Diamonds, billions, major scandals. How Lev Leviev does business
The story of Lev Leviev is truly unique and interesting. A native of Uzbekistan was able to gain a foothold in the world community, make a huge fortune on diamonds, and become a friend of Trump and Putin. Naturally, all this is followed by a criminal train, a black market and muddy schemes. How Leviev succeeded – in our material.
Way to success
Lev Leviev was born in 1956 in Tashkent, when he was 15, the family of the future businessman moved to live in Israel. At a young age, he managed to organize a diamond polishing company. In the future, production began to develop, he entered the African market, creating the Africa-Israel enterprise. Levaev began to directly buy precious stones, take them to Israel, and there bring them to a marketable appearance. This approach to business made it possible to increase profits by several times, and turn the enterprise into a whole holding engaged in the purchase, cutting, polishing and sale of precious stones.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the businessman decided to enter the CIS market, primarily in Russia. But in the 1990s it was hard, because the times were not calm, and either a higher political roof was needed, or agreements with the authorities. Thanks to his connections, Leviev was able to make contact with President Boris Yeltsin, and thanks to such an important guarantor, he entered the Russian market.
Boris Yeltsin
In the domestic market, Leviev firmly entrenched himself in the field of trade in precious stones, but this was not enough. The plans of the diamond king were to increase political influence. He was supported by the Jewish community, and then the businessman invested in the creation of Jewish schools throughout the CIS.
In 1999, the cunning businessman realized that Boris Yeltsin was close to his departure, and therefore began to support the not-so-famous Vladimir Putin at that time. Largely thanks to Leviev, the current president of Russia was elected for the first time. The Jewish businessman both financed Putin’s campaign and agitated the local Jewish community to support Vladimir Vladimirovich. And so it happened, Putin became president, and Leviev received a close ally in the person of the head of the largest state in the world.
Putin with Leviev (center)
Leviev, like a real businessman, laid eggs in several baskets at once. In addition to the Russian market, he also invested in the US real estate market, where he met future President Donald Trump. Such powerful connections, of course, helped Leviev build a huge profitable business in the trade in valuable stones.
Leviev with Trump
blood diamonds
Like any multi-billion dollar business, trading in precious stones has many risks and pitfalls. Let’s start with the fact that diamonds come from somewhere. They are mined in third world countries, where no one thinks about either the safety of people or adequate wages. It is thanks to such an inhuman approach that this business brings huge profits to the owners. Leviev’s cruelty, even in this not very kind business, is shocking. The businessman is the owner of several precious stone deposits in Angola. In addition, he is also a trader of diamonds, which are produced in the African state. Accordingly, the budget of the countries is directly connected with the business of the tycoon Leviev. Therefore, the authorities get away with virtually everything. Terrible orders were established on his lands. People work 14 hours a day, almost dying. If an employee does something wrong, he is attacked by armed guards and beaten half to death. Diamond mining in Angola is the ultimate form of slavery.
Problems with law
A real detective story around Leviev’s business started spinning in 2018. The businessman’s son and brother were detained on the smuggling of diamonds worth more than $80 million. As it turned out, Israeli law enforcement officers monitored the family business for a year, fixing the illegal transactions of the Levievs. But even here some very inconvenient information surfaced. It turned out that the Jewish schools created under the auspices of Leviev, which we mentioned earlier, were not a gesture of goodwill. The ruthless merchant used them as a base for the supply of smuggled diamonds, and later sold them in the CIS countries. The Diamond King was forced to leave Israel and now lives in the UK with his family.