Biography and facts
Gennady Timchenko became a millionaire in the 1990s, but for many years only a few friends and business partners knew about him in Russia. He himself did not seek fame. Timchenko is the same age as Vladimir Putin and one of his friends. He was born to a military family in Leninakan, spent his childhood in Germany and Ukraine and received his higher education in Leningrad.
In the late 1980s, Timchenko got a job at Kirishineftekhimexport, a foreign trade association that exported oil products from the Kirishi oil refinery, and this shaped his fate and career. Up until the Crimean events of 2014, trade in oil and petroleum products was his main business. In 1997, together with his partner Torbjorn Tornquist, he founded the oil trading company Gunvor. Pretty soon it became a major supplier of Russian oil to foreign markets. State-owned and private oil companies such as Rosneft, Surgutneftegas, TNK-BP and Gazpromneft worked with Gunvor. By the end of the 2000s, Gunvor was one of the three largest oil traders in the world: in 2010 it sold 116 million tons of oil and made $68 bln in revenues.
The day before the sanctions, on March 19, 2014, Timchenko sold 44% of the trader to Tornquist, and now the basis of his fortune is stakes in Novatek, the country's second largest gas company after Gazprom, and Sibur, the largest petrochemical holding company. Timtchenko also controls one of Russia's leading construction companies, Stroytransgaz; the oil products transporter Transoil; and invests in the food industry: he owns the Aquanika water plant and apple orchards in Krasnodar Krai.
Timchenko's family has lived abroad for a long time, first in Finland and then in Switzerland, but now because of sanctions they spend their time mostly in Russia. Timtchenko's wife Elena heads their joint charity foundation, which supports the older generation, develops sports and culture, and helps children. Their eldest daughter, Natalia, studied English literature at Oxford and now, according to Forbes sources, has taken up filmmaking. Younger daughter Xenia graduated from Edinburgh University, where she studied philosophy and French. Her husband is Gleb Frank, son of Sovcomflot CEO Sergei Frank, and the couple have two children. Timtchenko's youngest son Ivan is studying international relations at the University of Geneva.
First Business Worked as vice-president of Kirishineftekhimexport (Kinex), a foreign trade organization established at the Kirishi Oil Refinery in the Leningrad Region. In 1996, he and his partners bought Kinex at a privatization auction, which later grew into Gunvor, one of the world's largest oil traders.
Capital Novatek (23.49%), Sibur (17%), Stroytransgaz (53%), and Transoil (80%).
Sanctions March 2014 - USA, Canada, February 2022 - UK, EU, March 2022 - Japan.
The figure of 20 billion rubles could cost an ice palace in St. Petersburg, which the SKA club under Timchenko is planning to build by 2023. It will be the largest ice arena in the world.
Deal In the summer of 2020, he and his partners sold his own major contractor, Stroytransneftegaz, to structures affiliated with Gazprom. Timchenko and his family owned about 50% of the company, the transaction amounted to an estimated 30 billion rubles.
Partner Leonid Mikhelson.
Akvanika Water Brand.
Detail Owns the Divnomorskoye Estate winery near Gelendzhik. His partner in this business is Vladimir Kolbin, son of the late Peter Kolbin, who was called a childhood friend of President Putin.
Second citizenship: Finland.
Hobbies Plays hockey, collects a collection of works by Soviet artists.
Charity The Elena and Gennady Timchenko charitable foundation supports the older generation, develops sports and culture and helps children.
Sports President of HC SKA, Chairman of the KHL Board of Directors, Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee.
