Michael Calvey

Michael Calvey (1967) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder of Baring Vostok, the largest independent private equity firm focused on investments in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.^[1] Calvey has been described as a longstanding proponent of investment opportunities in Russia.^[2][3] Anatoly Chubais, a former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and a key figure in Russia’s post-Soviet market reforms, credited Calvey with personally attracting billions of dollars of investment into the country.^[4]

Michael Calvey and five colleagues were arrested in Russia in February 2019 for allegedly defrauding Russian businessman Artem Avetisyan, who is believed to have used high-level government connections to press charges.^[5] Calvey maintains the charges are baseless, supported by a BBC investigation, and the real reason for the arrest was because Calvey was suing Avetisyan in a separate business dispute in London, and winning, so Avetisyan used his connections to have Calvey arrested on trumped up charges. If Calvey was convicted, Avetisyan stood to gain tens of millions, and Calvey faced 10 years in the notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison, the same prison where Sergei Magnitsky died under mysterious circumstances. The same judge who prosecuted Magnitsky was assigned to the Calvey case.^[6] The arrests of Calvey and his colleagues caused significant resonance in the Russian and international business community and received widespread press coverage.^[3][7][8]

In August 2021, after nearly two years under house arrest, Calvey was found guilty of misappropriation and given a 5.5-year suspended sentence by a Moscow court.^[9] Observers have called the sentence a victory under the circumstances, with sources including Russia’s business ombudsman Boris Titov saying the decision was an attempt by Russian law enforcement to “save face."^[10][11][12]

Biography[]

Michael Calvey was born in 1967 in Oklahoma.^[6] He has a master's degree in finance and accounting from the London School of Economics. He worked for Salomon Brothers and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Calvey is fluent in Russian language.^[6]

Baring Vostok Capital Partners[]

Calvey co-founded Baring Vostok in 1994, with the firm becoming known for making early-stage investments in Russian companies largely from the tech and consumer-facing sectors.^[1][13] As of 2021 the firm has reportedly invested almost $3 billion in 80 companies, including some of Russia’s most valuable technology companies such as Yandex, Tinkoff and Ozon.^[14]

According to Bloomberg, "Calvey became a legend in the Russian market, in part because of his reputed aversion to any kind of foul play and focus on industries and companies unlikely to attract the attention of Russia’s authorities."^[15]

Calvey was arrested on 14 February 2019, with three other Baring Vostok executives, on suspicion of allegedly embezzling 2.5 billion rubles (US$38 million) from the Russian Vostochny Bank.^[6][16] On 21 February, Russian state prosecutors formally charged him with fraud.^[17] The man "behind Calvey's arrest" was Russian business associate Artem Avetisyan, a Vostochny shareholder. As of February 2019, Calvey's Baring Vostok had a majority stake of 52.5% in Vostochny Bank.^[6] Avetisyan has been described as a friend of the son of Nikolai Patrushev, former Director of the FSB and secretary of Putin's Security Council.^[6] Calvey was suing Avetisyan in a separate court case in London, and winning, and Calvey maintains the charges against him were trumped up by Avetisyan who used his connections to have Calvey arrested and thus unable to effectively defend himself in the London case.^[6] On 22 February 2019, Radio Echo of Moscow interviewed BBC Russian Service correspondent Olga Shamina, who claimed that the case against Calvey is based on two documents described in a BBC Russian Service publication^[18] on its website. One is said to be a statement by Vostochny Bank minority shareholder Sherzod Yusupov, the other an assessment by lawyers in Luxembourg commissioned by Artem Avetisyan.^[19]

Calvey was held in Seaman's Silence Prison, the facility notorious for poor conditions and treatment — it is the same prison where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was detained and died under mysterious circumstances.^[6] Likewise, Calvey's case was assigned to , the same judge who prosecuted Magnitsky. U.S. government officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations commented publicly that the case was a commercial dispute that shouldn’t be resolved in criminal courts, and that the arrest of Calvey was a major barrier to improving U.S.-Russian business relations.^[20][21][22]

In April 2019, Calvey was released to a restricted form of house arrest, although a number of colleagues remained in prison. It was reported that Putin had personally taken the case "under his control", though Putin acknowledged "the law is the law" implying he was not in control.^[23] House arrest was lifted in December 2020 and replaced with other restrictions.^[24]

In August 2021, Michael Calvey was found guilty of misappropriating 2.5 billion rubles by the Meshchansky district court of Moscow. He was sentenced to 5.5 years of probation and did not go to jail. During the term of Calvey’s suspended sentence, he is allowed to travel but is required to register monthly with the Federal Penal Enforcement Service of Russia, and will not be allowed to change his permanent place of residence without informing Russian authorities.^[25] Other accused colleagues of Michael Calvey were sentenced to 3.5 - 5 years of probation.^[26] A couple of weeks after, Michael Calvey and his colleagues appealed the decision^[27]. In January 2022, the general Court of the second Appeal cancelled vacating measure of restraining order by the decision of the Meshchansky district court of Moscow, due to cassational appeal, for Michael Calvey, now able to leave home and travel abroad^[28].

References[]