Gennady Timchenko facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gennady Timchenko
Геннадий Тимченко
Timchenko in 2018
Born	Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko (1952-11-09) 9 November 1952 (age 72) Leninakan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union (now Gyumri, Armenia)
Citizenship	Russia Finland Armenia
Occupation	Businessman
Spouse(s)	Elena
Children	3
Awards	Legion of Honour (Chevalier)

Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko (Russian: Геннадий Николаевич Тимченко, also spelled Guennadi Timtchenko; born 9 November 1952) is a very wealthy Russian businessman. He started and owns a company called Volga Group, which invests in many different businesses. He used to be a co-owner of another big company, Gunvor Group, which trades oil.

Mr. Timchenko has been good friends with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the early 1990s. In 1991, Mr. Putin gave him a special license to export oil. After that, Mr. Timchenko started Gunvor, which has since sold billions of dollars worth of Russian oil around the world.

His investment company, Volga Group, owns a large part of the natural gas company Novatek. Documents known as the Pandora Papers showed that one of Timchenko's companies, which was important for the Novatek investment, received huge loans through secret offshore companies. The U.S. placed sanctions on Timchenko because of Russia's actions in Crimea in 2014. The government of the United Kingdom was also planning to add more sanctions just before the events in Ukraine in February 2022.

As of March 2022, Timchenko was ranked 205th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune was estimated to be about US $10.3 billion. This made him the sixth richest person in Russia. He is also well-known for being the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Kontinental Hockey League. He is also the President of the SKA Saint Petersburg ice hockey club. He is a citizen of Russia, Finland, and Armenia.

Early Life and Education

Gennady Timchenko was born in Leninakan, which was then part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. Today, this city is called Gyumri in Armenia. He was born in 1952. His father was a soldier in the Soviet military and fought in the Second World War.

Young Gennady lived in East Germany from 1959 to 1965, where he learned to speak German. He also lived for a time in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1976, he finished his studies at the Mechanical Institute of Saint Petersburg. At that time, the city was called Leningrad. He graduated as an electrical engineer.

Starting His Career

In 1977, Mr. Timchenko began working as an engineer at the Izhorsky plant. This plant was located near Saint Petersburg and specialized in making power generators. The company, which was owned by the state, later moved him to their trade department.

From 1982 to 1988, he worked as a senior engineer for the Ministry of Foreign Trade. In 1988, when Russia began to open up its economy, he was promoted. He became the Deputy Director of a state-owned oil company called Kirishineftekhimexport. This company was started in 1987 and was based at the Kirishi refinery. This refinery was one of the three largest in the RSFSR.

In 1991, Timchenko decided to leave Russia. He was hired by a company in Finland called Urals Finland Oy. This company focused on bringing Russian oil into Europe. He later became a Finnish citizen.

Business Ventures

In 1995, Urals Finland Oy changed its name to International Petroleum Products Oy (IPP). Timchenko then became a deputy and later the CEO of IPP OY. In 1997, he helped start a global company that trades goods, called Gunvor. He started this company with a Swedish businessman named Torbjörn Törnqvist. Timchenko sold his share of Gunvor to Törnqvist in March 2014. This happened just one day before the U.S. government placed sanctions on him.

In 2007, Timchenko started his own private investment fund, the Volga Group (also known as Volga Resources Group). The Volga Group now manages his businesses in Russia and other countries. These businesses are in areas like energy, transportation, building new structures, financial services, and consumer goods.

Redut PMC

Redut is a Russian private military and security company. It is part of a group of similar companies that protect the businesses of Russian companies. Redut has been used by Russia in the events in Ukraine. Because of this, the company has faced sanctions. Some fighters from this group have been found guilty of serious actions during the conflict.

Gennady Timchenko and Oleg Deripaska are said to be big supporters of Redut. The company reportedly received armored vehicles, helmets, and protective vests from them. Redut has provided services for Timchenko's companies. This included providing snipers, engineers, and guards. Redut groups have been used to protect convoys and company properties. This includes oil production facilities of JSC Stroytransgaz in Syria.

Gunvor Group

Timchenko was a co-founder of the Gunvor Group, along with Torbjörn Törnqvist. Gunvor is a company based in Cyprus. It works in trading and moving goods related to the international energy market. On March 19, 2014, Timchenko sold his share in Gunvor to the other co-founder, Torbjörn Törnqvist. This sale happened the day before Timchenko was added to the United States sanctions list. This was due to the events in Crimea. Timchenko said he sold his share because he expected "potential economic sanctions." He wanted to "ensure with certainty the continued and uninterrupted operations of Gunvor Group." The amount of money from the sale was not shared.

Volga Group Investments

In 2007, Timchenko started the Volga Resources fund, which was based in Luxembourg. This fund brought together all of Timchenko's business assets. In June 2013, the fund was renamed Volga Group. It was officially introduced at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum. He mentioned that for the next few years, his group would focus on building new infrastructure projects in Russia.

The goal of this fund is to make "consistent, long-term returns." It does this by investing directly and indirectly in valuable businesses in Russia and other countries. The group owns businesses in energy, transportation, and infrastructure development. It also has investments in financial services, consumer goods, and real estate. Its most important investments are in the gas company Novatek and the petrochemical company Sibur.

Airfix Aviation

In April 2014, Timchenko sold a 49% share in the Finnish company IPP Oy. This company owned 99% of the Finnish aviation company Airfix Aviation. This was a small part of the Volga Group's total investments.

Timchenko faced international sanctions after the events in Crimea in April 2014. IPP Oil Products (Cyprus), which is closely connected to Timchenko, is also under sanctions. Kai Paananen (Russian: Кай Паананен), who worked with Timchenko, has strong ties to Airfix Aviation and the IPP companies. The Volga Group has been listed by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a "Specially Designated National" (SDN). This was part of the sanctions related to Ukraine in 2014.

Sanctions Imposed

In March 2014, after the events in Crimea, the U.S. Treasury put Timchenko on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN). This list includes people sanctioned as "members of the Russian leadership’s inner circle." These sanctions mean that any money or property he has in the United States is frozen. He is also not allowed to enter the U.S. Timchenko is on a list of Russian businessmen named in the CAATSA report.

On February 22, 2022, the UK government announced sanctions on Timchenko. This happened after Russia recognized the independence of certain regions and sent troops there. On February 28, 2022, the European Union also added Timchenko to its blacklist. All his assets were frozen. Canada also sanctioned him under the Special Economic Measures Act. This was due to serious actions against international peace and security. On March 4, 2022, the Italian police took his yacht Lena in the port city of Sanremo. The yacht was also placed on a United States sanctions list. His wife and daughter are also named on the sanctions list.

Personal Life and Citizenship

Gennady Timchenko is married to Elena, and they have three children. As of March 2014, Timchenko lives in Moscow. His family lives in Switzerland. His daughter Ksenia is married to Gleb Frank. Gleb is the son of Sergey Frank, who used to be Putin's transport minister.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Timchenko said that he gave up his Russian citizenship in 1999 and became a Finnish citizen. In 2004, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote that he had gained Finnish citizenship and was living in Geneva at that time.

In an October 2012 interview with the Russian version of Forbes, Timchenko stated that he had both Russian and Finnish citizenships. In August 2014, Timchenko told ITAR-TASS that he needed Finnish citizenship to travel in the 1990s. It was harder to travel with a Russian passport back then. He also said he never hid having two passports. He mentioned that for the past fourteen years, he had been paying taxes in Switzerland, and before that, in Finland. The U.S. Department of Treasury's announcement of sanctioned individuals lists him as a citizen of Russia, Finland, and Armenia.

Wealth and Finances

According to Forbes magazine, Gennady Timchenko is one of the richest people in Russia and the world. His wealth has changed over the years:

According to a Russian publication called RBC, Timchenko's wealth was estimated at $24.61 billion in 2012. Besides his business assets, media reports say Timchenko also owns property in Geneva, Switzerland. This property includes over 1 hectare of land and a house with an internal area of 341 square meters. The Land Registry Office of Geneva shows that the property was bought for 8.4 million Swiss francs in 2001. This was about US$11 million at the time. He also bought the yacht Lena for $18 million in 2009.

His income, according to Finnish tax authorities, grew ten times between 1999 and 2001. In 2001, he reported an income of 4.9 million Euros. Because of his high taxes, Timchenko moved to Switzerland in 2002. In June 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth at $23.1 billion. This made him the 64th richest person in the world.

Public Activities and Helping Others

In 1998, Timchenko helped start the Yawara-Neva Judo Club. In 2007, Timchenko and the company Surgutex created the Kluch charitable foundation. This foundation helps develop professional foster homes in different regions of Russia. In 2008, Gennady and Elena Timchenko started the Neva Foundation in Geneva. Its goal is to support and fund cultural projects in Switzerland and Russia. The foundation has focused on opera and has partnered with the Grand Théâtre de Genève. A famous conductor from Saint Petersburg, Yuri Temirkanov, has been a trustee.

In 2010, Gennady and Elena Timchenko created the Ladoga Foundation. This fund mainly helps elderly people. It also works to restore important cultural and spiritual sites. It supports cultural projects and projects in modern medical technology. In September 2013, the Ladoga Foundation was renamed the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation. It is also known as the Timchenko Foundation. This foundation now brings together all their charitable activities.

In 2011, Timchenko was chosen as the Chairman of the Economic Council of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFR). In the same year, he was also named Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of SKA Saint Petersburg. This is a top ice hockey team. In 2012, he became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). He is also on the board of trustees for the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society. In 2020, Timchenko donated 2.9 billion rubles to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sports and Hobbies

Gennady Timchenko enjoys playing and watching tennis. Through his former Finnish company, IPP, he has sponsored an outdoor tennis tournament in Finland since 2000, called the IPP Open. He has also reportedly funded the Finnish national team in the Davis Cup. He has sponsored several Russian tennis players. The media has also mentioned that he sponsors a sailing team. This team takes part in the international RC44 yachting competition.

In April 2011, Timchenko became the Chairman of the Board of Directors for SKA Saint Petersburg. This is an ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. In May of the same year, he was appointed as the Club President. In July 2012, he became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). The Timchenko Foundation helps promote ice hockey and chess among young people. In 2013, he became one of the sponsors and organizers of the Alekhine Memorial. This is a very important international chess tournament.

In July 2013, Timchenko and the brothers Arkady Rotenberg and Boris Rotenberg started Arena Events Oy. This company bought Helsinki's Hartwall Areena. They also bought a share in Jokerit. Jokerit is a six-time national champion of the Finnish top ice hockey league, Liiga. Because of this, Jokerit moved to the Kontinental Hockey League for the 2014–15 season. They play in the Western Conference in the Bobrov division. Arena Events Oy owned the Hartwall Areena (now Helsinki Halli) until 2024.

Awards and Recognition

In 2013, Gennady Timchenko was honored as a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. This award was given for his work in creating a permanent exhibition of Russian art in the Louvre museum. It also recognized his support for the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. Additionally, he was honored for helping to organize the Alekhine Memorial chess tournament.

See also

In Spanish: Guennadi Tímchenko para niños

• List of Russian billionaires
• Russian oligarchs