Lebedev Platon Leonidovich, a successful entrepreneur in the past, and today a former convict, periodically comes to the attention of the press, which is interested in his opinion on various issues. What made him famous?
Becoming
Lebedev Platon Leonidovich was born in Moscow on November 29, 1956. Nothing is known about his childhood, Lebedev himself does not extend about his private life. In 1976 he entered the Moscow Academy of National Economy named after Plekhanov, who graduated in 1981. After high school, Lebedev will fall into the largest foreign economic company Zarubezhgeologiya, in which he will work for 8 years. Such a distribution after the institute testifies to the extraordinary abilities of the young man or to significant connections, since it was extremely difficult to get a company of this level.
Lebedev and Khodorkovsky
In the 80s, Plato Lebedev met with Mikhail Khodorkovsky. This meeting was, without exaggeration, fateful for him. They came together during their studies, both were active and really wanted to find application for their talents. Mikhail and Plato met at a time when both were engaged in Komsomol activities.
The end of the 80s was the time when the first opportunities for entrepreneurial activity began to appear, and young people did not fail to take advantage of them. In the wake of the commercialization of all areas of the country, including the Komsomol, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are creating the Youth Initiatives Fund. His goal was to make money from youth events. At that time, such economic initiatives were welcomed, as there was a trend of transferring public organizations to self-financing.
Some time later, the foundation was transformed into the Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth. So there was a model, which then was repeatedly reproduced throughout the country. The center had the opportunity to engage in a variety of commercial activities, including the purchase of computer equipment for various government agencies, and cash out money. The center, thanks to the efforts of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, was able to receive huge orders for the supply of computers, including for some ministries. The cashing procedure has become one of the most popular operations in the center, because in those days government agencies did not have their own accounts and could not earn money by fulfilling orders.
Khodorkovsky endlessly masters new types of business: from the release of boiled jeans to the commercial support of orders from state research institutes. Lebedev becomes a faithful companion of Mikhail Borisovich, together they begin to earn serious money at that time.
MENATEP
In 1989, Khodorkovsky decided to create his own bank. Platon Lebedev, whose biography is now inextricably linked with Khodorkovsky’s business, in 1991 became the president of the MENATEP Bank. This commercial bank was one of the first to receive a license to conduct foreign exchange operations; it has a huge profit on them. Later, Khodorkovsky decided to issue shares of the bank, Lebedev conducted a grand advertising campaign, many people invested in the enterprise, but the shareholders did not have to see the promised high dividends. The Bank receives a lot of government agencies as clients, even the Ministry of Finance used the services of MENATEP. Lebedev was engaged in operations in Swiss banks and in various offshore zones.
The privatization of large commodity companies that has begun has become a time of active growth of the bank, through various manipulations with collateral auctions, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, represented by the bank, became the owners of 90% of the controlling stake in Russia's second-largest oil company, Yukos.
Since 1995, the interests of Lebedev and Khodorkovsky have moved to the raw materials sector, the bank is no longer important to them. However, Lebedev remained the chairman of the board of directors of the bank. In 1998, during the economic crisis, the MENATEP Bank ceased to exist, part of its capital became the basis for the creation of the Trust Bank. Platon Lebedev retained his position on the board of directors.
Yukos
Platon Lebedev in 1996 became a member of the board of the Yukos oil company, headed by his friend Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Then he became deputy chairman of the board of directors. Lebedev together with Khodorkovsky apply various tax optimization schemes and increase the value of Yukos several times. In 2003, Lebedev was included in the list of the richest people in Russia according to Forbes magazine, his fortune reached $ 1 billion, at that moment he owned about 7% of the MENATEP group of companies. He was also involved in managing personal holdings of Yukos shareholders, with a total of 61% of the value of the entire company.
Trial
In 2003, a case was opened against Lebedev on suspicion of embezzlement of a 20% stake in the Murmansk joint-stock company Apatit. Since Platon Lebedev did not appear on the summons to the prosecutor’s office, citing urgent hospitalization, he was arrested on July 2. Thus begins a new chapter in his life. He was immediately charged under articles on embezzlement and causing property damage, and a little later on another four articles, including tax evasion. At the end of 2003, Khodorovsky was arrested, and the Lebedev case took on a political connotation.
In 2005, Lebedev was found guilty and sentenced to 9 years in prison. But along with Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev insisted on his innocence, accusing the court of political bias and bias. The verdict was appealed, and upon review, the court reduced the term by 1 year. Lebedev was transported to Chita with Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In 2007, the second Yukos case appeared, as a result of which Lebedev’s term increased to 13 years.
Fight for freedom
All the years of persecution, Lebedev did not admit his guilt, repeatedly filed complaints and petitions in connection with health problems. The world community and the Russian opposition consider Lebedev, like Khodorkovsky, a prisoner of conscience, who is persecuted for political reasons.
In 2014, the court confirmed its verdict, upholding the need to recover 17 billion rubles from Lebedev and Khodorkovsky. In January 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of Russia reduced the sentence to serving, and on January 24, Platon Lebedev, whose photo appeared on the covers of many world media outlets, was released.
Upon his release, Lebedev announced that he intends to engage in international business, but for this he needs a passport. He could not get it, since many millions of penalties were preserved on it.
A family
The first time Lebedev married back in 1977. The couple had two children: Lyudmila and Mikhail. In 2006, Lebedev, being in a colony, divorces Natalia and marries a second time, to a girl who already had a child from him. In this marriage, Platon Leonidovich also had two children - Daria and Maria.
The attention of the media has repeatedly attracted Lebedev's son-in-law Plato, who was suspected of having connections with the mafia. Lebedev himself did not comment on suspicions of possible connections with Chechen crime. Ibrahim Suleymanov, the son-in-law of Platon Lebedev, was charged with fraud and money laundering and in 2007 was sentenced to lengthy imprisonment.