As told to the publication “GORDON” journalist Dmitry Gordon, the interview was recorded in France, it lasted five and a half hours.
In an interview, Pugachev told why he was born “by misunderstanding” in Kostroma, how he met Russian President Boris Yeltsin and why he considers him “Alexei Navalny of that time”, about friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his desire to go to live abroad, envy, dislike to reading and about who influences his decision-making, about Putin’s ex-wife Lyudmila Putin and how she blackmailed him by divorce, about their “peculiar” daughters, as well as about their business, loss of assets and the lawsuit against the Russian authorities …
Pugachev was born in 1963 in Kostroma into a military family. He spent his childhood in Moscow, in 1974 the family moved to Leningrad. According to Pugachev, he graduated from several universities, including the University of Knowledge Methodology in Moscow. An economist by education.
Since the 1980s, he has been engaged in entrepreneurial activity. In 1992 he founded Mezhprombank, which later became one of the largest banks in Russia (in 2010, the institution’s license was revoked due to violations of the law and inability to satisfy creditors’ claims).
In the 1990s, Pugachev was a member of Yeltsin’s inner circle, was one of the leaders of his campaign headquarters in 1996.
In the early 1990s, in Leningrad, he met Putin, but, according to Pugachev, they became friends already in Moscow in 1996 year. The media called Pugachev “the banker of the Kremlin “and the” banker of Putin “.
In 2001-2011, Pugachev was a senator of the Russian Federation from Tuva.
According to “Kommersant”, Pugachev owned shipbuilding enterprises, luxury real estate in Russia and Europe, including the Château de Garo in Nice, media in France. In 2008 Forbes estimated the fortune of Pugachev at $ 2 billion. After Mezhprombank was declared bankrupt, the businessman began to lose his assets.
In the early 1990s, the businessman lived in the United States, then moved to France, and later returned to Russia. In 2011, he left the Russian Federation, now he lives in France, where he received citizenship.
In Russia, a criminal case has been initiated against Pugachev on embezzlement of Mezhprombank funds. At home, he was arrested in absentia.
In 2015, Pugachev filed a lawsuit against Russia for $ 10 billion to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. He accuses the Russian authorities of expropriating four of his assets. Later, the businessman increased his claims to $ 15 billion.
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