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For Russian biochemist, see Alexander Nikolayevich Lebedev. For Russian footballer, see Aleksandr Nikolayevich Lebedev (footballer). For Belarusian footballer, see Alyaksandr Lebedzew.  Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev (Russian: Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев, born 16 December, 1959) is a Russian billionaire, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs. In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion.[1]. He owns a third of Aeroflot airline, and is part owner of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.[2] On 21 January, 2009, Lebedev bought the London-based newspaper the Evening Standard for £1.[3] He was a member of the state Duma in 2004-2008.
[edit] Biography[edit] Early life and educationAlexander Lebedev was born to a family which was part of the Moscow intelligentsia. His father, Evgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev was a Professor at Bauman Moscow Highest Technical School and a retired athlete, a former member of the Soviet National Water polo team. Alexander's mother, Maria Sergeyevna, after graduating from Moscow Pedagogic Institute worked in a rural Sakhalin school, then taught English in a Moscow tertiary school.[4] In 1977, Alexander Lebedev entered the Department of Economics at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. After he graduated in 1982, Lebedev started work at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System doing research for his Kandidat (equal to Ph.D.) dissertation The problems of debt and the challenges of globalization. However he soon transferred to the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence) of KGB. He worked there and at its successor Foreign Intelligence Service until 1992.[4] In London he had the diplomatic cover of an economics attaché. According to Lebedev's personal site his assignments included fighting capital flight from the Russian Federation.[4] The Sunday Express stated that he “spent more time studying finance and the City than British secrets”.[2] [edit] Business career Among the bank's assets are:
The bank is the core of the National Reserve Corporation, that according to Lebedev's personal site owns around US$2 billion of assets.[4] Forbes estimates Lebedev's fortune higher as US$3.5 billion.[1] The National Reserve Corporation included National Meat Company, National Mortgage Company (Национальная Ипотечная Компания), construction companies as well as daughter structures in textiles, telecommunications, trams and trolleybuses, electrical power, chemical and tourist industries. They own a large tourist hotel network in the Crimea (Ukraine) and plan to create the National Reserve Park that will manage diverse tourist enterprises in Russia, Ukraine and France. Lebedev used to own the Moscow Korrespondent, but according to Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Lebedev closed it down "for political reasons after it published a spurious article about Vladimir Putin having an affair with an Olympic gymnast half his age." [5] In 21 January, 2009, Lebedev and his company Evening Press Corporation(UK), part of Lebedev Holdings, bought approximately a 75.1% of share in the Evening Standard newspaper for £1. The previous owners, the Daily Mail and General Trust, continue to hold 24.9% in the company in the new firm, named Evening Standard Ltd. Lebedev promised to not interfere with the editorial running of the paper. Lebedev commented that during his time as a spy in London, he used the Evening Standard to find information.[3] Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard at the time of the sale said: "It's a very sad day for the paper, it's a very sad day for the Rothermeres. We are very sorry that it leaked out, we had no control over that. Everyone's been working very hard and there's a lot of hope for the future of the Evening Standard."[6] [edit] Political careerIn 2003, Lebedev stood as a candidate for elections to the Mayoralty of Moscow and the State Duma. He received 13% in the Mayoral elections, losing to the incumbent Yuriy Luzhkov, but won a seat in the State Duma on the Rodina party list (he was actually number one on the Moscow regional list of the party). He remained in the Duma until 2007, when new elections were held. In the Duma, he initially moved from conservative "Rodina" to the pro-Government United Russia fraction,[4] but after Rodina was merged into the larger socialist coalition Fair Russia, he made his return and now is one of the party leaders. Lebedev was formerly the Vice-Chairman of Duma's committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States; the coordinator of Duma's group on interactions with Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the coordinator of the State Duma group dealing with the city.[4] Lebedev, together with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is the owner of 49% of Novaya Gazeta, one of the most vocal newspapers critical of the current Russian Government.[7] After the assassination of a prominent Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya Lebedev wrote an article praising the talents of Politkovskaya and suggesting that the assassins were actually trying to target the good names of her opponents.[8] He pledged 25 million Russian rubles (around US$1mln) for the information leading to catching the assassins.[8] Lebedev is a founder and the President of the National Investment Council, a non-political and non-Government organization working to improve the investment sentiments in Russia, protecting interests of the Russian business abroad and fighting the negative sentiments towards Russian business.[4] In September 2008, Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev announced he was going to make a comeback to Russian politics along with Alexander Lebedev.[9] Their party will be called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia. In March 2009 Lebedev announced that he would be running for mayor of Sochi, the city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics [10], but a court ruling declared his candidacy invalid on April 13th 2009.[11] The court ruling was a result of a complaint by another candidate, Vladimir Turukhanovsky, that Lebedev's campaign received three donations from minors that is forbidden by Russian electoral law. According to the chief of Lebedev's electoral campaingn, Artyom Artyomov, the three teenagers were led to Sberbank by a staff member of the Sochi council, given 500 rubles each (approximately $20), and told to donate the money to Lebedev's campaign. Lebedev campaigners sent the money back the same day it was received but still it was found sufficient to disqualify Lebedev. Lebedev said that he intended to appeal the court's decision[12]. [edit] CharityLebedev has a long history of supporting culture and charity. He even created the organization named Charitable Reserve Fund (Благотворительный Резервный Фонд) to make some order on these activities. Among the organizations and projects he (or BRF) sponsored are:[4]
In October, Lebedev met with Tom Stoppard, John Malkovich, and Kevin Spacey to discuss a new Chekhov festival in Crimea, Ukraine. Lebedev was awarded the Saint Innokenty of Moscow Order by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Medal Dialogue of Cultures by UNESCO. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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