Lubov Chernukhin (née Golubeva; born 12 November 1972) is a former investment banker born in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. She is the largest female political donor in British history having donated over £2 million to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Chernukhin writes columns for

Reaction.life Reaction.life is a British news website that features reporting and analysis on politics, economics, culture and ideas. Reaction is based in London and edited by former ''Scotsman'', ''Telegraph'' and ''Wall Street Journal'' executive Iain Mart ...

Biography

Chernukhin left the

for

the USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a teenager. She was educated on the U.S. East Coast, receiving a master’s degree from the

NYU Stern School of Business The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

. Chernukhin moved to the UK in 1999. Aside from her philanthropic work, Chernukhin acts as a VC Investor and is listed as a director of UK property firm Capital Construction And Development Ltd. In 2007, she married Vladimir Chernukhin, former deputy minister of finance in

Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov ( rus, link=no, Михаи́л Миха́йлович Касья́нов, , mʲɪxɐˈil mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsʲjanəf; born 8 December 1957) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia fr ...

’s government and former chairman of Russian state development corporation

Vnesheconombank VEB.RF, or VEB (russian: ВЭБ.РФ (ex-Vnesheconombank)), is a Russian state development corporation. It was founded in 2007 as a development institute. VEB.RF is an investment company and development institute in Russia. It has financed more t ...

. In 2004, Vladimir was forced to flee to the UK from Russia after

President Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

dismissed Prime Minister Kasyanov and began campaign of harassment against his associates. During

2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis In March and April 2021, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to begin massing thousands of personnel and equipment near its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobilization since the annex ...

, in reaction to

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Chernukhin publicly condemned "all Russian military aggression in Ukraine" and urged for the "strongest possible sanctions against Putin's regime and its enablers". In September 2022, Chernukhin wrote an Op-ed on

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

regarding what avenue the

west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

should take in relation to

, in order to fight the war fatigue and what the media's role should be to support Ukraine. In November 2022, Chernukhin together with entertainment entrepreneur Graham Owen opened a family entertainment centre, ''Owens Entertainment'' in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, which has been built in place of a former Debenhams store with the aim of repurposing the site.

British Conservative Party

Chernukhin is a member of the

Advisory Board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

for significant donors. In a February 2022 investigation ''The Times'' alleged that Chernukhin had repeatedly lobbied government ministers "against raising the tax burden on high net-worth individuals" and sent ministers research from

Ernst and Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

"on the importance of the ultra-rich for the overall economy" while a member of the advisory board. Chernukhin's donations to the Conservative Party came under scrutiny after her husband was given a loan of $8 million by Russian billionaire Suleyman Kerimov through an offshore company in 2016. The transaction was first mentioned in FinCEN files leak which was reported by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

. The loan amount from Kerimov was subsequently repaid in the same year. Records from the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, show Chernukhin did make two donations to the Conservative Party during this time (from the date of loan receipt to the date of repayment), one in the sum of £1,100 and another in the sum of £4,000. According to

, Chernukhin's lawyer stated that she "has never received money deriving from Mr Kerimov or any company related to him" and her "donations to the Conservative Party have never been tainted by Kremlin or any other influence".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chernukhin, Lubov 1972 births Living people Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Russian bankers Russian interference in British politics Russian businesspeople in the United Kingdom