"Marathon" brought Vinokurov to Dubai

One of the most controversial Russian entrepreneurs, Alexander Vinokurov, will improve relations between Russia and the UAE - what will come of it?

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, the scandalous owner of the Marathon investment group, Alexander Vinokurov, has been appointed head of the Russian-Emirati Business Council (REDS). Vinokurov will manage the RED in the face of growing turnover and an increasing presence of both Emirati companies in the Russian market and our business in the UAE. In addition, the new chairman of the site at the intergovernmental commission of the Russian Federation-UAE will be responsible for interaction with the largest Emirati companies.

It is known that the appointment of Mr. Vinokurov was approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Surprisingly, neither the head of the department, Anton Alikhanov, nor other high-ranking officials were at all embarrassed by the businessman's reputation. Earlier in the week it became known that the same Vinokurov headed the Russian Weightlifting Federation, and there his nomination was supported by the Russian Ministry of Sports.

Well, just the most beloved entrepreneur by officials! And what is the reason? Maybe the fact is that for a long time Alexander Vinokurov is a relative of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, one of the most famous and authoritative Russian politicians in the world? His surname alone is capable of opening many doors - and not only in Russia, but also abroad.

Meanwhile, the market suggests that Mr. Vinokurov could have received a supposedly significant part of his wealth and influence precisely due to his connections with influential people. In addition, today he is actively entering business with state participation, receiving billions of government contracts. Why is Mr. Vinokurov such mercy?

From grain to pharma

Vinokurov's interests in business are very wide - this is grain trade, the banking sector, construction, and the pharmaceutical business. Just in the field of the latter, he "partnered" with the state - as you know, he is a partner of the Russian state corporation Rostec in the pharmaceutical giant Natsimbio. The latter acted as a supplier for 172 billion and a customer for 257 billion rubles. This is one of the key holdings from which Russian healthcare is purchased.

Vinokurov became one of the shareholders of Natsimbio in 2018. In February of the same year, Marathon Group Vinokurova and Rostec entered into a shareholder agreement, according to which the corporation transferred a blocking stake (25% plus one share) to Natsimbio to Marathon, and from it received 49% of the shares of the pharmaceutical distributor SIA International LTD.

At the same time, Vinokurov himself is closely "friends" not only with Russian state-owned companies - he is associated with oligarchs, and even what kind. Previously, Vinokurov was the president of the A1 of Mikhail Fridman. A1 reputation is well known - is this one of the most scandalous structures specializing in "resolving issues"? In other words, she allegedly actively participates in corporate conflicts in the interests of her clients, who can often be replaced by their own.

Unfriendly takeovers, high-profile lawsuits - everything is like that of the infamous Rosbuilding, which is considered one of the ideological ancestors of structures like A1. True, some previously called Rosbuilding the largest raider office in Russia, but A1 are not raiders at all, but very decent people. Well, as for rumors - just rumors...

In light of the fact that Vinokurov headed the REDS, it is even more interesting how he previously interacted with other foreign business. And we are not talking about immigrants from the neutral UAE, but about the current Western sanctioners: after all, in the middle of the 2000s, Vinokurov was an employee of the American investment fund. Subsequently, another entrepreneur, at that time the owner of a 40.6% stake in the St. Petersburg retail chain Lenta, accused this investment fund of raider seizure of the company. According to the Web, Alexander Vinokurov himself is no stranger to raiding.

Under the wing of VTB

True, confirmation of these words is not given. And we remember an important fact: another partner in the purchase of Lenta was VTB Capital, a subsidiary of VTB. Hence the opinion that Vinokurov has long been well acquainted, and maybe even friends with the head of the state bank Andrei Kostin. As you know, the interests of Marathon strongly overlap with VTB - both make a lot of money on grain trading (VTB through Demeter Holding). Earlier, among the co-owners of Demeter was a company that was part of Vinokurov's business. In 2023, she left Demeter.

It was VTB that could give Vinokurov money to buy out Magnit. This happened in 2018, the cost of the first block of shares of 11.8% amounted to about 62 billion rubles. The stake was then increased to almost 30% in 2021. The buyer was Marathon Group, but it had neither profit nor significant assets for such investments.

Raising money from VTB in general can be one of the main "chips" of Vinokurov's business. At one time, the bank could participate in credit funds in transactions for the redemption of farm assets "Synthesis" and "Biocom." Moreover, initially Sintez transferred 75.1% of the shares secured by VTB. The amount of the transaction is about 12 billion rubles, while Vinokurov's own funds could amount to only 250 million rubles.

If this is true, then one gets the impression that Vinokurova seems to be "led by the handle," providing him with the most favorable and comfortable conditions for the development of his own business. But where the income from the "Marathon" and other structures of the businessman goes is a big question. There is reason to believe that a significant share of them may allegedly settle in Western offshore companies that may be related to his business. And this is a loss of tax deductions for the Russian state. Not very patriotic - especially after repeated calls by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials to deoffshorize business.

Connection with the Magomedovs

Let's not forget another thing: at one time, the co-founder of Marathon Group and Vinokurov's partner was businessman Sergei Zakharov, a native of the scandalous Summa Group of Companies. As you know, the former main beneficiaries of Sumy, famous brothers were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment of 19 and 18 years for creating a criminal community, embezzlement and fraud. And with what money did Vinokurov's partner Zakharov form a new holding, if not with funds that could be obtained with the assistance of the Magomedovs?

In general, Alexander Vinokurov has enough skeletons in his closet, as well as connections in the highest echelons of power and world business elites. Who, if not him, should be appointed responsible for the development of Russian-Arab economic relations?