Yury Kovalchuk
Russian oligarch / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk (Russian: Ю́рий Валенти́нович Ковальчу́к; born 25 July 1951) is a Russian billionaire businessman and financier who is "reputed to be Vladimir Putin's personal banker".[1] The Panama Papers leak revealed that Kovalchuk had transferred at least $1 billion to an offshore entity.[2]
Yury Kovalchuk | |
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Юрий Ковальчук | |
Born | Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk (1951-07-25) 25 July 1951 (age 72) |
Occupation(s) | Chairman and largest shareholder, Rossiya Bank |
Known for | "Putin's personal banker" |
Relatives | Mikhail Kovalchuk (brother) |
Awards |
Kovalchuk is a close friend of Putin: he hosted the wedding of Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova to Kirill Shamalov at his ski resort, Igora, in 2013.[3]
According to journalist Mikhail Zygar, Kovalchuk could probably be called Number 2 in today's Russia. While self-isolating from COVID-19 in 2020, Putin spent much time with Kovalchuk, and they share the view that the only important factor is to restore Russian greatness.[4] According to some experts, Kovalchuk played a role in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022.[5][6]