Konstantin Malofeev

Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev
Константин Валерьевич Малофеев
Born	(1974-07-03) 3 July 1974 (age 47) Pushchino, Moscow Oblast
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	The group «Tsargrad», chairman of the board of directors, Society for the Development of Russian Historical Education Double-Headed Eagle, chairman
Spouse(s)	Irina Vilter

Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev (Russian: Константин Валерьевич Малофеев) is a Russian businessman and chairman of non-government pro-monarchism organisation Society for the Development of Russian Historical Education Double-Headed Eagle.^[1][2] He is chairman of the board of directors of the media group Tsargrad dedicated to Russian Orthodox Christianity and support of President Vladimir Putin. He is also a founder of the international investment fund Marshall Capital Partners,^[3] member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership Safe Internet League^[4] and chairman of the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. He has been on the list of personal sanctions imposed by the US, EU, and Canada since 2014. In 2017, the Ukraine put Malofeev on the international wanted list, accusing him of creating illegal paramilitary groups.

Early life and education[]

Malofeev was born on 3 July 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.^[5] His father Valery Mikhailovich is an astrophysicist and head of the laboratory for the Department of Plasma Astrophysics at the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory. His mother Raisa Zinurovna is a programmer and general director of the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation which Konstantin is the chairman of.

Career[]

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

Malofeev began 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, he 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 Malofeev, Marshall Capital is a Russian investment group focusing on equity and direct investments in telecommunications, media and technology, as well as real estate and agriculture. Late in 2014, Marshall Capital passed under the management of the fund CFG Capital (France), a private European investor focused on investment projects in Russia and the CIS. The partnership agreement created a joint business CFG Marshall with the overall size of the planned investments of more than €2 billion.

Malofeev is the chairman of the board of directors of the group Tsargrad (Imperial city), a platform used by such people as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and far-right political analyst Aleksandr Dugin. Malofeev is also the president of and a supervisory board member for Katehon, a right-wing think tank. Additionally, Malofeev has ties to the American religious right. He hired former Fox News employee Jack Hannick to help launch Tsargrad TV.^[6]

In addition, Malofeev is a philanthropist who supports cultural and social projects. He is the founder of the largest Russian private foundation, St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. Malofeev is a member of the board of trustees of the non-profit partnership "Safe Internet League", a Russian non-governmental organization created to censor information on the Internet, 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 theme parks; one in Moscow and one in Yalta.^[8]

Politics[]

On 17 October 2012, Malofeev announced his candidacy and on 18 November was elected to the Council of Deputies of Znamenskoye Rural Settlement of Ugransky District in Smolensk Oblast, winning a majority vote (74.85%).^[9] His election took place despite the Vyazem regional court in Smolensk having annulled Malofeev's candidacy and removed him 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 began a legal case against Marshall Capital and Malofeev concerning 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 Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 6 February 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 19 December 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]

On 11 September 2019 Bulgarian government banned him from entering the country for ten years over an alleged spying conspiracy aimed at turning the country away from its pro-Western orientation and further toward Moscow.^[15]

Involvement in the War in Donbass[]

The European Commission, the United States and Ukraine have accused Malofeev of trying to destabilize and financing separatism in Ukraine.^{[16] [17]} 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 Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed 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 Kyiv and Crimea in the weeks before the annexation of the latter by Russia.^[18]

Igor Girkin later reappeared as the leader of the separatist insurgency in the town of Slovyansk, and subsequently as the self-proclaimed Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed 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,^[19] 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,^[20] 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 a wide range of financial support flowing from Malofeev's conservative funds to radical nationalist political movements in Europe.^[21] In May 2014, Malofeev organized a meeting in Vienna with FPO, Ataka and Front National.^[22] A majority of that funding is funneled through the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Fund operated by Malofeev.^[23]

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.^{[citation needed]}

While all of Malofeev's initiatives in Ukraine were, formally, privately organized and funded, intercepted phone calls between him and his lieutenants on the ground in Ukraine, as well as hacked email correspondence, showed that he closely coordinated his actions with the Kremlin, at times via the powerful Orthodox priest Bishop Tikhon whom Malofeev and Putin (in their own words) share as spiritual adviser; at other times via direct coordination between Malofeev and Putin's advisers Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev, but also via Malofeev's close collaboration with the Kremlin-owned Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RIIS), chaired by former KGB/SVR Gen. Leonid Reshetnikov. In addition, a recent email hack suggests that at least one employee of Malofeev's participated in non-public sessions of the Russian government.^[24]

Family[]

Malofeev is married to Irina Mikhailovna Vilter, a lawyer at Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners.^[25] They have three children: Kirill (born 1995), Natalia (born 1999), and Tatiana (born 2011).

Social activity[]

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

In January 2007, Malofeev co-founded St. Basil the Great Grammar School, providing traditional Russian schooling.^[26]

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.^[27]

In June 2010, the Society was renamed the 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 "Safe Internet League" non-profit partnership^[28] 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.^[29][30]

References[]