Platon Lebedev: biography, career and interesting facts. Platon Lebedev Platon Lebedev where he lives now

Businessman Lebedev Platon Leonidovich, notorious in connection with the Yukos case and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, rarely attracts media attention today. But the general public continues to be interested in his life and the details of his biography. Let's talk about his career and family, about how Platon Lebedev lives today, whose net worth many experts are trying to calculate.

early years

Lebedev Platon Leonidovich was born on November 29, 1956 in the capital of the USSR. He was the eldest of the twins, his brother Victor was born 23 minutes later. The entrepreneur never talks publicly about his childhood, just like about his parents. The first reliable information about his early years is related to his studies at the Moscow Academy of National Economy named after G. Plekhanov. Lebedev received a higher education diploma in 1981 and was assigned to work in the foreign trade structure of the USSR Ministry of Geology, in the Zarubezhgeology association. He headed the economic planning department. He worked in this place until 1989.

Meeting Khodorkovsky

At the beginning of perestroika, the future famous entrepreneur Mikhail Khodorkovsky was actively looking for ways to make money. In 1987, Plato and Mikhail met. And already in 1989, the idea of ​​creating a joint Center for Scientific and Technical Programs for Youth, under the Frunzensky District Committee of the Komsomol, appeared. Lebedev Platon, Khodorkovsky Mikhail, Sergei Monakhov became the main characters in this enterprise. They were engaged in the import of computers, the production of “boiled” jeans, and the sale of alcohol.

MENATEP

By the end of the 80s, the Intersectoral Center for Scientific and Technical Programs, or MENATEP for short, had grown into a large enterprise. It had about 20 different activities. The company's annual turnover reached 80 million rubles. In addition, the company provided cash withdrawal services to various state-owned companies. This scheme became a model that was copied in many cities of the USSR. Over the course of several years, more than 600 such Centers appeared. In the early 90s, the Center was transformed into a commercial bank. Platon Lebedev, whose biography was now closely connected with Khodorkovsky's activities, was a co-founder of the bank and had 7% in this new enterprise.

Banking activities

In 1991, Lebedev became president of the MENATEP bank, through which payments were made to several government agencies, including the Ministry of Finance. The company carried out many clever transactions with offshore companies, with the issue of shares and with treasury tax exemption. This allowed for several years to create huge capital, which the bank, with Lebedev’s participation, invested in shares of commodity companies. Participation in loans-for-shares auctions allowed the bank to concentrate a controlling stake in the Yukos oil company in its hands. By the end of 1996, the bank already owned 90% of the shares of this enterprise. By 1998, huge sums of legal entities and individuals were frozen in MENATEP Bank after a default. They were unable to return their money, since the funds were transferred to other companies, including YUKOS. And the bank was declared bankrupt.

"YUKOS"

In 1996, Lebedev Platon became deputy. Chairman of the Board of Yukos. He also headed the MENATEP group of companies and managed shares in an oil company. In 1998, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev carried out a global reform of YUKOS; several companies appeared within the holding, engaged in various types of activities: oil production, refining, transportation, as well as the production of oils, additives, and special equipment. The managers understood that they could not manage without investments from foreign investors, and they paid large dividends, which made it possible to quickly increase huge production capacity. By 2003, all subsidiaries were transferred to a single share, which helped the price of Yukos securities to grow significantly. In 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky began to seriously engage in social and political activities, even expressing intentions to become president of Russia. This became the reason for close attention to the activities of YUKOS from tax and law enforcement agencies.

Prosecutions

In July 2003, Lebedev Platon was accused of stealing shares of the Apatit joint stock company and was arrested. During the investigation, the number of charges increased significantly. Lebedev was also charged with tax evasion, misappropriation of someone else's property, and forgery of documents. Lawyers and the accused himself constantly emphasized the political implications of the case, without admitting his guilt. Lebedev stated from the very beginning that he needed treatment, but this had no effect on the investigation, and it was also not possible to release him on bail. The trial attracted enormous attention from foreign and opposition media. Lebedev and Khodorkovsky were considered prisoners of conscience. The investigation and hearings in the case took two years. In May 2005, Lebedev was sentenced to 9 years. But two months later the court reduced it by 1 year.

Prison and release

In October 2005, Lebedev Platon was sent to a colony in the Yamalo-Nenets District. In 2007, the “second Yukos case” was launched; Lebedev was accused of theft and money laundering. The European Court of Human Rights recognized this claim as absurd and politicized. However, in 2008, the charges were brought with a new formulation. Despite various circumstances that allowed law enforcement agencies to change the preventive measure for Lebedev and Khodorkovsky, they still remained in custody. During the years of imprisonment, Platon Leonidovich repeatedly expressed protests, refused walks and food, and categorically did not admit his guilt. In 2010, Lebedev received a sentence on the second charge. Neither complaints from lawyers, nor decisions of the ECHR, nor requests for parole were taken into account, and Platon Leonidovich remained in prison. And only in 2014, the president reduced the sentence to that already served, and thus Lebedev was released 4 months earlier than the sentence required.

Life today

Lebedev Platon spent more than 10 years in prison, this significantly undermined his health. Therefore, initially after his release, he intended only to correct him. He couldn’t and still can’t leave Russia, since he has a debt of 17 billion rubles “hanging” on him and they won’t issue him a foreign passport. Therefore, he quietly settled in the Moscow region. If in 2003 his fortune was estimated at $15 billion, then in 2015, according to Forbes, it was only $500 million. He has said more than once that he is still going to engage in international business.

Family

Back in 1977, Lebedev married Natalya Emyasheva for the first time. The couple had two children: a son and a daughter. While already in prison, Lebedev divorced and entered into a second marriage. The name of the wife was hidden for a long time, and only after some time it became known that the couple Platon Lebedev + Maria Cheplagina had appeared. Their relationship began long before the accusation, and the couple already had two children, two daughters, at the time of Lebedev’s arrest. The latest event that has again stirred attention to Lebedev is the tragic death of his granddaughter, the beautiful Diana, on a highway in Switzerland.

Biography, life story of Lebedev Platon Leonidovich

Lebedev Platon Leonidovich is a Russian entrepreneur.

Childhood, youth, education

Platon Lebedev was born in Moscow on November 29, 1956. At the age of 20, Plato became a student at the Plekhanov Moscow Academy of National Economy. In 1981, Lebedev successfully graduated from university and began his career.

Career

After graduating from the academy, Platon Lebedev got a job at a large foreign trade company, Zarubezhgeologiya, where he worked for 8 years.

At the end of the 80s, Platon Lebedev became close to. The men decide to run a business together. At first they were engaged in small business, but over time their appetites and ambitions grew. In 1989 he decides to create his own commercial bank. The enterprise was named "Menatep". The post of president of Menatep was held by Platon Lebedev from 1991 to 1995.

After two years of trial, Platon Lebedev was found guilty and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Lebedev did not agree with the court's decision and demanded a review of the case. As a result, the prison term was reduced to 8 years. In 2007, another case was launched against YUKOS, due to which Lebedev’s term of imprisonment increased to 13 years.

CONTINUED BELOW

Throughout numerous court hearings and many years behind bars, Platon Lebedev never admitted his guilt. He regularly filed complaints and petitions. In society, Lebedev was considered prisoners of conscience, who were “closed” solely for political reasons. In January 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to reduce Platon Lebedev’s sentence to that already served at that time. On January 24, 2014, Lebedev was released.

Immediately after his release, Platon Lebedev announced his firm intention to resume business activities, and at the international level.

Family

Platon Lebedev's first wife was named Natalya. Their wedding took place in 1997. In this marriage children were born - daughter Lyudmila and son Mikhail.

In 2006, Platon, while in prison, filed for a divorce from Natalya and married Maria Cheplagina, who at that time already had children from her lover. At the time of Lebedev's arrest, Maria was raising two daughters - Maria (born in 2002) and Daria (born in 2003; Daria was only 2 weeks old when her father was arrested). Maria Cheplygina more than once spoke in court in defense of her husband and even publicly read out touching letters from his little daughters.

The older children of Platon Lebedev managed to give their father grandchildren. One of Lebedev’s granddaughters, Diana, a representative of Moscow’s golden youth and a student at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), daughter of Lyudmila Lebedeva, died in a terrible car accident on the way to Geneva on November 24, 2016. At the time of her death, the girl was only 19 years old. Diana's funeral took place without the presence of journalists.

Platon Leonidovich Lebedev(b. November 29, 1956, Moscow) - Russian businessman, co-founder of MENATEP Bank, former chairman of the board of directors of Group MENATEP. Served 10.5 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion, and legalization of stolen funds (July 2003 - January 2014). According to the international human rights organization Amnesty International, he was recognized as a prisoner of conscience.

On January 23, 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation reduced Lebedev’s sentence to time served and decided to immediately release him with the right to partial rehabilitation. On January 24, 2014, he was released from prison.

After his release, he announced his intention to resume business activities.

Biography

Platon Lebedev graduated from the Moscow Academy of National Economy. Plekhanov in 1981, after graduation until 1989 he worked in the Zarubezhgeology association. From 1991 to 1995 - President of MENATEP Bank. Since 1996 - on the board of the oil company YUKOS.

Criminal prosecution

On July 2, 2003, he was detained, on May 31, 2005, he was convicted in the same case with M. B. Khodorkovsky, was sentenced to nine years in prison to be served in a general regime colony (later the Moscow City Court reduced the specified period by one year) and was transferred to a colony in the village of Kharp. Meanwhile, according to Article 73 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation, those sentenced to imprisonment serve their sentences in correctional institutions within the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation in which they lived or were convicted. The head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Yuri Kalinin, explained the direction of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to remote colonies by the lack of places in the colonies located near Moscow and the need to ensure the safety of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Lebedev's lawyers first sent complaints about the illegality of transferring their client to a colony in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Federal Penitentiary Service, and then appealed this transfer in court, pointing out, among other things, that there was no It was taken into account that he was sick with hepatitis. But the court refused to satisfy this complaint.

In December 2006, Lebedev and Khodorkovsky were transferred to the Chita pre-trial detention center.

In February 2009, Lebedev, as well as Khodorkovsky, were transferred to Moscow; On March 3, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow began preliminary hearings on a new criminal case: Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were charged with stealing shares of subsidiaries as part of an organized group with the main shareholders of OJSC NK YUKOS and other persons in the period before June 12, 1998 OJSC "Eastern Oil Company" in the amount of 3.6 billion rubles, in 1998-2000 the shares of subsidiaries of OJSC "Eastern Oil Company" stolen for the same amount were legalized, and also in 1998-2003 they committed theft by appropriating oil from OJSC "Samaraneftegaz" ", OJSC Yuganskneftegaz and OJSC Tomskneft in the amount of more than 892.4 billion rubles and the legalization of part of these funds in 1998-2004 in the amount of 487.4 billion rubles and 7.5 billion dollars.

On December 23, 2009, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in connection with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, declared Lebedev’s arrest illegal and canceled it in the first criminal case against him and Mikhail Khodorkovsky; The court decided to resume the criminal case against Lebedev.

The interests of Platon Lebedev in court are represented, in particular, by lawyers Konstantin Rivkin and Elena Liptser, the daughter of the famous human rights activist Lev Ponomarev.

On December 30, 2010, judge of the Khamovnichesky Court Viktor Danilkin found Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty under Articles 160 and 174 Part 1 and sentenced each of them to 14 years in prison with credit for previously served time.

By a cassation ruling of the judicial panel for criminal cases of the Moscow City Court dated May 24, 2011, the verdict of the Khamovnichesky District Court in relation to Khodorkovsky and Lebedev was changed and their punishment was reduced to 13 years in prison for each.

The former head of MENATEP, Platon Lebedev, was released from the Velsk colony by order of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. He has already arrived in Moscow and met with his family.

“Of course, I was happy to learn that Platon (Lebedev) was being released. I hope that he will be released abroad so that he can receive treatment: his health is not good. As for the Supreme Court’s refusal to cancel the tax service’s claim, I heard the signal. "I publicly raised the question and they publicly answered me by refusing to implement the decision of the European Court. This means only one thing: I am not welcome in Russia."

After the pardon of Mikhail Khodorkovsky at the end of last year, different opinions were expressed in the press about the reasons for such a political move. Among them were both the need to increase Putin’s prestige in the international arena before the Olympics in Sochi, and the Russian authorities’ fear of a possible decision by the International Court in The Hague on the claim of Yukos shareholders against the Russian Federation in the amount of $98 billion. Political scientist Svyatoslav Kaspe does not exclude the influence of both of these reasons on the fate of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, as well as other, less obvious international processes:

– In general, this whole story, which clearly needs to be considered as a whole, is another confirmation that public policy is only a very small tip of the iceberg. It is clear that both the release of Khodorkovsky under an amnesty and the release of Lebedev outside of the amnesty are the result of some processes, apparently of an international nature. Their participants prefer not to talk about the nature of these processes, and they can be understood. I think that speculation regarding the impact of the 98 billion lawsuit has a right to exist, but in general I think that this is a “we don’t know and won’t find out” situation. I believe that the Olympics also play a certain role, because it is undoubtedly one of the most important political image projects for Putin. But I don't think it all comes down to the Olympics. There are clearly some undercurrents there that we do not have the opportunity to look into,” believes Svyatoslav Kaspe.

Political commentator Andrey Piontkovsky emphasizes that with the release of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, the history of YUKOS does not end, but enters the most dramatic phase:

– Don’t forget about the human side of this conflict. YUKOS still has one more hostage - ex-head of the company's economic security department Alexey Pichugin, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. Freeing him is quite a difficult thing. Pardons and reduced sentences will not work. We have to admit that all the processes were fabricated. In addition, the mutual financial claims of the parties to the conflict around YUKOS are enormous. The Presidium of the Supreme Court not only refused to send the case for a new trial, but also confirmed the claims of the tax police against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, which, by the way, makes Lebedev, despite his release, in a certain sense, also a hostage. With such claims, it is unlikely that he will be able to freely leave the territory of the Russian Federation. On the other hand, it is no secret that a court decision is being prepared in The Hague, and from leaks from there it seems that the decision will be unfavorable for Russia. I think that very complex negotiations are taking place behind the scenes between YUKOS and Putin personally, because all judicial and financial issues here are decided personally by Putin.

– Do you agree that the lawsuit filed by YUKOS shareholders against Russia is one of the main reasons for the pardon of Khodorkovsky and the release of Lebedev?

– Yes, and I would add one more reason – serious pressure from Mrs. Merkel, who has recently become, as it were, an informal leader of the West against the backdrop of Obama’s apathy and confusion in all international issues. Everything that has happened since Khodorkovsky's release is a move in a complex game between Putin and Yukos. And the fact that the financial penalty was left in force indicates that international bargaining is taking place, in which Russia wants to retain certain positions, says Andrei Piontkovsky.

In 2005, the Meshchansky Court of Moscow sentenced former co-owners of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to 9 years in prison for tax crimes. At the end of 2010, the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow sentenced them to 14 years in a colony for the theft of 200 million tons of oil and laundering of proceeds from crime. Subsequently, various courts several times reduced the sentences of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, but refused to recognize their innocence.