The family of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation earned millions of dollars from transactions with shares of Gazprom and Sibneft. Money is a guarantee of independence from influence groups, the official explains

The family of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov acquired a stake in OAO Gazprom in 2004 for an amount equivalent to $18 million. The transaction was carried out through an offshore company, the Financial Times newspaper wrote on Wednesday , citing documents. were also able to study the materials Journalists from The Wall Street Journal . According to their information, the Shuvalov family also had an option in the form of a 0.5% stake in Sibneft, which was subsequently purchased by the state from Roman Abramovich.

Profitable investment

The official’s family bought the shares of the gas concern at a time when the government was preparing a reform to liberalize securities trading, as a result of which the market quotes for Gazprom shares rose sharply. According to WSJ, there were no formal violations of the law by Shuvalov. All transactions with papers were carried out before 2008, when new rules for officials declaring their income came into force.

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation also conducted an investigation into the transactions. The supervisory agency did not reveal any violations: the First Deputy Prime Minister openly indicated all financial resources and property in the submitted materials and registered them for management in accordance with the law. There is no conflict of interest in the case, the prosecutor’s office concluded.

The offshore holding company Sevenkey, registered in the Bahamas, could have made up to $100 million in profit by 2008 due to the increase in the value of shares acquired in mid-2004 (WSJ's estimate of this figure is more modest - about $80 million). At that time, Shuvalov served as assistant to President Vladimir Putin on economic issues, FT recalls. From the letters referred to by the newspaper, it follows that the controversial transactions were carried out through the structures of the owner of Nafta Moscow, Suleiman Kerimov.

The government decision that contributed to the growth of securities occurred in December 2005. We are talking about lifting the ban on foreign investment in shares traded on the domestic market. This contributed to a sharp rise in Russian blue chips and, above all, Gazprom.

The deal, the FT writes, once again raises questions about the close ties between senior civil servants and the country's richest businessmen, and also indicates a lack of transparent regulatory rules. “This is one of the main problems of Russia. There is simply no clear separation between government and business,” Georgy Satarov, president of the Indem Foundation, confirmed to WSJ.

Shuvalov assured that he never violated the principle of conflict of interest and always openly declared his and his family’s income in full compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. “As a lawyer, I always followed the accepted rules and did not enter into conflicts of interest. For me this principle is sacred. “I welcome a thorough journalistic investigation of these facts and consideration of all legal aspects, but I am confident in the legality of my activities, first as a private entrepreneur, and subsequently as a government technocrat,” the First Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

According to the official, all the funds he earned during his entrepreneurial activity are in trust and are the basis of his “independence from various influence groups when making official decisions.”

Mediator Kerimov

suspicious transactions involving the official’s family at the end of 2011 Barron’s was the first to report . Then it was about the fact that in April 2004, a Bahamian offshore affiliated with Shuvalov invested $49.5 million in a deal to absorb 13% of Corus Steel by the structures of Alisher Usmanov. When the businessman sold his stake in 2007, Sevenkey was already enriched by $119 million after returning the funds borrowed at a very favorable interest rate.

The letter from the director of the Sevenkey Limited trust fund, registered in the name of Olga Shuvalov’s wife, mentions a “trustee agreement”, according to the terms of which the company provides $17.7 million in the form of a grant to Nafta in June-July 2004 for the purchase of ordinary shares of Gazprom "

The letter dated December 18, 2007 contains instructions for Nafta, according to which Kerimov’s structure is asked to sell the gas concern’s securities for $30 million. Sevenkey needed the funds to pay off a debt of $20 million to the Amsterdam Trade Bank, which initially financed a profitable investment in Gazprom shares. , and $10 million - to another company of Kerimov, Whittingham Worldwide Ltd.

Sources close to Shuvalov told the FT that there was no conflict of interest in the case of Sevenkey’s investment in Gazprom shares, since the official did not have the opportunity to influence the process of preparing a decision on allowing foreigners to buy shares directly. Also, representatives of the First Deputy Prime Minister insist that he never lobbied for the interests of Usmanov or Kerimov. However, the owner of Nafta earned $15 billion from Gazprom shares in the pre-crisis period thanks to $4 billion in loans received from Sberbank, the publication recalls. Sources claim that Shuvalov also had nothing to do with Kerimov’s successes as a borrower.

At the time of purchase of securities in 2004, the price of an ordinary share of OAO Gazprom was approximately 55 rubles per share, or $1.9. In December 2007, the same paper cost $14.57. Sevenkey sold the remaining shares purchased in 2004 in 2008, FT sources clarified.

Transparent target

WSJ recalls that Shuvalov has been providing legal advice to large Russian businesses since the 1990s. In 1997, he went to work at the State Property Committee. Then a family trust was created, and the official’s wife became the beneficiary of the offshore companies included in the trust structure. At the same time, according to sources, Shuvalov himself distanced himself from the management of trusts, but retained his established connections with large entrepreneurs.

In particular, the deal with Sibneft shares is explained by a special relationship, writes WSJ. Shuvalov received 0.5% of the company's shares in the form of an option back in 1996 for helping Abramovich acquire the asset. The official exercised the option in 2004 - hence the amount of $49.5 million, which was subsequently allocated to Usmanov’s deal with Corus.

Sources close to Shuvalov associate the fact that it was the first deputy chairman of the government who became the target for revelations with his chosen strategy of openly declaring the high income of his family. The Deputy Prime Minister is one of the few high-ranking Russian civil servants who have decided to take such a step, his representatives remind.

Shuvalov’s situation is indeed “more of an exception than a rule,” agrees Alexander Voloshin, a former senior official in the Russian Presidential Administration. In his opinion, “experience shows that people who decide to play openly face all the blows, but the Deputy Prime Minister still does the right thing.”

An official representative of Vladimir Putin told the WSJ that Shuvalov regularly informed the prime minister about all his financial interests.

Igor Shuvalov was again suspected of a conflict of interest