Putin's man from Stanford

In Saudi Arabia, negotiations began between the United States and Russia on the conditions for the end of the war in Ukraine. One of the main people on the Russian side is Kirill Dmitriev, a graduate of Stanford, the head of the RDIP and a person close to Vladimir Putin. Bloomberg calls him, as well as assistant Vladimir Putin Yuri Ushakov and the head of the SVR Sergey Naryshkin by participants in the heavyweight negotiation team. Dmitriev flew to Saudi Arabia with Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“Important stories” have collected the main thing about Dmitriev.

Kyivian in Stanford and Harvard

Kirill Dmitriev was born in 1975 in Kyiv. He studied at a physical and mathematical school and wanted to continue education in the United States. In the early 1990s, he met an American family who came to Kyiv under the Civil Diplomacy program, from them he learned that a foreign applicant needed in the United States. At first, Dmitriev studied for two years at the California College of Foothill, and then entered Stanford University. “I had no relatives there, I turned out to be one of the few foreign students who received a full scholarship for the entire term of study,” he said .

After graduating from Stanford with honors, Dmitriev worked at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, then received an MBA at the Harvard University Business School.

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In 2000, he moved to Russia, receiving the post of deputy general director in IBS. Two years later, Dmitriev became the director of investment in the investment company Delta Private Equity, a division of the Russian -USA created under Bill Clinton. Later, the fund was transformed into the American-Russian Foundation for Economic and Legal Development, in 2015 the Russian authorities recognized it as an “unwanted organization”. Dmitriev worked in Delta Private Equity until 2007, he oversaw several large transactions, including the sale of TV-3 TV channel Prof Media for $ 530 million.

In 2007, he returned to Ukraine, heading the Icon Private Equity Foundation with a capital of about a billion dollars. The owner of the fund was Viktor Pinchuk, son -in -law of the former president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma. Arriving a few years later to Russia, Dmitriev spoke about Ukraine as follows: “The so-called democratic changes took place there as a result of the Orange Revolution, which led to an increase in corruption three to four times, to the wild battle between these democratic clans, which were only at the beginning of the struggle. They were united, and after they came to power, they began to devour others and each other and as a result lost. Accordingly, the democratic idea in Ukraine is largely discredited precisely thanks to the Orange Revolution. ”

Decided, close to Putin

An important event in the life of Dmitriev was an acquaintance, and then marriage to Natalia Popova. This is a friend of Katerina Tikhonova - the youngest daughter of Vladimir Putin. Women studied together at Moscow State University, now Popova is the deputy Tikhonova in the Innopractics Foundation. According to Popova, Putin's daughter "called her to the service." Dmitriev is a member of the Board of Trustees of Innopractics. It was Popova’s friendship with Tikhonova who made Dmitrieva “a powerful figure in the Kremlin,” wrote Financial Times.

Through Popov, Dmitriev met not only Tikhonova, but also her ex -husband Kirill Shamalov - he is also the son of a friend Putin Nikolai Shamalov. As “important stories” found out , in 2012 Popova and Dmitriev were guests from the bride at the wedding of Tikhonova and Shamalov. Judging by the correspondence of Dmitriev and Shamalov, the couple were on friendly terms. For example, Dmitriev wrote: “How are you? Maybe for light sport today - for example swimming? "

Men discussed not only sport. In December 2012, Dmitriev, who had already headed the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDII) by that time, transferred confidential information about Rostelecom’s capital to Shamalov. In the media, information about this began to appear only in August 2013, they closed the deal in October. From July to October, the Rostelecom shares increased by 30%.

In 2015, the RDIP, together with other investors, provided $ 3.3 billion investments in the Sibura project “Zapsibneftekhim” - the largest petrochemical complex in Russia. At that time, Shamalov belonged to about 21% of Sibur, later he sold most of his share (17%).

In 2018, Tikhonov and Shamalov divorced, the dancer Igor Zelensky became the new chosen one of Putin's daughter Putin. At the Tikhonov business jet and her daughter belonging to the RDPI, they flew to Zelensky in Munich, wrote “important stories”.

Through Kirill Alexandrovich, you can solve almost any problem

In 2013, The Insider called Dmitriev one of the people who have “access to the body” of Vladimir Putin and “the brightest figure on the Lobbitist Front”. “Through Kirill Alexandrovich, you can solve almost any problem. <...> But it is very difficult to get to the appointment with him, you have to pull his wife or acquaintances, ”says the source of the publication.

More than ten years ago, Tikhonova and Kirill Shamalov introduced Dmitriev to Sergey Ivanov, then the head of the presidential administration, he took the official under guardianship. “Cyril loves to arrange a show with calls from tall faces. Imagine, there is a tense discussion of a major deal. Suddenly, it would have unexpectedly call Sergey Borisovich Ivanov or [the current head of the presidential administration] Anton Eduardovich Vaino: “How are negotiations going?” He immediately turned on a loud connection and pulled into a string. After the call, the stunned partners did not ask unnecessary questions and were almost everything, ” says Dmitrieva's acquaintance.

Gosinvestor and Monsisturist

In 2011, after returning to Russia from Ukraine, Dmitriev became general director of the RDIP and heads the fund so far. The idea of ​​creating a sovereign investment fund belonged to the adviser to Elvira Nabiullina, who then headed the Ministry of Economic Development, wrote Medusa. Nabiullina supported the project, decided to promote it through the VEB.

The then head of VEB Vladimir Dmitriev (not a relative of Cyril) wanted to put his man at the head of the RDIP, but after a joint trip with Dmitriev Jr., he changed his mind to the forum in Davos. “I saw that he is sociable, with excellent English, has extensive connections and is professionally versed in the investment business,” recalled the former head of VEB. Pinchuk gave a good recommendation to Kirill Dmitriev - the very son -in -law of Kuchma, the fund of which the investor managed in Ukraine. The presentation of the RDIP was successful, the main role was played by the meeting of Vladimir Putin with the leading world investors. “They brought to visit Putin people who are managing a total of a trillion dollars,” Medusa wrote. In 2016, due to the sanctions imposed on the VEB, the Premier League left its structure, the state became the only shareholder of the fund.

The task of the RDIP is to attract foreign investments to the Russian economy, for this, the fund itself invests money in projects and companies that seem promising as a co -investor. Dmitriev regularly reports on the successes of the RDIP, the last time he did it a month ago. Then, at a meeting with Putin, the official boasted that during his existence the RDIP, together with his partners, invested 2.3 trillion rubles, and increased the invested state money 5.7 times. But how effective the DDI is in reality is difficult to understand.

The main project for Dmitriev is the Premier League - Vaccine against Covid "Sputnik V", first of all, its distribution in the world. “Cyril feels like the Messiah, for him the spread of the vaccine around the world is an absolutely evangelic, mobile task,” said the former employee of the fund. Dmitriev was one of the firstto test the “satellite” on himself, called the vaccine the safest and most effective and exposed the “information campaign” against the “satellite”, accusing the “big farm” and “anti -Russian political circles”.

Called with Trump

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Dmitriev is one of the defendants in the report of the American special prosecutor Robert Muller, who investigated Russia's intervention in the US presidential election in 2016, won by Donald Trump. Müller found out that in January 2017, shortly before the inauguration of Trump, Dmitriev in the Seychelles, met with Eric Prince-Sponsor Trump and the founder of PMC Blackwater. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a connection between the team of Trump and Moscow.

Also in January 2017, Dmitriev met at the forum in Davos with adviser to Trump Anthony Skaramucci. A few months later, CNN wrote that this meeting was investigated in the American Senate, but the next day he shot an article due to inconsistency with editorial standards. Three employees of the TV channel quit.

After Trump’s victory in the 2024 elections, Dmitriev again participated in Russian-American diplomacy. According to Reuters, he participated in the exchange of former American diplomat and teacher Mark Vogel for Russian Alexander Vinnik, convicted in the United States for laundering of money. “There is a gentleman in Russia, his name is Cyril, he played a big role in this. He became an important mediator connecting two sides, ” said Trump's special Superior in the Middle East, Steve Willian.

The inclusion of Dmitriev in the team of negotiators in Ukraine suggests that Russia acts pragmatic and wants to have someone who can talk with Donald Trump, according to Emily Ferris from the British Royal United Institute of Defense Research (RUSI).