should give up Big Macs and switch to eating at the domestic version of fast food - the Petrushka chain. None of the initiatives were brought to their logical conclusion. Lebedev spent a lot of money, time and effort, but he could not achieve such success as with the National Reserve Bank.

Before moving to the UK, the banker bought 2 English newspapers ─ Independent and Evening Standard. This purchase became part of his announced campaign to fight the international financial-offshore oligarchy, which he loudly declared war on. Alexander Lebedev gained experience in working with the media back in Russia, being one of the main shareholders of Nasha Gazeta.

Hunt for the Banker

Like any famous person, Alexander Lebedev could not avoid major scandals and accusations of committing a variety of sins. The first time he had a conflict with the Prosecutor General Skuratov, who accused the banker of fraud with bonds. The investigation lasted for 2 years and ended simultaneously with the resignation of the prosecutor, who inadvertently loved to take a steam bath with girls of easy virtue. Alexander Lebedev still denies any involvement in criminal operations, claiming that all the accusations were made up to please his then-competitor, businessman Ashot Yeghiazaryan, now living in the United States. This is the only case when the name of Alexander Lebedev was mentioned along with the mention of the Criminal Code. He spoke in detail about this and other extraordinary events of his youth in his autobiographical book “The Hunt for a Banker.”

All other cases of scandalous chronicles with his participation turned out to be the fruit of an explosive character, like gunpowder. Alexander Lebedev intensively exchanged sharp verbal jabs with the Chairman of the Russian Council of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin. The reason was some insignificant trifle, which quickly reached the level of personal insults. In 2011, in a live television pavilion, Lebedev, without hesitation or entering into a verbal altercation, knocked out the outrageous Russian developer Sergei Polonsky. The court was forced to deal with the fight and found the banker guilty. Lebedev worked a little more than 100 hours of correctional labor while renovating a kindergarten in the Tula region.

Literally at the same time, he found himself involved in a trivial sex scandal, after which he announced the decision to sell off Russian assets and leave for the UK. Confirming the popular Russian proverb that establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between gray beards and lust, Alexander Lebedev plunged headlong into a love affair with young socialite Elena Perminova. Before him, the Siberian woman’s former boyfriend had gone to prison for a long time to serve a sentence for drug trafficking, and the “lady of the heart” herself miraculously did not follow him. The court sentenced her to 6 years of probation, taking pity and not daring to completely break the fate of the young girl.

The British period in the life of a Russian emigrant is still quite quiet. It is unlikely that Alexander Lebedev will agree to meet his old age calmly, living modestly on the interest from his billion dollars. The heady air of Western freedom and democracy will certainly push Russians to action. All that remains is to wait in which direction the developed “sixth” sense of an intelligence officer and businessman will turn him.