Konstantin Malofeev

Konstantin V. Malofeev
Born	(1974-07-03)3 July 1974
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	The group «Tsargrad», Chairman of the Board of Directors

Konstantin V. Malofeev (Russian: Константин Валерьевич Малофеев) is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the group «Tsargrad» and founder of the international investment fund Marshall Capital Partners,^[1] member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership "Safe Internet League"^[2][3][4] and Chairman of the St Basil the Great Charitable Foundation.^[5]

Early life and education

Konstantin Malofeev was born July 3, 1974 in the town of Pushchino in the Moscow region where he went to the local school, followed by art college. In 1996, he graduated with a law degree from Moscow State University.^[6]

Career

Konstantin Malofeev is the founder of Marshall Capital, one of the leading Russian investment groups. He has over 15 years of experience in private equity, investment banking and corporate finance.

Mr. Malofeev started his career in 1996 in the investment bank Renaissance Capital and after it held various senior positions with Interros, MDM Bank and other investment banks and groups. From 2002 to 2004 Konstantin was the Head of Corporate Finance at MDM Bank, a leading Russian investment bank where he successfully built-up the bank's M&A practice.

Founded in 2005 by Konstantin Malofeev, Marshall Capital is one of Russia's leading investment groups focused on equity and direct investments in telecommunications, media and technology, as well as real estate and agriculture. Since 2005, the firm invested in a large number of companies in telecom and media, real estate and development, FMCG and other industries.

Late in 2014 Marshall Capitall passed under the management of the fund CFG Capital (France), private European investor focused on investment projects in Russia and the CIS. The partnership agreement creates a joint business CFG Marshall with the overall size of the planned investments of more than 2 billion euros.

Currently Konstantin Malofeev is the Chairman of the board of directors of the group Tsargrad.

In addition, Konstantin Malofeev supports the activities of a number of cultural and social projects. He is the founder of the largest in Russia private foundation, Фонд Святителя Василия Великого|St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. Mr. Malofeev is a member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership "Safe Internet League" and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of College St. Basil the Great, founded by him in 2007.

Business

Marshall Capital Group is a Russian holding company, with investments in a diverse range of industries, including telecommunications, media and technology, as well as real estate and agriculture.

One of Marshall Capital Group's biggest investments is a 10.7 per cent stake in Rostelecom, a nationwide telecommunications enterprise and the largest universal communications operator in Russia, serving more than 100 million subscribers in 80 regions.^[7]

With French politician/businessman Philippe de Villiers Malofeev is set to build two Russian history related them parks; one in Moscow and one in Yalta.^[8]

Politics

On October 17, 2012, Malofeev announced his candidacy and on November 18 was elected to the Council of Deputies of Znamenskoye Rural Settlement of Ugransky District in Smolensk Oblast, winning the majority vote (74.85%).^[9]

His election took place despite the fact that the Vyazem regional court in Smolensk annulled Malofeev's candidacy and struck him off from the ballot on charges of electoral corruption.^[10] The court concluded that Malofeev had offered to pay 500 Roubles for each vote committed to him.

Legal issues

In 2007, VTB Capital plc, a subsidiary of VTB Bank commenced a legal case against Marshall Capital and Malofeev regarding a loan by "Russagroprom" Ltd. of US $225 million for the purchase of six dairy plants and three associated companies from "Nutritek". VTB Capital questioned the accuracy of the valuation of the dairy plants and the relationship between Marshall Capital and Malofeev, with both Russagroprom and Nutritek, asking the Court to place a world freezing order on Malofeev’s assets. In turn, VTB Capital’s own due diligence procedures prior to the acquisition were brought under scrutiny.

In a Judgment at the UK Supreme Court on February 6, 2013 Marshall Capital and Malofeev were fully acquitted of all allegations made by VTB Capital. VTB Capital was also criticised by the judge for its due diligence practices and its "apparent failures" and "inappropriate...protracted wrongful continuation" of its world freezing order.^[11][12]

In July 2014 Ukraine opened a criminal case against Malofeev; he was accused of financing "illegal military groups" in Eastern Ukraine who at the time fought against the Ukrainian army.^[13] For this he was also placed on the European Union list of individuals sanctioned during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.^[8] On December 19, 2014 he, and his company Marshall Capital Partners, were also placed on the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List in the United States.

On 12 February 2015 Russian law enforcement searched apartments of Malofeev and his business partner Dmitry Skuratov related to the VTB case.^[14]

Involvement in the War in Donbass

The European Commission, the United States and Ukraine have accused Malofeev of financing terrorism in Ukraine.^[15] According to EU Regulation No 826/2014 from 30 July 2014, Malofeev is closely linked to Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. He was the former employer of Alexander Borodai, the so-called Prime Minister of the self-declared ‘Donetsk People's Republic’. Malofeev was also former employer of Igor Girkin, a former FSB colonel who provided security services to Malofeev's visits to Kiev and Crimea in the weeks before the annexation of the latter by Russia.^[16]

Igor Girkin later reappeared as the leader of the separatist insurgency in the town of Slovyansk, and subsequently as the self-appointed Minister of Defense of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. In May 2014, during the separatists' occupation of Slovyansk led by Girkin, the Ukrainian security services SBU intercepted a phone call,^[17] in which a person with the same first and patronymic names as Malofeev's, and a voice similar to his own, provides tactical military intelligence to Girkin and praises him for a recent ambush attack on Ukrainian anti-terrorism troops.

In February 2015, the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta published a document,^[18] which the newspaper alleged was a strategy for fomenting unrest in, and annexing Crimea, as well as other areas in South-Eastern Ukraine. The newspaper's editor-in-chief has publicly stated that the unnamed sources which leaked the alleged strategy, have informed the paper that Malofeev and his team had authored the document in February 2014. Also in 2014 hacker group Shaltay Boltay published leaked emails of George Gavrish, a nationalist closely cooperating with Alexander Dugin, suggesting wide range of financial support flowing from Malofeev's conservative funds to radical nationalist political movements in Europe.^[19] In May 2014 organized a meeting in Vienna with FPO, Ataka and Front National.^[20] Majority of that funding is funneled through the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Fund operated by Malofeev.^[21]

In public statements, Malofeev has disclaimed his active involvement with armed groups in Ukraine, and has said that his financial contributions to the areas of unrest in Ukraine has been limited to humanitarian aid. He has also said that his employment link to two of the key Russian participants in the armed insurgency in Eastern Ukraine is a coincidence. Malofeev has never commented on the audio recording which purports to evidence his hands-on involvement with the armed attacks on Ukrainian armed forces.

Family

Malofeev is married to Irina Vilter, a lawyer at Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov& Partners.^[22] They have three children.

Social activity

Malofeev is involved in a number of philanthropic projects, providing funding, both personally and through Marshall Capital.

In July 2007, he established the "Russian Society of Philanthropists for the Protection of Mothers and Children One of the society’s initial programmes, "The Heart of the Child", funds treatment for children with congenital heart defects in specialist Russian clinics.^[23]

In January 2007, Malofeev co-founded St. Basil the Great Grammar School, providing traditional Russian schooling.^[24] In June 2010, the Society was renamed Charitable Foundation of St Basil the Great. Its focus is to improve children's health, develop education and training, as well as constructing, restoring and financially supporting the development and growth of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Foundation is involved in over 30 programmes across Russia. Since 2011, Malofeev has been chairman of the board of Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation and member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership, "Safe Internet League"^[25] which created the original draft of Internet censorship law in Russia.

In May 2014, he was hosting an assembly of European conservatives and anti-gay supporters in Vienna. ^{[26] [27]}

References