Andrey Akimov

Andrey Igorevich Akimov (in russian: Андрей Игоревич Акимов, born 22 September 1953 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is the Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprombank (open joint-stock company). He is believed to be a former KGB agent and a member of the Russian Intelligence Community.

Early life and education

Akimov was born in Leningrad in 1953. He earned his degree from the Moscow Financial Institute in 1975, studying international economics, finance and banking.

Career

Vneshtorgbank

From 1974 to 1987, Andrey Akimov was employed in Vneshtorgbank at senior positions heading the financial operations department, which was involved with securities, of VTB USSR until 1985. From 1985 to 1987, he held a post, which is usually given to an undercover KGB agent, as Deputy Director General of the Vneshtorgbank branch in Zurich ( Switzerland). From 1987 to 1990, he held a post, which is usually given to an undercover KGB agent, as the Director General of the Soviet-controlled Donau Bank in Vienna (Austria) at the same time Alexander Medvedev worked at Donau Bank.

IMAG GmbH

From January 1991 to November 2002, he was a Managing Director of the financial company IMAG GmbH in Vienna (Austria), which specialized in financing the oil and natural gas industry, and was regular advisor to the Chairman of the Management Board of Vneshtorgbank.

At IMAG, Akimov had a mandate from the Supreme Economic Council under the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation "in order to attract loans and investments in the Russian economy" (russian: «в целях привлечения кредитов и инвестиций в российскую экономику»). Through IMAG, Akimov participated in the Russian privatization project including attracting investment from Bear Stearns for AvtoVAZ instead of the traditional Soviet Union supporter Fiat, investment from Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) for KamAZ, and Bear Sterns for Tomskneft.

GPB

In November 2002, Akimov has taken up a post of the Chairman of the Management Board of the GPB (OJSC).

Krasny Okyabr

Following the bankruptcy of Krasny Oktyabr in 2009 in which the Andrei Borodin led Bank of Moscow was a large creditor, Akimov, as the interim manager of the plant, appointed the Ukrainian Dmitro Gerasimenko, who is the owner of Dieg-Impex LLC (russian: ООО «Диег-Импэкс»), to be executive director of Krasny Oktyabr), placed numerous persons from Dneprospetsstal at positions at Krasny Oktyabr including his mother Svetlana Gerimenko, who became financial director, Eduard Shifrin, who worked with Svetlana Gerasimenko at Dneprospetsstal, Vadim Leibenzon, who Gerasimenko calls his “right hand” and in the early 1990s led the steel shop at Dneprospetsstal and became general director of Dneprospetsstal in 1998-2001 and 2003-2004, and Konstantin Ryabov, who became the president of Red October International and was very close to Viktor Pinchuk who had been a co-owner of Dneprospetsstal until 2008. and who in November 2018 "sold" the plant to Pavel Krotov.

Corporate boards

Since December 2006, Akimov is a member of the Novatek Board of Directors. Since June 2011, he is a member of the Gazprom Board of Directors. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of the CSKA ice hockey club.

Awards

Awarded the Order of Honor (2008), Order for Merit to the Fatherland, 4th Class (2013), and the Order of Alexander Nevsky (2017).

Sanctions

In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals during the War in Ukraine.

Personal life

His romantic partner has been identified as the painter Marianna Chaykina in Russian media. She has a Cypriot passport. She is listed as a co-owner of some of Akimov's companies. She bought a $15.6 million flat in London through a shell company.

The Pandora Papers leaks revealed that Akimov owned at least eight shell companies over the period 2007–2018.

Notes

References

1953 births
Businesspeople from Saint Petersburg
Russian bankers
Soviet bankers
Gazprom people
Living people
Soviet businesspeople
Soviet expatriates in Switzerland
Soviet expatriates in Austria
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation alumni
Russian individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions

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