Yury Kovalchuk
Yury Kovalchuk | |
|---|---|
Юрий Ковальчук | |
| Born | Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk 25 July 1951 |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman and largest shareholder, Rossiya Bank |
| Known for | "Putin's personal banker" |
| Relatives | Mikhail Kovalchuk (brother) |
| Awards | |
Yury Valentinovich Kovalchuk (Russian: Ю́рий Валенти́нович Ковальчу́к; born 25 July 1951) is a Russian billionaire businessman and financier who is "reputed to be Vladimir Putin's personal banker". The Panama Papers leak revealed that Kovalchuk had transferred at least $1 billion to an offshore entity.
Kovalchuk is a close friend of Putin: he hosted the wedding of Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova to Kirill Shamalov at his ski resort, Igora, in 2013.
According to journalist Mikhail Zygar, Kovalchuk could probably be called Number 2 in today's Russia. While self-isolating from COVID-19 in 2020, Putin spent much time with Kovalchuk, and they share the view that the only important factor is to restore Russian greatness. According to some experts, Kovalchuk played a role in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022.