I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
April newsmakers
Hearts: The Transnational Crime. Click for detail Clubs: Interregional Crime Level. Click for detail Diamonds: Crime at the federal level. Click for detail Spades: Crime at the regional level. Click for detail |
Surname: Yusufov Biography Vitaly Yusufov was born in 1979. In 2000 he graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) with a major in International economy. In 2002 he defended his thesis on "Macroeconomic problems of improving the competition of Russia" and got a Ph.D. in Economic sciences. In 2004-2006 he worked as assistant to Gazprom export CEO In July 2006 Yusufov became chief of staff to Matthias Warnig, managing director of North European Gas Pipeline Company (NEGPC) In 2006 he headed Moscow branch of Nord Stream AG. In 2009 he bought German shipyard Nordic Yards In 2010 he became co-owner of telecommunications company Osnova Telecom Source: Lentapediya
Dossier In spring 2009 Vitaly Yusufov and his father were mentioned in articles on Wadan Yards, German shipyards. Media reported that Igor Yusufov supported businessman Andrei Burlakov, the Russian owner of Wadan Yards, and that Vitaly Yusufov advised him on international law. Later Burlakov claimed that already at that time Yusufov Jr. controlled Wadan Yards. Source: Vedomisti, 25 January 2011
In June 2009 Wadan Yards announced its insolvency. The fate of the shipyards was discussed at the meetings of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Russian head of state even promised to replace the "inflated" investors in Wadan Yards by "real" ones. A few days after the meeting it was announced that shipyards were acquired by Gevor IV AG, which in the same year was renamed into Nordic Yards AG. The company’s paperwork stated Yusufov Jr. as its executive director. Source: Rossiysjaya Gazeta, 19 August 2009
In summer 2010 it turned out that Yusufov owned AyKomInvest. It was incorporated in May 2010 and on 3 June 2010 Osnova Telecom was established. AyKomInvest owned 74.9% of the newly established entity. The blocking package (25.1%) belonged to Voentelekom, which is controlled by the Ministry of Defense. Osnova Telecom was to develop a network to provide wireless Internet access, primarily for the military, although "excessive capacity" could be used to cater to the public. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov asked President Medvedev to assist in allotting Osnova Telecom with frequencies belonging to the military. Source: Vedomosti, 29 July 2010
In 2010 Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Communications and Mass Media, voiced an opinion that Russian mobile communications market of the fourth generation (4G), in particular, LTE, may see new players. Vitaly Yusufov’s Osnova Telecom may enter the market. Mobile operators expressed their dissatisfaction with reports concerning the possibility of new unknown companies emerging on LTE market. The three major mobile operators wrote angry letters to the minister, the prime minister, and the president. Media began to talk about corruption and conspiracy in regard of Igor Shchegolev and Osnova Telecom. Regions.Ru, 07 September 2010
In April 2011 Yusuf bought a 19.91% stake in Bank of Moscow from Andrei Borodin who left for the UK. In fact, Yusufov acquired companies which owned these shares. Prior to the purchase Europroject Investments Global Limited took out a $ 1.1 billion loan from Bank of Moscow using Nordic Yards as a guarantee, and Borodin said that the price of the bank’s shares was understated. In addition, Yusufov bought shares from several other bank co-owners, his share at the Bank of Moscow reaching about 26 percent. According to some experts, Yusufov intended to resell the purchased shares to VTB Bank that was unable to buy them directly due to a conflict with Bank of Moscow minority shareholders headed by Borodin. Source: Moskovskie Novosti, 12 April 2011
During those same days Igor Yusufov, the businessman’s father, lost his position as Special Presidential Envoy for International Energy co-operation. The press attributed his dismissal to his possible involvement in the transaction assuming that instead of negotiating a purchase in the interests of the state, the official acquired the shares for his son. Source: BFM.ru, 8 April 2011
In June 2011 the Federal Antimonopoly Service allowed Yusufov’s entities to increase thier stake in Bank of Moscow to 49.9% through acquiring shares from minority shareholders. However, analysts speculated that he would not do it, because he had had to borrow money even for the purchase of the previous stakes. In July 2011 it became known that the Bank of Russia marked as risky the credit issued to Europroject Investments Global Limited so that Yusufov could purchase shares in the Bank of Moscow. In September 2011 Yusufov sold his stake in the Bank of Moscow to VTB. Source: Kommersant, 30 September 2011
In late September 2011 Andrei Burlakov, a prominent businessman and former owner of the German shipyards Wadan Yards, was killed in Moscow. Anna Etkina, his common law wife and ex-deputy chairman of the board of trustees in Mira Bank, was seriously injured. A month before the murder Burlakov tried to institute criminal proceedings against Vitaly Yusufov and to ensure the arrested of his Bank of Moscow shares. Ruslan Milchenko, director of anti-corruption centre on analytics and security, confirmed that Etkina and Burlakov turned to the centre for help. “They said they had lost Wadan shipyard as a result of the raider attacks. We started to collect evidence”, said Milchenko. Shortly before the assassination Etkina reported to law enforcement agencies that in July 2008 a deal was concluded as to the acquisition by FLC-West Holding (Luxembourg) of a 70% stake in Norwegian Aker Yards (later renamed Wadan Yards Group - Wygas), which owns two shipyards in Germany and one in Ukraine. The amount of the agreement reached 291.6 million euros. “I had no ties whatsoever to Wadan Yards”, said Vitaly Yusufov. “In June 2009 I founded Nordic Yards from scratch. After that on 14 August I bought at an auction property previously owned by Wadan Yards that was already bankrupt by then. My bid won at an open auction. Besides, under the contract I undertook to finish the two major ferries, the cost of each amounting to about 200 million euros. They were completed in 2010”. Source: Izvestiya, 3 October 2011
Want to discuss this article? Welcome to our forum!Do you have additional information? Please send it to us ! |
News - Vitaly Yusufov
Exclusive - Vitaly Yusufov
List of companies referred toList of persons referred to |
