The Biography:
Born February 8, 1963 in Kishinev. He finished school with a gold medal. When he was 16 years old, he became a master of sport in table tennis.
In 1985 he graduated from Economics Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Department of foreign countries Economics. After graduation from the university he enrolled in postgraduate school, defended master's thesis on "State regulation of agrarian relations in developing countries."
In 1988 - 2003 he was engaged in research and teaching activities at the Department of Economic Theory, Moscow State University. Alexander Babakov is a Candidate of Economic Sciences, author of several books on economic issues.
In 1994 - 2003 Alexander Babakov pursued a number of successful investment projects. In summer 2003, joined the “Rodina” party and was elected a member of the Political Council of the party.
In December 2003, Alexander Babakov was elected as a member to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly under the list of "Rodina" block. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication.
In 2004 he was elected to the post of Chairman of the Presidium of "Rodina". In 2005, co-chairmain of faction "Rodina" in the State Duma.
March 25, 2006 at the Sixth Party Congress, Alexander Babakov was elected to the post of Chairman of the Political party "Rodina". April 4, 2006 was elected to be a head of faction "Rodina". From April 2006 - Member of the Council under the President of Russia on realization of priority national projects.
October 28, 2006 was elected as a Secretary of the Presidium of the Party "FAIR RUSSIA: MOTHERLAND / PENSIONERS /LIFE".
December 2, 2007 was elected to the State Duma of the fifth convocation; Vice-Chairman of the State Duma of the fifth convocation, member of the “Fair Russia” faction.
He is married and has three children; Engaged in charity activity; Takes a great interest in football and underwater hunting.
Source - http://babakov.ru
The Dossier:
Babakov has been actively engaged in business since 1994. The first quite modest mentioning of him in the media came in 1995 when he became the general manager of "West-IR”. But in 1998 his name became widely known – Babakov obtained the post of member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC "Moscow Joint-Stock Bank Tempbank."; and starting from December 1998 – the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO PFK CSK (in 2001, was re-elected to the chairman post of the board of directors of football club CSKA Moscow).
Ukraine played the most important role in Babakov’s business. At first his link with the country was Ukranian criminal authority, Maxim Kurochkin (in 2007 he was shot by a sniper in Kiev while exiting from the courthouse). It was believed that Kurochkin was a leader of organized criminal groupings: "Izmajlov Brigade" and "Inter-regional brigade." There were several criminal charges initiated against him in the 1989-2001, all of them had been stopped on rather suspicious circumstances.
So Maxim Kurochkin "accumulated" his initial capital together with Alexander Mikhailovich Babakov. According to some reports, Babakov and Kurochkin represented economic interests of financial-industrial group "Luzhniki" in Ukraine (the group is closely associated with the Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov).
Besides, Babakov and Kurochkin had shared interests in the AB "the First Investment", JSC "Ukrainian Investment and Finance Company (UIFK), GAK" Polymetal ". In Ukraine, "luzhnikovmen" got transformed into "Slovak" business group. Their main objectives were regional energy companies, which they got through the Slovak company «VS Energy International» (the owners: Michael Kurochkin, Mikhail Voevodin, Sergey Shapovalov, Yevgeny Giner and Alexander Babakov). The Director-General of the firms registered in the Netherlands was Alexander Gares. But direct negotiations about the purchase of energy companies were led by Alexander Babakov. The key conditions of contests had been agreed yet during the premiership of Mr. Yushchenko, and, according to observers, the Prime Minister made great concessions to the new customers.
But then a serious opponent of Babakova appeared. In November 2003, businessman and politician, son-in-law of Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Pinchuk invited the head of RAO UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais to visit Ukraine and to have a look at the Ukrainian energy companies. There was a rumor that RAO UES of Russia jointly with the Ukrainian partners would form a holding company that was going to own the shares of 10 Ukrainian power companies. But those plans evoked a smile of "knowledgeable" people. They understood that President Kuchma could tolerate Ukrainian power companies belonging to a private individual Babakov, but not their transfer under the control of Russia's state companies. Pinchuk provoked that buzz on one purpose - to intimidate Babakov.
Right after that "intimidating" maneuver the process of repartition of the energy market began. In February 2004, Kuchma signed a decree on establishment of the "Energy Company of Ukraine", which took under control the holdings of shares of the power companies in state property.
Babakov considered the victory of Viktor Yushchenko to be a rescue for his Ukrainian assets; and thereto cooperated with Berezovsky, Zhvania and Ko. The chief adviser of the Luzhnikov people, Mikhail Voevodin also entered the game (little is known about him: except for the fact that he might have studied at the Moscow Higher Technical School of Bauman; it was rumored that in 2000 he was a "thief in law" under the nickname Mad Max). It is difficult to define the extent of financial assistance from Babakov and Ko. They even called him one of the main “sponsors” of the "orange revolution” in Ukraine, remembering that Petro Yushchenko, the elder brother of President of Ukraine, headed the Babakov‘s First Investment Bank.
«Rodina” faction has changed its name" - Kommersant, 24.01.2007
Another branch of Babakov business is hotels. Experts said that Premier International Ltd was a basement for such businesses of Babakov, as the Ukrainian Premier Palace Hotel (Kiev), Oreanda (Yalta), Dnister (Lvov), «Star» (Mukachevo), "London" (Odessa). Incidentally, the election campaign of the Yalta mayor was carried out on Babakov’s money. In addition, Babakov used to be a management team member of the Swiss company “Iwenta SA”, which owned high-class hotels in Kiev and the Crimea. According to data for the 2002, Babakov was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Kiev Premier Palace Hotel. The main working tool of Iwenta was the Ukrainian Innovational-Financial Company. The sphere of its interests included the Kiev "First Investment Bank”, a telecommunications company “Promsvyaz", "National Public Phone Company”. Babakov also related to another Swiss firm, called Sofisu SA which was a shareholder of some of the Ukrainian gas distribution companies.
As Babakov and Kurochkin claimed, they ceased their cooperation in 2003. By the time Babakov began political career and tended to forget about his criminal friends. Kurochkin took the controlling stake of "Premier Palace" and the power companies. But experts say that it was just a formality. Babakov is not the one who would easily give up the property.
When Kurochkin had been murdered, Russia's well-known political consultant, Stanislav Belkovsky declaired there was a severe war between the former partners, up to mutually attempted assassination.
It is noteworthy that in one of the last interviews given in October 2006 (in Moscow) Maksim Kurochkin said that his former partners from the business group “VS Energy”, like Mikhail Voevodin, Evgeny Giner (president of FC CSKA Moscow), Sergei Shapovalov and Alexander Babakov (State Duma deputy, head of fraction "Fair Russia” – “Rodina, chairman of the board of directors of CSKA), owed him than 100 million dollars. Alexander Babakov, in turn, said that "Kurochkin’s statements, that you are talking about, contain a number of significant inaccuracies”.
«Mass-media: CSKA president Giner and "SR"member Babakov are among those who owed $ 100 million to Kurochkin, who had been murdered in Kiev -. NEWSru.com 2. 04.2007, "Stanislav Belkovsky: Kurochkin's enemies are known ", "New Region" 28.03.2007
Atfter getting disowned from Kurochkin in 2003 Babakov made a more than successful attempt to enter the political establishment – he joined the Party of Russian Regions (PRR) by Yuri Skokov and was elected to become a member of political council of the PRR. And in autumn of the same year he was already in the party "Rodina", i.e. from the moment when PPR party had been re-branded into “Rodina”. At the same time Babakov became a member of political council of the new party, and in December 2003 - the State Duma deputy under the list of the "Rodina" block, where he took the post of deputy chairman of the Committee on Energy, Transport and Communication; Since 2004 - Chairman of the Presidium of the party "Rodina"; Starting from 2005 - co-chairman of the State Duma; 25 March, 2006 - replaced the party leader, Dmitry Rogozin.
They said that Rogozin sold "Rodina" (Motherland), or to be precise, Babakov gave it for debts. Supposedly, Babakov paid not only for the electoral experiments of the Party head, but also the personal PR of Dmitry Rogozin. As a result, "Rodina" party that used to be posed as a special troop of the president for struggle against oligarchs" became a part of large business.
In this context, the role which Babakov played in Luzhkov's conflict with "Rodina" is indicative. In 2003, when "Rodina" suddenly appeared, Alexander Lebedev as the party’s representative, gave a dare to Luzhkov, mayor of the city by taking part in the election personally. However, after the scandal at the elections to the Moscow City Duma in December 2005, when the list of "homeland" had been withdrawn from the election because of the "garbage" video, the leadership of the party started seeking for a common ground with the clan of Luzhkov.
During 2006, there had been several meetings for Babakov and Luzhkov organized. A compromise was found in the gambling industry - Mr. Babakov and his "partners" abroad had connections with gambling business in the capital. In the remaining time in July 2009 the owners of the Moscow gambling networks hoped to cancel or at least to "correct" a law according to which all casinos should be placed outside of settlements in the four zones. That was the explanation of the Moscow authorities’ position which did not rush ahead turning off the gambling business in the capital.
However, in late 2006, the situation became much more complicated. This was due to the fact Sergei Mironov invited Alexander Lebedev to a role of leader of the Fair Russia in Moscow. Lebedev was a well-known politician in Moscow, the old and irreconcilable opponent to the Luzhkov clan. He was standing up for the withdrawal of gambling institutions to reservation. Moreover, the emergence of Lebedev in the direction of "Fair Russia" and, accordingly, in fraction SR in the State Duma threatened the group of Babakov, which controlled unorganized clothing markets in the Luzhniki Stadium, the All-Russia Exhibition Centre and CSKA.
"Headquarters” of Luzhkov set an objective - to prevent the emergence of Lebedev in "Fair Russia ". This objective was coordinated by the Municipality of Moscow. "Komsomolskaya Pravda» released a custom-made material "the Laws of justice" – it was an interview with Babakov containing a positive assessment of the activity of Moscow authorities. In addition, Babakov persuaded Luzhkov to make a public statement in support of gambling. They did it on the TVC channel 22, where the mayor spoke out against "campaigning" to withdraw gambling from the city.
«The party" Rodina " is reviewing the management: the leader Rogozin may get replaced with sponsor Babakov», NEWSru.com from 16.03.2006
Despite the politics activities, Babakov did not forget about his business interests in Ukraine. Babakov was accused of series of raid seizures, which began in 2006. Thus, they captured the Kiev hotel "Rus", shopping centers "Metrograd" and "Metropolis", and in 2008 the Odessa hotel "the Youth". Captures of the objects occurred with the power support of the Ukrainian police, and based on forged decisions of the courts.
The scandal burst when rumors of the imminent resignation of Interior Minister, Yuri Lutsenko appeared in Kiev. The main Ukrainian policeman was accused of lobbying the interests of Russian oligarch Babakov, who might have been involved in series of takeovers of the Ukrainian enterprises. Lutsenko had been lobbying the interests of Babakov for all his political life. They had been familiar for many years. When Yuri Lutsenko was one of the key figures of the Socialist Party, he met Babakov. In particular Babakov was related to the sponsoring the newspaper "Rural wage" - a propaganda megaphone of the SPU. “But when Lutsenko went out of the SPU, the chief editor of the “Rural wage” followed him and left the party”, Stanislav Belkovsky said.
In February 2009 Babakov participated in another corruption scandal in Ukraine. It flared up after the news agency “New Region" published an interview with co-owners of the firm"DASK "- the Kiev businessman Mstislav Skorobogatov and his partner, Bani Nasser Abdullah. The businessmen accused the "luzhnikov group” and the structures close to Babakov of the raids of captures in the shopping centers and hotels. Skorobogatov and Nasser made an accusation to the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine that they did not want to investigate the raids of armed captures. They announced that they filed a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to the State of Ukraine.
Alexander Babakov called false the information that he was allegedly involved into capture raiders to some Ukrainian enterprises. Babakov supposed that the appearance of such information in the media had been initiated by "Ukrainian forces, who were interested in discrediting the Russian politicians."
"New Region" on 04.03.08, "Kommersant", № 135 (3466) on 26.07.2006, NEWSru.com on 28/01/2009
"Spravedlivoross Babakov denied the accusations in raids in Ukraine" - ITAR-TASS, 28.01.2009
"Kremlin opposition" - Kommersant, 26.04.2008. - № 72 (3889)
As the State Duma deputy Babakov was known for his legislative initiatives, aimed at struggling against the luxury (the bill introduced the tax on luxury goods which value exceeded 15 million rubles. According to the current prices all the citizens who owned housing in the capital and its suburbs could get under the bill of Babakov. Opponents of the "Fair Russia" from the Communist Party, commented on the struggle of the businessman against the luxury and pointed out with irony that all that looked like an operation of «bee against the honey " and looked ridiculous.
Soon the publicity received information that the main fighter with luxury in Russia, and a prominent patriot Babakov was a citizen of Israel. This news caused outrage among the fellow deputies, but they never went from words of indignation to action. Nobody checked this information. Note that Babakov did not comment on the dual citizenship anyhow (whether he refused the citizenship of Israel or kept it).
« The Code of Babakov. Double Standards of “Fair Russia”, Pravda.Ru, 07.06.2007
In 2008, the party “Fair Russia” was experiencing an acute shortage of funding – it lacked a half million rubles monthly on its own maintenance, because the major financial provider of the party, the State Duma Vice-Speaker, Alexander Babakov stopped doing it. There reason laid in the long-lasting conflict of Babakov with Nikolay Levichev, the head of the fraction with the same name in the State Duma. The latter was close to the leader of Fair Russia, Sergei Mironov. Disagreements led to all employees’ dismissal from the party accounting which had been led by Marina Kazakova, a long-standing acquaintance of Babakov. As a result, the party had to give up big offices in Russian regions and reduce the number of apparatus’ employees. It is noteworthy that in 2009 Babakov dropped out of the first hundred of the leading politicians of Russia (in 2008 he was on the 96-th place in Top-100).
In 2009, Babakov’s Assistant, Alexei Belyaev was killed. The body was found in a rented apartment in the Autumn Boulevard. Experts counted 35 stab wounds on the body. The case was solved in the record time. The assistant of vice-speaker had been killed by a friend-lover in a sudden quarrel. According to Babakov, even though Belyaev was listed as his assistant, he worked on the fraction and studied the technical protocol matters, not referring to the work of social and political affairs.
«Media: The Assistant of the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma has been killed by a student, the one he met at "Odnoklassniki.ru ", NEWSru.com of 10. 03.2009;" the Party "Fair Russia" is out of money: offices get closed, and employees do not get payments ", NEWsru. com from 5.08. 2008; “the Party "Fair Russia" wants to impose a tax on luxury ", NEWru.com from 1.06.2007