Kuzmichev Alexei

Full name:
Kuzmichev Alexei

Kuzmichev Alexei Date of Birth

15 October 1962

Kuzmichev Alexei Citizenship

Russia

Kuzmichev Alexei Professional field/official position

Russian oligarch, one of the key shareholders of the Alfa Group investment consortium.

Kuzmichev Alexei biography

KUZMICHEV Alexei Viktorovich (b. 1962 in Kirov) entered the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS) in 1983, where he met with German Khan and Mikhail Fridman, his future business partners. In the first year of study, Kuzmichev became a secretary of the Komsomol organization and joined the Communist Party. He graduated from the Institute in 1988 and until 1989, worked with Friedman, and then Khan in the cooperatives Courier, Alpha-photo, and Alpha-Eco (the last two provided the household services, the sale of carpets, copy machines, and computers).

• In 1992, Alexey Kuzmichev presented a plan to his partners to scale up their businesses: he proposed them to start oil and metallurgy trading. Already at the end of the year, Crown Trade and Finance, Ltd. was founded, which was later renamed to CTF Holdings.
• In 1996, the businessman resigned from Alfa-Eco and headed the board of directors of the new company Crown Resources, registered in Switzerland and engaged in oil supplies. The years 2001-2002 were extremely unsuccessful for the billionaire’s business: numerous adverse events could put him on the brink of bankruptcy. The result was the redemption of Crown Resources from Alfa Group and its renaming to Expertica Corporation, which reprofiled from crude oil trading to transactions with oil futures.
• In the early 2000s, Alexey Kuzmichev returned to Alfa-Eco and became the head of its Board.
• In 2006, the company received a new name, A1, and continued to oversee the commodity segment of the corporation. He also took part in the management of other companies of the Alfa Group.
• Kuzmichev headed the Russian Technologies venture fund for some time, later he was a member of the advisory board of Altimo, an investment telecommunications company belonging to Alfa Group. Kuzmichev indirectly controls about 10 percent of the 6th world’s largest mobile operator, Vimpelcom, 18 percent of one of the largest Russian private banks, Alfa-Bank, and 11 percent of Russia’s largest food retail group, X5.
• In March 2013, he sold his stake in TNK-BP to the state-owned oil company Rosneft for $2.5 billion. In 2019, Alexei Kuzmichyov became the sixteenth in the rating of 20 richest Russian businessmen published by Forbes. In 2018, his net worth decreased by $100 million and amounted to $7.5 billion. Kuzmichev is a Russian citizen and resident of the United Kingdom: since 2001, he has been living in London.
• Since 2006 – Chairman of the Board of Directors in «Russian technologies». Under the leadership of Kuzmichev the venture fund “Russian Technologies», specializing in the development of nano-and biotechnology, already invested $ 4 million along with Intel Capital in the company «Elektrokom», which developed technologies to provide Internet access through an electrical outlet. In addition, Alexey Kuzmichev is a member of the Board of Directors of Altimo, and a member of the Board of Directors of Alfa Finance Holdings S. A. (Oil and financial assets). The company owns stakes in the banking, oil and telecommunications sectors.
• According to the magazine “Finance”, the fortune of Kuzmicheva is 3,05 billion (as of 2009), 17th place in rating of Russian billionaires.
• He takes great interest in the history of Mesopotamia, is in negotiation process with the U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq to restore buildings of ancient Babylon; he is going to finance it.

  www.peoples.ru, www.oligarhi.ru

Kuzmichev Alexei family

Married has one son

Kuzmichev Alexei crimes

Raider seizures of enterprises, sponsorship of the Saddam Hussein regime, possible participation in the Kremlin’s meddling in the US presidential election.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, Alfa-Eco was at the center of a scandal with raider attacks. In 1996, the bankruptcy proceedings of the Achinsk Alumina Refinery (AGK) began at the suit of creditors. The court appointed Gleb Fetisov, president of Alfa-Eco, as an interim manager. In 1999, Alfa-Eco, with the support of the police, took AGK by force.

1. In March 2001, creditors of the Achinsk plant signed a settlement agreement, and AGK became a part of Rusal. Alfa’s income from the resale of the Achinsk Alumina Refinery in 2000 amounted to 680%. In the summer of 2000, Alfa-Eco bought 42% of the shares of Alphavit Group from the small shareholders and tried to seize the plant. However, the capture attempt failed, but the plant director sold his stake to Rinako, an affiliate of MDM Group. After that, MDM bought the Alpha package as well.
2. In May 2000, Alfa-Eco structures acquired a 50% stake in the trading house that produced Smirnov vodka. Alpha’s management tried to negotiate to transfer the remaining 50% with the owner of the company, Boris Smirnov but failed. Then, Alfa-Eco took the company away from Smirnov by force. Similarly, Alfa-Eco took over the Moscow Fat Factory, Volga and Kama pulp and paper mills.
3. Since 1999, Kuzmichev’s Crown Resources company has been registered in Switzerland and engaged in the supply of oil, worked with countries such as Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, and Cuba. It is noteworthy that in 2006, a special commission led by the former head of the US Federal Reserve Service, Paul Walker, published a report on the implementation of the UN oil-for-food program for Iraq. Crown Resources participated in the program. The Commission concluded that 139 companies participating in the program overpaid the government of Saddam Hussein $229 million more than the amounts stipulated in the contracts. Almost $53 million of them paid the Russian companies. The report said that the money was received in cash at the Iraqi embassy in Moscow, and then Iraqi diplomats transported it to Baghdad in suitcases. The list included Rosneft, Slavneft, Zarubezhneft, LUKOIL, and others. Alfa-Eco and TNK were suspected of illegally paying $2.5 million to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
4. In January 2018, Alexei Kuzmichev got into the Kremlin list of the US Treasury, a list of Russian officials, politicians, and businessmen close to Vladimir Putin. Assumingly, sanctions may be imposed on these people, as they contributed to the interference of the Kremlin in foreign, including American, elections.

Kuzmichev Alexei, links and material

Kommersant # 165 (2768) on 12.09.03

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s the company «Alfa-Eco» founded by Mikhail Fridman, Herman Han, and Alexei Kuzmichev appeared in the center of a criminal story of raid captures. In 1996, upon the suit of creditors the bankruptcy proceedings of Achinsk Alumina Refinery (AAF) was started. The court appointed Gleb Fetisov – the president of Alfa-Eco – to be an interim manager. In 1999, «Alfa-Eco» with the support of the police force took AAF. In March 2001, creditors of Achinsk plant signed the settlement agreement, and AAF became a part of «Rusal». Income of “Alfa” from the resale of the Achinsk Alumina Refinery in 2000 was 680%.

In summer 2000, «Alfa-Eco» bought up about 42% of the shares from the small shareholders of “Alfabet “and tried to seize the factory. The attempt failed, but the plant manager sold his stake in IC «Rinaco», affiliated with a group of MDM. Afterwards MDM bought the package of “Alfa”.

In May 2000, the structure of Alfa-Eco Group acquired 50% stake in trading house, which produces vodka “Smirnov”. The management of Alfa tried to agree with the owner of the company Boris Smirnov on transfer of the remaining 50%, but failed. Then the leaders of «Alfa-Eco» seized the company.

Under the same pattern JSC «Moscow oiled industrial Complex» (MOIC) passed to Alfa-Eco: shareholder of Alfa-Eco, Mikhail Bezelyansky and several top managers bought about 24% stake in MOIC, and then took control over the company. “Alfa-Eco» absorbed PPP «Volga» and «Kama» through their bankruptcy as well.

“The secret of the company» # 6 (141) from 02.2006 year

The story of raid captures together with the name of Kuzmichev had been surfaced in the press periodically. The company “Alfa-Eco» had been specializing in buying distressed assets and their subsequent resale for several years. It earned 253% on the Volgograd Steel Works “Red October” in 2001. In the same year the company resold shares and payables of Korshunov mining-and-processing integrated works with a profit of 161%. “Alfa-Eco” earned 79% on the sale of troubled assets of the company TAGMET .

In 2004-2005, Alfa-Eco Group acquired stake in Sun Interbrew for about $ 100 million (21% stake), and then forced the largest shareholder, the Belgian company InBev, to buy this package for almost 260 million euros. Than InBev paid about 60 thousand out of that money to the structure of Kuzmichev so that it would not acquire shares of SUN Interbrew later.

In 1997 «Alfa-Eco» bought debts of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant to Kredobank and customs.

The company of Kuzmichev captured controlling stake in Yekaterinburg brewery «Patra»(in 2005 «Alfa» sold to “Patria» Heineken) in a capture-like way. “Alfa” tried to use the similar scheme towards VimpelCom and MegaFon, which blocking shares the group obtained, as well as towards the company «Eurocement» – its head Filaret Galchev had been fighting off Kuzmichev and his business partners for a long time.

www.Alfa.perm.ru on 17.09.99

They did not talk openly whether Kuzmichev was engaged in criminal business in the late 90’s, as he stayed in the shadow then, but there was talk that his closest business partners were – Mikhail Fridman and Herman Khan. For example, they rumored that Mikhail Fridman was involved in organizing the transit of drugs from Southeast Asia through Russia and Europe. There were people among his contacts considered to be criminal thieves in law – Otari Kvantrishvili, Mr. Timofeev (Silvester) and Mr. Petrov (Petrik), Mark Rich and Gregory Luchansky. In addition, Friedman is accused of voucher fraud. As the media said, the company Alfa-Eco coverted drug related operations in the consortium, and its international department was headed by Kuzmichev. Founders of “Alfa-Eco» founded a number of other companies at a time, including « Harmaty and Co » in Hungary, and« Alfa-Eko» in the Czech Republic. Those companies were the links of one chain, according to which the transit of drugs from South-East Asia to Europe had been conducted.

Source

There were excerpts from the report of the FSB published on the Internet, due to which it became known that the company “Alfa-Group» along with Kuzmichev decided to transfer all assets to offshore. Alex Kuzmichev together with Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, and Herman Khan were the companies’ owners, including the one which had been established in order to accumulate financial assets of the group – Gibraltar AB Holdings Limited. The offshore structures and foreign trade activities by “Alfa” were controlled by Alexei Kuzmichev. Those business schemes conducted through offshore companies were extremely complicated; thus the state supervisory bodies yet have not managed to count the exact amount of credits received by all «Alfa Group’s» subsidiaries and offshore companies from the Western credit institutions.

www.flb.ru.info from 16.12.2002

The name of Alexei Kuzmichev was exaggerated in the media in 2002, after the sinking of the tanker “Prestige”, and oil spilling on the Atlantic coast. The tanker was owned by a Liberian company (Mare Shipping Incorporation), the cargo belonged to the trading company “Crown Resources” – Swiss legal entity – one of the subsidiaries of the Alfa-Group. Chairman of the Board of Directors of «Crown» was Alex Kuzmichev; he was also a member of the Supervisory Board of Alfa-Group. When the tanker got sank, Kuzmicheva and his colleagues were accused of illegal operations, and using shadow schemes, which allowed tax evasion and super-profit gaining.

In addition, the “Crown” was mentioned in two scandals involving the oil and finance. Firstly, in London “Crown” accused the two traders of obtaining secret commissions from customers, partners and brokers, as well as of withdrawal of illegally obtained money under the control of offshore companies. In response to the accusations against him, financier of “Crown» Dmitry Pluzhnikov pointed out that Alexei Kuzmichev had allowed to organize a special cash fund and to establish an offshore company, which account was accumulating the funds for additional payments to especially successful employees. Then Kuzmichev refuted the statement of Pluzhnikov and said that everything had been done without his knowledge. Secondly, American group “Norex” sued “Alfa-Group”, in its claim it provided a scheme of using offshore companies in order to sell oil abroad. TNK and «Crown» as part of the “Alfa” along with ” Total ” companies appeared in the scheme: TNK sold oil to “Crown”, the latter sold it to” Total ” for the lowest price — such a transaction was required to report to the customs and tax authorities. In its turn, “Total” sold the oil for the same minimal money to “Crown” again, then “Total” bought the oil back, but for the world price. And the money from the «Crown» went to offshore companies, bypassing the various state regulatory authorities.

Russian Forbes, May 2009

In 2006 Kuzmichev initiated a project on the marketing Russian oil to the international market: in October the first futures contract REBCO (Russian Export Blend Crude Oil) was released on the NYMEX. At the time Kuzmichev together with specialists of NYMEX offered the Russian government a concept of establishing an oil exchange in Russia. International Commodity Exchange was established in St. Petersburg, but neither the founders of the company Expertica by Kuzmichev, nor NYMEX were included in it.

“Kommersant» # 204 / P (4259) on 02.11.2009

Kuzmichev was involved in the story of the mobile operator OAO MegaFon. One of its owners is Altimo (Kuzmichev is a member of the Board of Directors there), and it is a telecommunication infrastructure of the Russian holding company Alfa Group (owns 25,1% of Megafon). At the same time, the Scandinavian TeliaSonera owns 43.8% stake in Megafon, while the third holder of the shares (31,1%) is Alisher Usmanov. At the initiative of Altimo, «Megafon» was decided to be united with the Turkish company Turkcell – by the official version, in order to improve control over joint assets and their liquidity. Alisher Usmanov believes such an initiative disastrous for himself and actually considers it a raid capture of that part of their business. In November last year, he began discussions with the Russian authorities about possibility to exchange his stake in Megafon to Rostelecom shares, stating that Altimo and TeliaSonera could try to dilute his stake in Megafon in case it’s united with Turkcell – Usmanov’s structures had no substantial stake in Turkcell, while Altimo and TeliaSonera had such stakes of operator.