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Konstantin Malofeev

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Valeryevich and the family name is Malofeev.
Konstantin Malofeev
Константин Малофеев
Malofeev in 2020.
Born (1974-07-03) 3 July 1974 (age 50)
Pushchino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Alma materMoscow State University
OccupationBusinessman
Known forChairman of Tsargrad TV
Board member of
  • Tsargrad TV
  • Double-Headed Eagle Society
SpouseIrina Vilter
Children3

Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev (Russian: Константин Валерьевич Малофеев, born 3 July 1974) is a Russian businessman and the chairman of the non-governmental and pro-monarchist organisation called the Society for the Development of Russian Historical Education "Double-Headed Eagle".[1][2] He is the chairman of the media group Tsargrad, dedicated to Russian Orthodox Christianity and supporting Russian president Vladimir Putin. He is a co-founder of the international investment fund Marshall Capital Partners,[3] member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership Safe Internet League[4] and chairman of the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation [ru].

Early life and education

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Malofeev was born on 3 July 1974 in the town of Pushchino in the Moscow Oblast where he attended school and art college. In 1996, he graduated with a law degree from Moscow State University.[5] His father Valery Mikhailovich is an astrophysicist and head of the laboratory for the Department of Plasma Astrophysics at the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory. His mother Raisa Zinurovna is a programmer and general director of the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation of which Malofeev is the chairman.

Career

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Malofeev began his career in 1996 in the investment bank Renaissance Capital and after it held various senior positions with Interros, MDM Bank and other investment banks and groups. From 2002 to 2004, he was the Head of Corporate Finance at MDM Bank, a leading Russian investment bank where he successfully built-up the bank's mergers and acquisitions practice.[citation needed]

Founded in 2005 by Malofeev, Marshall Capital is a Russian investment group focusing on equity and direct investments in telecommunications, media and technology, as well as real estate and agriculture. Late in 2014, Marshall Capital passed under the management of the fund CFG Capital (France), a private European investor focused on investment projects in Russia and the CIS. The partnership agreement created a joint business CFG Marshall with the overall size of the planned investments of more than €2 billion.[citation needed]

Malofeev is the chairman of the board of directors of Tsargrad (Imperial City), a platform used by such people as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and far-right political analyst Aleksandr Dugin. Malofeev is also the president of and a supervisory board member of Tsargrad's affiliated think tank Katehon (Russian: Катехон).[6][7] In 2016, a non-profit foundation in Moscow was established for the Eurasian Dialogue (Russian: «Евразийский диалог») with support from Konstantin Malofeev's Analytical Center Katehon (Russian: «Аналитический центр «Катехон») and Andrey Klimov's Interdisciplinary Institute for Regional Studies (MIRI) (Russian: «Межотраслевой институт региональных исследований» («МИРИ»)) which Klimov's wife Olga is a co-owner.[8] Additionally, Malofeev has ties to the American religious right. He hired former Fox News employee Jack Hanick to help launch Tsargrad TV.[9]

With French businessman and eurosceptic politician Philippe de Villiers, Malofeev plans to build two Russian history related theme parks; one in Moscow and one in Yalta.[10]

He is the founder of the largest Russian private foundation, St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation and a member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership "Safe Internet League" (a Russian non-governmental organization created to censor so-called "dangerous Internet content"), and the Chairman of the supervisory board of College St. Basil the Great, founded by him in 2007.[citation needed]

Politics

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On 17 October 2012, Malofeev announced his candidacy and on 18 November was elected to the Council of Deputies of Znamenskoye Rural Settlement of Ugransky District in Smolensk Oblast, winning a majority of the vote (74.85%).[11] His election took place despite the Vyazem regional court in Smolensk having annulled Malofeev's candidacy and removed him from the ballot on charges of electoral corruption.[12] The court concluded that Malofeev had offered to pay 500 roubles for each vote committed to him.

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In 2007, VTB Capital plc, a subsidiary of VTB Bank began a legal case against Marshall Capital and Malofeev concerning a loan by "Russagroprom" Ltd. of US$225 million for the purchase of six dairy plants and three associated companies from "Nutritek". VTB Capital questioned the accuracy of the valuation of the dairy plants and the relationship between Marshall Capital and Malofeev, with both Russagroprom and Nutritek, asking the Court to place a world freezing order on Malofeev's assets. In turn, VTB Capital's own due diligence procedures prior to the acquisition were brought under scrutiny.

In a Judgment at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 6 February 2013 Marshall Capital and Malofeev were fully acquitted of all allegations made by VTB Capital. VTB Capital was also criticised by the judge for its due diligence practices and its "apparent failures" and "inappropriate ... protracted wrongful continuation" of its world freezing order.[13][14]

In July 2014, Ukraine opened a criminal case against Malofeev; he was accused of financing "illegal military groups" in Eastern Ukraine who at the time fought against the Ukrainian army.[15]

On 12 February 2015, Russian law enforcement searched apartments of Malofeev and his business partner Dmitry Skuratov related to the VTB case.[16]

International sanctions

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Since 2014, Malofeev and his companies are designated to the lists of individuals sanctioned during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine maintained by the European Union, United States, and Canada [10][17][18][19]

In September 2019, the Bulgarian government banned him from entering the country for ten years over an alleged spying conspiracy aimed at turning the country away from its pro-Western orientation and further toward Moscow.[20]

In April 2022, the United States Department of Justice indicted Malofeyev on the charge of evading IEEPA sanctions.[21][22]

Involvement in the war in Donbass

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See also: War in Donbas (2014–2022)

The European Union, the United States and Ukraine have accused Malofeev of trying to destabilize and financing separatism in Ukraine.[23][24] According to EU Regulation No 826/2014 from 30 July 2014, Malofeev is closely linked to Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. He was the former employer of Alexander Borodai, the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Malofeev was also former employer of Igor Girkin, a former FSB colonel who provided security services to Malofeev's visits to Kyiv and Crimea in the weeks before the annexation of the latter by Russia.[25]

Igor Girkin later reappeared as the leader of the separatist insurgency in the town of Slovyansk, and subsequently as the self-proclaimed Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. In May 2014, during the separatists' occupation of Slovyansk led by Girkin, the Ukrainian security services SBU intercepted a phone call,[26] in which a person with the same first and patronymic names as Malofeev's, and a voice similar to his own, provides tactical military intelligence to Girkin and praises him for a recent ambush attack on Ukrainian anti-terrorism troops.

In February 2015, the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta published a document,[27] which the newspaper alleged was a strategy for fomenting unrest in, and annexing Crimea, as well as other areas in South-Eastern Ukraine. The newspaper's editor-in-chief has publicly stated that the unnamed sources which leaked the alleged strategy, have informed the paper that Malofeev and his team had authored the document in February 2014. Also in 2014 hacker group Shaltay Boltay published leaked emails of George Gavrish, a nationalist closely cooperating with Alexander Dugin, suggesting a wide range of financial support flowing from Malofeev's conservative funds to radical nationalist political movements in Europe.[28] In May 2014, Malofeev organized a meeting in Vienna with FPÖ, Ataka and Front National.[29] A majority of that funding is funneled through the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Fund operated by Malofeev.[30]

While all of Malofeev's initiatives in Ukraine were, formally, privately organized and funded, intercepted phone calls between him and his lieutenants on the ground in Ukraine, as well as hacked email correspondence, showed that he closely coordinated his actions with the Kremlin, at times via the powerful Orthodox priest Bishop Tikhon whom Malofeev and Putin (in their own words) share as spiritual adviser; at other times via direct coordination between Malofeev and Putin's advisers Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev, but also via Malofeev's close collaboration with the Kremlin-owned Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RIIS), chaired by former KGB/SVR General Leonid Reshetnikov. In addition, a recent email hack suggests that at least one employee of Malofeev's participated in non-public sessions of the Russian government.[31]

Personal life

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Malofeev is married to Irina Mikhailovna Vilter, a lawyer at Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners.[32] They have three children: Kirill (born 1995), Natalia (born 1999), and Tatiana (born 2011).

In 2024, he was reported to be in a romantic relationship with Maria Lvova-Belova, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia, whom the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for over her role in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.[33] The two reportedly married at a ceremony in the elite village of Deauville in Moscow Oblast in September 2024.[34]

Social activity

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Malofeev is involved in a number of projects, providing funding, both personally and through Marshall Capital.

In January 2007, Malofeev co-founded St. Basil the Great Grammar School, providing traditional Russian schooling.[35]

In July 2007, he established the Russian Society of Philanthropists for the Protection of Mothers and Children. One of the society's initial programmes, The Heart of the Child, funds treatment for children with congenital heart defects in specialist Russian clinics.[36]

In June 2010, the Society was renamed the Charitable Foundation of St Basil the Great. Its focus is to improve children's health, develop education and training, as well as constructing, restoring and financially supporting the development and growth of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Foundation is involved in over 30 programmes across Russia. Since 2011, Malofeev has been chairman of the board of Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation and member of the board of trustees of the "Safe Internet League" non-profit partnership[37] which created the original draft of Internet censorship law in Russia.

In May 2014, he hosted an assembly of European conservatives and anti-gay supporters in Vienna.[38][39]

References

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  1. ^ Grove, Thomas (December 13, 2018). "Czar Vladimir? Putin Acolytes Want to Bring Back the Monarchy". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  2. ^ "ОБЩЕСТВО "ДВУГЛАВЫЙ ОРЁЛ"" (in Russian). Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Marshall Capital Home". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  4. ^ "Marshall Capital Social League". Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  5. ^ "Executive Profile: Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev". Bloomberg Businessweek. UK. Retrieved August 16, 2013.[dead link]
  6. ^ "GEC Special Report: August 2020: Pillars of Russia's Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem" (PDF). United States Department of State. 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2022. Established in 2016, the Analytical Center Katehon is a subsidiary of Tsargrad, a company founded by Konstantin Malofeyev and affiliated with Malofeyev's pro-Kremlin Tsargrad TV, Russia's self-described 'first conservative informational-analytical television channel' and the 'voice of the Russian orthodox majority.'
  7. ^ McIntire, Mike (December 17, 2016). "How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2022. Katehon, a right-wing Christian think tank aligned with Mr. Putin... recirculated anti-Clinton conspiracies under headlines like 'Bloody Hillary: 5 Mysterious Murders Linked to Clinton.'
  8. ^ Анин, Роман (Anin, Roman) (July 13, 2017). "Офшоры на глазах: Сенатор Климов борется с иностранной угрозой, но сам связан с компаниями Кипра и Виргинских островов" [Offshore in front of our eyes: Senator Klimov is fighting a foreign threat, but he himself is associated with companies in Cyprus and the Virgin Islands]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "The Russian billionaire carrying out Putin's will across Europe". Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "French politician defends plan for Crimean theme park".
  11. ^ "Co-owner of Marshall Capital becomes leader of Smolensk; World news". BFM. Russia. November 19, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  12. ^ "Константин Малофеев не станет депутатом сельсовета". November 19, 2012.
  13. ^ "English courts will not hear Russian case; World news". The Times. UK. February 7, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  14. ^ "Top UK court unfreezes Malofeev stake in Rostelecom; World news". Reuters. UK. February 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  15. ^ "Ukraine calls businessman and Russian defense minister 'accomplices of terrorists'". July 22, 2014.
  16. ^ "МВД провело обыски у Константина Малофеева по делу о хищении у ВТБ" [MIA searched Konstantin Malofeed in relation to the VTB case]. TV Rain. February 12, 2015. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  17. ^ Council Decision 2014/508/CFSP of 30 July 2014 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
  18. ^ "Designation of Individuals and Entities Pursuant to Executive Order 13660." Foreign Assets Control Office. 6 February 2015. 80 FR 6797.
  19. ^ Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, SOR/2014-58
  20. ^ "Russia banker gets 10-year ban from Bulgaria spy affair". Expatica. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  21. ^ Balsalmo, Michael; Tucker, Eric (April 6, 2022). "US charges Russian oligarch, dismantles cybercrime operation". Associated Press. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  22. ^ "Indictment" (PDF), United States v. Konstantin Malofeyev (Court Filing), no. 1:21-cr-676, Docket 6, Attachment 0, S.D.N.Y., April 6, 2022 – via Recap (PACER current docket viewPaid subscription required)
  23. ^ Weaver, Courtney (July 24, 2014). "Malofeev: the Russian billionaire linking Moscow to the rebels". Financial Times. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  24. ^ Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 826/2014 of 30 July 2014 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
  25. ^ "Из Крыма в Донбасс: приключения Игоря Стрелкова и Александра Бородая". Slon.ru. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  26. ^ Christo Grozev. "Konstantin Malofeev to Girkin "You killed just the right people"". Bellingcat.
  27. ^ ""Представляется правильным инициировать присоединение восточных областей Украины к России". "Новая газета" публикует план отторжения Россией ряда территорий Украины, составленный в те времена, когда Янукович еще был президентом этой страны".
  28. ^ Ilascu, Ionut (December 3, 2014). "Russian Hackers Leak List of Pro-Russian Influence Group Made of High-Profile European Individuals". softpedia. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  29. ^ "Reports multiply of Kremlin links to anti-EU parties". euobserver.com. November 26, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  30. ^ "Журналисты Canal+ рассказали об "альянсе Москвы и Нацфронта"". RFI. November 3, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  31. ^ "The Kremlin's Balkan Gambit: Part I - bellingcat". bellingcat. March 4, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  32. ^ "Welcome to MZS — one of the leading law firms in Russia". Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  33. ^ "An unorthodox romance Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian children's rights commissioner accused of war crimes, leaves her husband for 'Orthodox oligarch' Konstantin Malofeev". Meduza. 2024.
  34. ^ "Russian Official Wanted by ICC Marries U.S.-Sanctioned Media Mogul – Reports". The Moscow Times. September 9, 2024.
  35. ^ "St Basil the Great Grammar School". Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  36. ^ "The Heart of the Child". Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  37. ^ "Safe Internet League". Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  38. ^ Odehnal, Bernhard (June 3, 2014). "Gipfeltreffen mit Putins fünfter Kolonne" [Summit with Putin's fifth column]. Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  39. ^ "Secret "anti-gay" meeting held by Russian oligarch with top politicians in Vienna". Austrian Times. June 3, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
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