Full name:
Makhmudov lskandar
Makhmudov lskandar Date of Birth
5 December 1963
Makhmudov lskandar Citizenship
Russia
Makhmudov lskandar Professional field/official position
President of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC)
Makhmudov lskandar biography
MAKHMUDOV Iskandar Kakhramonovich (b. 1963 in Bukhara) graduated from the Arabic department of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Tashkent State University in 1984. In 1984-1986, he worked in Libya as a translator of a group of Soviet military advisers and specialists from the Main Engineering Directorate of the USSR State Committee on Foreign Economic Relations. In 1986-1988, he continued to work as a translator in Iraq in the Office for the Construction of Military Facilities of the Iraqi General Staff.
- Starting from 1991 to June 1994 he was Deputy Director of Marketing AO “Alis”. From July 1994 to February 1996 – Director of AOZT “Industrial-Financial Company” Meta Service».
- In 1996 Mahmudov became CEO of the Gaysky mining and processing plant – the leading enterprise in the Urals for the extraction of copper ore.
- In 1999, together with his partners created the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), he has been president from its inception until nowadays.
- In 2001 he was a member of the Board of Directors Uralelectromed (g.Verhnyaya Pyshma in the Sverdlovsk region).
- In 1988, he returned to Tashkent and from 1988 to 1990, he worked for the state joint-stock company Uzbekintorg. There he met with the brothers Leo and Mikhail Cherny, who owned aluminum and coal businesses. Later, he moved to Moscow and became a partner in the Trans World Group (TWG), owned by the Cherny brothers. According to media reports, “in 1993, Makhmudov left TWG, remaining a partner of Mikhail Cherny in other projects, and in 1994, he began buying up shares of copper enterprises.”
- In 1994, he participated in the privatization of the Pavlodar aluminum smelter in Kazakhstan. In 1996, he headed the leading enterprise in the Urals for the extraction of copper ore, the Gaisky Mining and Processing Plant. In 1998-1999, with the support of Mikhail Cherny, Makhmudov created the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC). In the late 2000s, the media reported about the UMMC as a holding uniting the assets of about 30 enterprises located in ten regions of Russia and controlling the production of about 40 percent of Russian cathode copper, a quarter of the domestic non-ferrous metal market, and also more than half of the European copper market powders.”
- In the early 2000s, Makhmudov also paid attention to the production of the carriages. In partnership with Dmitry Komissarov, he created the Transmashholding. In 2003, the holding became the owner of the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant (NEVZ), a monopoly producer of freight electric locomotives. Then he acquired controlling stakes in the Tver Carriage Works, and later, the Demikhovsky Machine-Building Plant (manufacturer of electric trains). By 2006, Transmashholding became the largest producer of rolling stock for railways in Russia, which included about a dozen engineering enterprises.
- In 2008, Makhmudov became a co-founder of the Unified Food Network (ESP), a network of catering facilities for train passengers. In 2010, Makhmudov and his partner Andrei Bokarev bought a stake in Aeroexpress LLC, an operator of rail transportation services between Moscow and airports. In 2011, together with Bokarev, they became owners of Central Suburban Passenger Company, which provides suburban transportation in Russia. In 2012, partners also acquired 13% of Transoil LLC, one of the largest railway carriers of oil and oil products.
Iskander Makhmudov alone controls nearly half of Russia’s production of copper, two-thirds of the production of zinc and a quarter of the rolled non-ferrous metals. His holding is the eighth producer of wagons and locomotives. in the world Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), a former president of which is Makhmudov, includes dozens of companies located in 30 regions of Russia: from the Far East to Vladimir.
Makhmudov has been married twice. Makhmudov parted with his former wife before moving to Moscow, but according to some sources, he devotes a lot of time to his son from the first marriage.
Sources: www.svdevelopment.com
Makhmudov lskandar crimes
National and cross-border corruption, economic crimes, participation in organized crime, gross interference in foreign affairs.
The media associate Iskandar Makhmudov with the activities of the Izmailovsky organized crime group, as well as Gennady Timchenko, a member of Putin’s inner circle. Law enforcement agencies in several European countries also suspect Iskandar Makhmudov of having links with organized crime groups. In 2008, when Mikhail Cherny and Oleg Deripaska waged a legal battle in the High Court of London, Iskandar Makhmudov was mentioned as a partner of Cherny. Mikhail Chernoy is considered a member of an organized criminal group.
- In 2009, Spanish law enforcement agencies accused Iskandar Makhmudov, as well as two of his former partners, Oleg Deripaska and Mikhail Cherny, of laundering criminally obtained money in Spain. According to investigators, money was laundered through a subsidiary of UMMC, Vera Metallurgica, owned by Makhmudov, Deripaska, and Cherny. It is worth noting that in 2011, a Spanish court referred a criminal case on money laundering to the Russian Prosecutor General. However, in October 2017, the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation terminated the criminal case for lack of corpus delicti.
- In 2016, investigative journalist Konstantin Rubakhin published an investigation on the theft schemes and the withdrawal of money by co-owners of the UMMC group. According to the investigation, Iskandar Makhmudov and other co-owners of the group used the UMMC in a criminal scheme to seize dozens of metal processing enterprises and luxury real estate in Europe.
- In February 2019, the Mediapart investigation mentioned Iskandar Makhmudov as “an oligarch close to Putin,” who, to protect his family and assets in France, signed a contract with a company that provides security services for top officials in France. Mediapart suggested that the mediator in the signing of the contract was Alexander Benalla, who at that time officially worked in the presidential administration of France. The commission of inquiry of the French Senate concluded that these contracts could harm the security of the head of state and the interests of the state. The financial prosecutor’s office began checking the legality of the signed contract.
- In January 2018, Iskandar Makhmudov was included in the Kremlin Report of the US Treasury Department, a list of senior officials and businessmen close to the Russian leadership.
Makhmudov lskandar, links and material
In 2000 the name of Makhmudov was associated with the Kachkanar GOK “Vanadium” scandal. In 1999 Makhmudov entrusted to operate the business to his childhood friend Jalol Haidarov. But soon Mahmudov became displeased with the fact Khaidarov wanted to be the owner of the company by himself. Mahmudov considered that Khaidarov arrogated 72% of the shares the GOK, and initiated a trial during which the legitimate rights of the shareholders were recognized. Khaidarov disagreed, in response to this Mahmudov arrived to the company together with the police officers. Khaidarov fielded a crowd of workers and retirees against, they had been previously persuaded that Mahmoud was going to destroy and to close the plant. Makhmudov dispersed the crowd with water cannon at twenty degrees C below. Pictures with the happening circled all the media causing a real shock. After using water cannons the police officers entered the enterprise, and it passed to the Mahmudov.
Source: www.svdevelopment.com, 2000
Khaidarov went abroad after the dismissal of the GOK’s general director, and there joined forces with another ex-tycoon Mikhail Zhivilo; the latter sued in the U.S. with the owners of Rusal for the Novokuznetsk Aluminum Plant. They filed a claim for total of $ 3 billion for the act of conducting racketeering and corruption, implying a three time payment to the victims in the Federal Court in New York in 2001. But in 2003 the court refused to consider it.
Source: “Vedomosti” from 09.11.2004
In 2004 Khaidarov filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. court against Makhmudov. At this time the amount of the claim was two times less. The new suit did not affect the business of Makhmudov .
Source: “Vedomosti” from 09.11.2004
Just a few days after the seizure of Kachkanar GOK Makhmudov seized power in the Nizhnesadinsky Metallurgical Complex. Andrei Kozitsyn led the attackers; he had been appointed new CEO in Kachkanar GOK by Mahmudov. The scheme of the operation was very similar to the seizure of GOK. While the company CEO Damir Gareev and five of his deputies had been locked in the staff room without a telephone connection, the invaders took away documents and stamps of the company. The workers who tried to infiltrate the territory of the enterprise once again were doused with water. Gareev was forced to leave the plant.
Source: “Kommersant» # 15 (1900) on 02/02/2000
The venture «Karabashmed» also was a mean of the power struggle for Mahmudov. The aim of Makhmudov was to stop creation of a single “copper” holding in Russia based on the Kyshtym Electrolytic Copper Plant («KMZ»). It was supposed to unite “Karabashmed» and a number of other enterprises. The initiators of the project were the head of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov and Chelyabinsk Governor Pyotr Sumin. Thus, Makhmudov could have gained strong competitors. A number of the companies by UMMC supplying raw materials to the enterprises of «KMZ”, and Mahmoud decided to reduce them.
Source: “Kommersant» # 88 (1973) on 19/05/2000
Namely, they reduced supply from the Gaysky GOK (member of the UMMC) to the “Karabashmed». The purchase of Karabash copper-smelting plant became a method of pressure on the «KMZ”.
Source: “Kommersant» # 93 (2223) on 31/05/2001
In September 2001 it became known about the death of an “authoritative” entrepreneur Anton Malevsky (Anton Izmailovsky) – he crashed jumping with a parachute in South Africa. In 2001 Haydarov and Zhivilo filed a claim for $ 3 billion in the Court of New York against Mahmudov; accroding to them, he together with the partners – Michael Cherny and Oleg Deripaska used Malevsky in the negotiations on the fate of the Kachkanar GOK, then he had been acting as a “threat”.
Source: “Kommersant» # 205 (2335) on 09/11/2001
One of the scandals associated with the name of Makhmudov concerned the divorce of a steel magnate Alexei Mordashov with his wife Elena. Once Mordashov announced his intentions to fight for the enterprise «Kuzbassugol» by Mahmudov, Elena Mordashova accused her former husband of an insufficient child support.
Source: “Profile” on 11/09/2001
The Nikulinsky District Court in Moscow reviewing the suit by Mordashova seized 32,5% stake in Severstal as an interim measure; Mordashov was the head of the company. The petition claimed those shares of Mordashov.
Source: Vedomosti on 16.08.01
Mordashov anticipated that Makhmudov might have been involved in such a turn of events, as soon as prosecutor Vladimir Ponevezhsky got engaged in the matter of alimony; at one time director of the Kachkanar GOK – Jalol Haydarov had been removed from his post with his assistance. Makhmudov assumed that in case Mordashova would sue anything from her former husband, he would most likely want to buy that thing.
Source: “Profile” on 11/09/2001
In 2005, the prosecutor of Bashkiria instituted a criminal case for causing very serious injury to the Bashkir copper sulphate plant (BMSK)managed by UMMC . The stake in BMSK owned by the government of Bashkiria, was transferred to the trust management by UMMC in 2004. Since then, its debt has increased significantly. UMMC is also suspected of the withdrawal of the assets of the company and its deliberate bankruptcy.
Source: “Kommersant” from 17.11.2005
In March 2009 in the Saratov region opened a criminal case against OAO «Transmash» for failure in its tax liabilities. No specific charges havet been instituted. The enterprise did not deny that it had not paid the taxes, and referred to the fact that had been an essential measure for the development of the production. Since 2007, the owners of the controlling stake of the company became GC “TransGroup” and “Transkreditbank”, one of its principal owners is Makhmudov.
Source: Kommersant (Saratov) # 58 (4113) on 02/04/2009
