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Alexey Kuzmichev

Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev or Kousmichoff (Russian: Алексей Викторович Кузьмичёв; born 15 October 1962) is a Russian businessman. He is one of the founders of the LetterOne Group (LetterOne) and the Alfa Group.[1]

Kuzmichev was a stakeholder in VimpelCom, Alfa-Bank, and X5 Retail Group.[2] In March 2013, Kuzmichev sold his stake in energy venture TNK-BP to state-run oil company Rosneft for $2.5 billion. In March 2023, Kuzmichev sold his 16.32% stake in Alfa Bank and left the shareholders.[3]

For the first time, Forbes magazine rated Kuzmichev in 2013 — as the 138th world's richest person with a fortune estimated at $8.8 billion. In 2023 he was ranked number 397 with a $6.5 billion fortune.[4]

Early life and career

Kuzmichev was born in 1962 in Kirov, Russia. Between 1980 and 1982 he served in the army on the Soviet-Chinese border as a radio operator. During this time he joined the Communist party.[5]

In 1983, he enrolled in the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys where he met his future business partners, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan.[6] In 1988, Kuzmichev, Fridman and Khan, along with Mikhail Alfimov, founded Alfa Photo, which specialized in the import of photo chemicals.[7]

Later, Kuzmichev convinced his partners to diversify into the export business. Thus, in 1998, Alfa Eco was founded. The venture would become the basis of Alfa Group Consortium. (In 2005, Alfa Eco was rebranded as A1).[8]

Alfa Group

Alfa Group's portfolio includes the largest commercial bank in Russia, Alfa-Bank, (with affiliates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the Netherlands/Amsterdam Trade Bank); international telecom company VimpelCom (the sixth largest mobile network operator in the world by subscribers as of April, 2012); as well as holding shares in Turkish telecommunications company Turkcell. Until April 2012, Alfa Group owned 25 percent of Russian cell phone operator MegaFon; it sold its share for $5.2 billion. Alfa also has stakes in Russian retailer X5 Retail Group,[2] Rosvodokanal Group; and insurance company, Alfa-Strakhovanie Group.[9] Kuzmichev owns over 18 percent of the consortium's joint assets and is a member of the board of directors of Alfa Finance Holdings. The Group's major transactions include TNK oil company privatization, which later became a part of TNK-BP venture, Russia's third-largest oil producer. In March 2013 Alfa Group and its joint partners AAR Consortium sold 50 percent of TNK-BP to Russian oil company Rosneft.

Kuzmichev is responsible for overseeing Alfa Group’s international trading operations.

Sinking of The Prestige

Crown Resources, a European oil and commodity trading arm of Alfa Group, of which Kuzmichev is chairman, was the owner of the oil cargo on The Prestige vessel, which sank near the coast of Galicia, Spain in 2002. The case concerning The Prestige centred on the negligence of the vessel's owner and was completed in July 2013. No accusations or financial claims were made against Crown Resources.[10]

LetterOne Group

Kuzmichev is one of the original founders of the LetterOne Group. The LetterOne Group (LetterOne) is an international investment business based in Luxembourg. Its investments are focused on the telecoms, technology and energy sectors through its two main business units, L1 Energy and L1 Technology.[11] Despite recently being required by the Government to sell their North Sea oil and gas fields, LetterOne have reportedly been told in a statement from a senior UK official that this 'is not a judgement on the suitability of LetterOne's owners to control these or any other assets in the UK.[12]

Kuzmichev is married to Svetlana Kuzmicheva-Uspenskaya.[13] In 2016, he bought a US$42 million mansion in New York City.[14]

Sanctions

He was sanctioned by the European Union, Australia, Canada and the UK government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.[15] In August 2023, the United States imposed financial sanctions on Kuzmichev pursuant to Executive Order 14024, placing him on OFAC's SDN List for "operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy."[16][17][18]

Two of Kuzmichev's yachts have been seized by France due to the sanctions against Russian billionaires after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia but were returned on appeal.[19]

Arrest

On 30 October 2023, French police detained Kuzmichev and also conducted searches in the businessman’s Parisian mansion and his villa in Saint-Tropez. He was released from custody on bail of €8 million the same day. Kuzmichev is suspected of tax crimes and violation of sanctions.[20][21][22][23]

In November 2023, the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) announced charges against Kuzmichev for tax fraud.[24] He was subsequently placed under judicial supervision and banned from leaving the country.[25]

See also

  • List of billionaires
  • List of Russian billionaires

External links

References

  1. Supervisory Board Alfa Group, retrieved 19 January 2016^
  2. X5 Retail Group X5.ru, 2014-08-14, retrieved 2015-09-26^
  3. Альфа-банк изменил состав акционеров RBC, 2023-03-15^
  4. Alexei Kuzmichev Forbes, retrieved 2015-09-26^
  5. Jennifer Gould. Hack into this Russian billionaire’s former $44M home The New York Post, retrieved 24 June 2024^
  6. Guy Chazan. Lunch with the FT: Mikhail Fridman Financial Times, retrieved 24 June 2024^
  7. Alexey Kuzmichev net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2022 The Times, retrieved 24 June 2024^
  8. Khan to Head Alfa Group's Investment Arm The Moscow Times, retrieved 24 June 2024^
  9. About company Alfastrah.ru, retrieved 2015-09-26^
  10. Fiona Govan. Prestige oil tanker sinking: Spanish court finds nobody responsible The Telegraph, retrieved 2015-09-26^
  11. Alexey Kuzmichev retrieved 21 December 2015^
  12. Ineos targets further North Sea assets in wake of $750m deal Financial Times^
  13. Leadership Project Perpetual, retrieved 4 December 2015^
  14. Joshua Chaffin. Wealthy Russian property owners leave Manhattan with a whisper Financial Times, 2022-03-19, retrieved 2022-03-19^
  15. CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK retrieved 16 April 2023^
  16. Treasury Imposes Sanctions on Russian Elites and a Russian Business Association treasury.gov, 11 August 2023^
  17. US government sanctions Russians on the board of Alfa Group in response to war in Ukraine ASSOCIATED PRESS, August 11, 2023^
  18. Sanctions List Search - Alexey Viktorovich KUZMICHEV sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov^
  19. Franck Bouaziz. Deux nouveaux yachts appartenant à un oligarque russe immobilisés dans les Alpes-Maritimes Libération, retrieved 2022-08-21^
  20. L’oligarque russe Alexeï Kouzmitchev placé en garde à vue par la justice française dans une affaire de blanchiment Le Monde, 2023-10-30^
  21. Robert Hart. Russian Billionaire Alexei Kuzmichev Detained By French Police In Tax And Sanctions Probe Forbes, retrieved 2024-01-30^
  22. Businessman Kuzmichev charged with money laundering, French prosecutors say TASS, retrieved 2024-01-30^
  23. Russian oligarch Kuzmichev accused of tax fraud in France Yahoo News, 2023-11-01, retrieved 2024-01-30^
  24. France Charges Russian Billionaire Kuzmichev With Tax Fraud The Moscow Times, retrieved 27 May 2024^
  25. Russian Oligarch Charged In France With Tax Fraud: Prosecutor Barron's, retrieved 27 May 2024^