Alexander Lebedev

For other people with a similar name, see Alexander work at the Institute of Economics of the World SoLebedev (disambiguation).
cialist System doing research for his Kandidat (between
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev (Russian: masters degree and doctorate) 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.[3]
In London, Lebedev had the diplomatic cover of an economics attach. According to his personal website, Lebedevs assignments included ghting capital ight from the
Russian Federation.[3] The Sunday Express stated that
he spent more time studying nance and the City than
British secrets.[2]

2 Business career

Lebedev at Chatham House in 2012

; IPA: [lksandr
jvenjvt lebdf]; born 16 December 1959) is a
Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian
oligarchs.
In March 2012, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one
of the richest Russians with an estimated fortune of $1.1
billion. However, his fortune has since declined, and he
is no longer considered to be a billionaire.[1] He is part
owner of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta[2] and
owner of four UK newspapers with son Evgeny Lebedev: Lebedev with President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 7 May 2002
the London Evening Standard, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, and the i Newspaper.
Upon leaving the Russian intelligence community, Lebedev set up his rst company, the Russian InvestmentFinance Company. In 1995 this bought the National Reserve Bank, a small Russian bank which was in trouble
1 Early life and education
at the time. The bank subsequently grew rapidly to become one of Russias largest banks. It and the Alfa-Bank
Alexander Lebedev was born in Moscow. His par- were the only two out of the ten biggest Russian banks
ents were part of the Moscow intelligentsia. His fa- to survive the 1998 Russian nancial crisis.[4] Among the
ther, Yevgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev, was an elite athlete banks assets are:
a member of the Soviet national water polo team, and
later a professor at Baumanka, Moscows highest tech 11% of the main Russian national airline Aeroot[5]
nical school. After graduating from Moscow Pedagogic
44% of the Ilyushin Finance Co, that owns a signifInstitute, Alexanders mother, Maria Sergeyevna, worked
icant share of Russian aircraft-building industry
in a rural Sakhalin school and later taught English in a
[3]
Moscow tertiary school.
signicant parts of Sberbank, Gazprom, RAO UES
In 1977, Alexander Lebedev entered the Department of
Economics at Moscow State Institute of International Re- The bank is the core of the National Reserve Corporation,
lations. After he graduated in 1982, Lebedev started that according to Lebedevs personal site owns around
1

4 POLITICAL CAREER

US$2 billion of assets.[3] In 2008, Forbes estimates Lebe- 3 Legal

devs fortune higher as US$3.5 billion,[1] but as of July
2013 he dropped out of the billionaires list and is no In September 2011 while appearing on a Russian televilonger considered to be a billionaire.[6]
sion programme, he punched a fellow guest, billionaire
The National Reserve Corporation included the property developer Sergei Polonsky (
National Meat Company, National Mortgage Com- ).[15] Lebedev claimed afterwards that he had
pany ( ), con- reacted to Polonskys threat of violence towards him.[16]
struction companies as well as interests in textiles, [17] Lebedev was later charged with hooliganism and sentelecommunications, trams and trolleybuses, electrical tenced to community service for that incident.[5][18]
power, chemical and tourist industries owning a large
hotel network in Crimea and plan to create the National
Reserve Park that will manage diverse tourist enterprises 4 Political career
in Russia, Ukraine and France.
Lebedev used to own the Moskovski 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 aair
with an Olympic gymnast half his age. [7]
On 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 rm, 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 nd information.[8] Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of
the Evening Standard at the time of the sale said: Its
a very sad day for the paper, its a very sad day for the
Rothermeres. We are very sorry that it leaked out, we
had no control over that. Everyones been working very
hard and theres a lot of hope for the future of the Evening
Standard.[9]

In 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 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 socialist/nationalist Rodina to the
pro-Government United Russia fraction,[3] but after Rodina was merged into the larger socialist coalition Fair
Russia, he made his return.
Lebedev was formerly the Vice Chairman of Dumas
committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States,
the coordinator of Dumas group on interactions with
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the coordinator of the
State Duma group dealing with the city.[3]
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.[19]

In 2009 he entered into exclusive negotiations with

Independent News & Media to buy the companys British
national newspapers, The Independent and Independent
on Sunday. Before the purchase was completed, his representatives oered the editorship of The Independent to
Rod Liddle, former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.[10] The oer was withdrawn after Liddle became the subject of a campaign of hostility online and
from the newspapers sta.[11][12] On 25 March 2010,
Lebedev bought The Independent and Independent on
Sunday for 1.[13]

After the assassination of a prominent Novaya Gazeta

journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Lebedev praised in print
the talents of Politkovskaya and suggested her assassins were actually trying to target the good names of
her opponents.[20] He pledged 25 million Russian rubles
(around US$1 million) for the information leading to the
arrest of the assassins.[20]

close all the regional oces of the National Reserve Bank

and sell o the real estate as well as 75% of the banks
loan portfolio, worth 16.8bn rubles ($542m). Also in
November 2012, Lebedev announced that he is selling
o his assets in Russia.[5]

In March 2009, Lebedev announced that he would be

running for mayor of Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter
Olympics,[22] but a court ruling declared his candidacy
invalid on 13 April 2009.[23] The court ruling was a result of a complaint by another candidate, Vladimir Tu-

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 busithe negative sentiments towards
In 2012, National Reserve Bank (NRB) faced dicul- ness abroad, and ghting
[3]
Russian
business.
ties: corporate deposits decreased by 2.2bn rubles, retail
deposits by 1.2bn rubles. 20% of the banks liabilities had In September 2008, Russian politician Mikhail Gorrun o by the end of January 2012. In March 2012, two bachev announced he was going to make a comeback to
top managers left the bank.[14]
Russian politics along with Lebedev.[21] Their party will
On 5 November 2012, Lebedev announced he would be called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia.

3
rukhanovsky, that Lebedevs campaign received three donations from minors that is forbidden by Russian electoral
law. According to the chief of Lebedevs electoral campaign, Artyom Artyomov, the three teenagers were led to
Sberbank by a sta member of the Sochi council, given
500 rubles each (approximately $20), and told to donate
the money to Lebedevs campaign. His campaigners sent
the money back the same day, it was received but still it
was found sucient to disqualify his candidacy. Lebedev
said that he intended to appeal the courts decision.[24]

Charity

Lebedev has a long history of supporting culture and

charity, and created an organization named Charitable
Reserve Fund ( ,
BRF) to bring order to these activities. Among the organizations and projects he (or BRF) have sponsored are:[3]
Center
for
Childrens
Hematology
and
Transplantology, named after Raisa Gorbachyova in Saint Petersburg (general sponsor of the
construction)
Burdenko Military Hospital
State Russian Museum
Fomenko Theater
Moscow Art Theatre
Lesya Ukrainka Russian Theater in Kiev
Museum of Mikhail Bulgakov in Kiev
Restoration of the monument to Alexander Suvorov
in Swiss Alps

7 References
[1] Forbes listing
[2] Tycoon linked with Litvinenko survived poisoning, John
Elliott and Jon Ungoed-Thomas, The Sunday Times, 7
January 2007
[3] Biography
[4] Harding, Luke (11 January 2009). Alexander Lebedev:
an oligarch we could learn to love. The Observer (London). Retrieved 16 March 2010.
[5] http://www.bne.eu/story4206/Alexander_Lebedev_
cashing_out_of_Russia Alexander Lebedev cashing out
of Russia - Business New Europe
[6] Billionaire Drop-Os 2013
[7] Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Marie Woolf Oligarchs hire
do-nothing peers to boost their prestige, The Sunday
Times, 29 November 2009
[8] Ex-KGB spy buys UK paper for 1. BBC News. 21
January 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
[9] Brook, Stephen; Sweney, Mark (21 January 2009).
Alexander Lebedevs Evening Standard takeover: Dacre
announces sale to sta. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 21 January 2009.
[10] Sweney, Mark and Brook, Stephen. Rod Liddle lined up
to edit Independent, The Guardian (London), 8 January
2010.
[11] Greenslade, Roy. Independent faces revolt from sta and
readers if Liddle becomes editor, The Guardian (London), 11 January 2010
[12] Brook, Stephen. Rod Liddle no longer in running for Independent editor, The Guardian (London), 19 February
2010
[13] The Independent bought by Lebedev for 1. BBC News.
25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
[14] http://top.rbc.ru/economics/12/03/2012/641345.shtml

- (Russian)

Monument Sorrow () in London by

sculptor Sergey Shcherbakov commemorating So[15] Alexandre Lebedev punches another CEO on Live Russian
viet soldiers who died during World War II.
TV on YouTube

In October, Lebedev met with Tom Stoppard, John

Malkovich, and Kevin Spacey to discuss a new Chekhov
festival in Crimea, Ukraine.

[16] Siddique, Haroon (18 September 2011). Alexander

Lebedev in Russian TV punch-up. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 5 May 2015.

Lebedev was awarded the Saint Innokenty of Moscow Order by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Dialogue of
Cultures medal by UNESCO.

[17] "#962 Sergei Polonsky. Forbes. 5 March 2008.

See also
Russian oligarchs

[18] Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev charged over punchup. BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
[19] Peter Finn Gorbachv Invests in
Washington Post, 8 June 2006, p.A17

Newspaper,

[20] Alexander Lebedev Shooting Anna Polikovskaya They

Targeted Her Opponents, Novaya Gazeta, 9 October
2006

[21] Mikhail Gorbachv returns to Russian politics

[22] Lebedev Running For Sochi Mayor SI.com, 16 March
2009
[23] Alexander Lebedev disqualied from Sochi mayoral race
The Guardian (London), 13 April 2009
[24] , - (14 April 2009).
.
Kommersant N66
(4121) (in Russian). Retrieved 14 April 2009.

External links
The spy who loves media, Ian Cobain, The
Guardian, 12 October 2009
Alexander Lebedev (10 June 2005). Beyond
Khodorkovsky. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13
January 2007.
Personal website
Biography (Russian)
Interview to Radio Liberty (Russian)
Sponsorship page (Russian)
National Rezerve Bank (Russian)

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

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Alexander Lebedev Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lebedev?oldid=664055324 Contributors: Skysmith, AWhiteC,

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9.2

Images

File:Aleksandr_Lebedev_voice.oga Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Aleksandr_Lebedev_voice.oga License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: http://echo.msk.ru/guests/voices/1051.html Original artist: Echo of Moscow
File:Alexander_Lebedev,_Non-Executive_Director,_Independent_and_Evening_Standard_-_Chatham_House_2012.jpg
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Alexander_Lebedev%2C_Non-Executive_Director%2C_Independent_
and_Evening_Standard_-_Chatham_House_2012.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Alexander Lebedev, Non-Executive Director,
Independent and Evening Standard Original artist: Chatham House
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