Iskandar Kakhramonovich Makhmudov

Born on December 5, 1963 in the city of Bukhara, Uzbek SSR.

Parents - according to some sources, university teachers, according to other sources, the father is a civil engineer, the mother is a teacher of the Russian language. Married twice. The name of the first wife is unknown (according to unconfirmed reports, she was born into a family of Bukharian Jews). There is a son from his first marriage. The second wife is Makhmudova Margarita Ildusovna.

In 1984 he graduated from the Arab department of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Tashkent State University. He did not serve in the army thanks to the university military department.

In 1984-1986 - translator for a group of Soviet military advisers and specialists in Libya (in the "Main Engineering Directorate" - the allied analogue of "Rosvooruzheniye").

In 1986-1988 - Interpreter for a group of Soviet military advisers in Iraq (in the Directorate for the Construction of Military Objects of the Iraqi General Staff).

According to Makhmudov's own words, his activities in the Middle East were not at all limited to the work of a translator. Since the visiting military specialists from the USSR were not aware of the eastern specifics of doing business, Makhmudov had to establish contacts himself and to a large extent independently negotiate and settle problems. First of all, his activities were related to the supply of weapons. The activities of military translators abroad were supervised by the KGB.

In 1988-1990 - Worked in middle management positions in the State Joint-Stock Company "Uzbekintorg", which carries out foreign trade operations of the Uzbek SSR, in the "Industrial Machinery" department. Foreign trade was built on a barter basis: instead of Russian metals and chemicals, Uzbekintorg received mass consumption goods that were in short supply in the USSR. It is assumed that at this time he met the "guilds" the Chernois brothers, who specialized in the trade of consumer goods in Uzbekistan.

In 1990 he moved to Moscow, where he began working for the Chernois brothers in the field of metallurgy and coal (the main fuel for metallurgical plants at that time). It is reported that at work in Uzbekintorg, Makhmudov met Vladimir Lisin, who at that time worked as deputy director of the Karaganda metallurgical plant. Lisin's boss was Oleg Soskovets, who in the first half of the 1990s was the Russian deputy prime minister in charge of metallurgy. Soskovets became the main lobbyist for the Chernois brothers.

In 1991-1994. - Marketing Director of JSC "Alis".

In 1994 he participates in the privatization of the Pavlodar aluminum smelter in Kazakhstan together with the Chernois brothers. Working with the Chernois brothers, Makhmudov holds formal positions in their Trans World Group company (for example, an advisor to a representative for Russia and the CIS or a consultant to the general director). In addition, Makhmudov acted as the head of the Chernois brothers company "Blond investment corp".

In 1994-1996. - Director of AOZT Industrial and Financial Company Meta-Service (Moscow).

According to available data, CJSC PFC Meta-Service was affiliated with the Transexpo Union of Enterprises (Voluntary Union for the Promotion of Transport, Ecology, Culture and Solving Social Problems). The head of the "Transexpo" union was twice convicted Alpatkin Sergey Petrovich. Transexpobank was also affiliated with this person, the chairman of the board of which was Andrei Removich Bokarev, Makhmudov's future partner. In the 2000s, it became known that Bokarev A. R. together with Makhmudov own a controlling stake in OJSC Kuzbassrazrezugol, as well as OJSC UMMC.

In 1994, a car belonging to Transexpobank was blown up in Moscow. An examination of the remains established that one of the leaders of the Orekhovskaya organized criminal group Sergey Timofeev (nicknamed Sylvester) was in the car. Timofeev is one of the most famous leaders of the Orekhovskaya gang. With its rise in 1993, the organized criminal group began a qualitatively new stage in its activities associated with the legalization of capital. There is information on the Internet that in 1993, with the assistance of Sylvester, an agreement was reached between the “Orekhovskaya” and Sverdlovsk authorities ”, as a result of which the East Line company, headed by Dmitry Vladimirovich Kamenshchik, a relative of a high-ranking Sverdlovsk policeman, allegedly The Uralmash organized criminal group (the largest organized criminal group in the Sverdlovsk region) has leased the Moscow Domodedovo airport (one of the largest airports in the country, located in the zone of influence of the Orekhovskaya organized criminal group). In return, Orekhovtsy got the opportunity to participate in the privatization of the Ural metallurgical plants.

In 1995-1996. - Makhmudov was listed as a security guard at the Medox company. This firm was affiliated with the company of the Chernois brothers "Siberian Aluminum". The position of the guard gave Makhmudov the right to bear arms. In 1996, the firm "Medox" was headed by Yuri Evgenievich Zaostrovtsev, who, before leaving for commercial structures (1993), supervised the State Customs Committee in the economic counterintelligence department of the FSK (heiress of the KGB), returned to the civil service in 1998 and soon took the position of the first deputy director of the FSB (renamed FGC), in charge of the economic direction.

Also, until 1996, Makhmudov was a member of the board of directors of Bank Sayany (Republic of Khakassia). The main shareholder of the bank was the Sayan Aluminum Plant, one of the first enterprises of the aluminum complex, which came under the control of the Chernois brothers. The main lobbyist for the interests of the Chernois brothers in Khakassia was Arkady Sarkisyan, the first deputy chairman of the government of the Republic of Khakassia, Alexei Lebed. Makhmudov's connection with the Armenian diaspora in Russia is probably of great importance. The aforementioned "Transexpo" union was the founder of the "Armenian Bulletin" bulletin and Alpatkin's successor as the head of "Transexpo" was an Armenian by nationality Tatevosyan Artur Vladimirovich (according to information from the Internet, an active member of the "Dolgoprudnenskaya" organized criminal group - Moscow).

Among the criminal connections of Makhmudov during this period of time, it should be noted the connection with the "Izmailovskaya" organized criminal group (Moscow) and the organized criminal group "Uralmash" (Sverdlovsk region).

According to information from the Internet, the "Izmailovskaya" organized criminal group stood out among the other Moscow organized criminal groups with an emphasized hostility to the "Caucasian authorities" (Chechen and Azerbaijani). There is a version that in the early 90s, after the collapse of the USSR, the state security bodies initiated the release of many “Slavic authorities” from prison just to fight the insolent “Chechen mafia”. The leader of the Izmaylovskys, Anton Malevsky, is named as one of the authorities, who was allegedly supervised by the state security organs. In this regard, it should be noted that Armenians traditionally conflict with Azerbaijanis, both at the state level of Armenia - Azerbaijan and at the level of diasporas. Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov ("Taiwanchik"), a native of Uzbekistan, one of the "authorities" coordinating the activities of Russian organized crime groups in Europe, is also referred to the "Izmailovskaya" organized criminal group.

However, given the evidence that in the Sverdlovsk region the Chernois brothers probably worked closely with one of the prominent figures of the Azerbaijani diaspora, Asadulla Murtuz Oglu Kuliyev, the question of Mahmudov's “national preferences” no longer looks so clear. It is also possible that Makhmudov has no national preferences at all.

In Makhmudov’s native Uzbekistan, one of the most authoritative criminal leaders is Salim Abduvaliev (“Salim”), who is suspected of organizing the supply of drugs from Central Asia through Russia to Europe. Information was published on the Internet that "Salim" was closely associated with Makhmudov, to the extent that Makhmudov, allegedly, was acting in the interests of "Salim".

One of the most important points of drug trafficking from Central Asia to Europe is the Urals. Makhmudov has key positions in this region. The largest copper enterprise in the Sverdlovsk region is the Uralelectromed plant. After the collapse of the USSR, the plant fell into a deplorable state, partly due to the general economic decline in the country, and partly due to the vigorous activity of the Ural organized crime groups, who squeezed the last funds from the plant. The situation changed when the Chernois brothers. came to the plant with a proposal to organize work according to tolling schemes. In an alliance with the Uralmash organized criminal group, the Chernois brothers and Makhmudov appointed Andrey Anatolyevich Kozitsyn to the post of general director of the plant in 1994, having endured a difficult struggle with the Center organized criminal group, during which many authorities on both sides died. At the same time, the final truce was reached not so much as a result of a military solution, but due to an agreement on the division of spheres of influence. According to some reports, Alexander Vasilyevich Kruk was "looking" for the plant from the Uralmash organized crime group in the interests of Makhmudov-Chernykh (the main areas of interest are metals and timber, was found dead in 2000). At the same time, Kruk's right hand was Sergei Meisel, who in the first half of the 1990s worked closely with the leaders of the "center".

In the second half of the 90s, Uralmash begins to legalize its capital and organizes the social and political union Uralmash, starting to actively participate in political events in the region. Since the early 2000s, the leader of the Uralmash organized crime group, Alexander Khabarov, has been promoting the implementation of the public project, the City without Drugs Foundation, which was originally organized in 1998 by UMMC PR specialist Vladimir Beloglazov as a political project. The Foundation declared the goals of combating drug addiction in Yekaterinburg. Some sources claim that the head of the foundation, Roizman Yevgeny Vadimovich, is associated with persons who supply drugs from Central Asia to the European part of Russia through the Ural region. However, the law enforcement agencies did not initiate cases against Roizman under the relevant articles of the criminal code. Roizman himself claims that such accusations are the work of the drug mafia, which wants to defame his name. It is also believed that Roizman's alleged connections with the drug mafia are covered by someone in the law enforcement agencies or special services, which are the main organizers of the drug supply.

It should be noted that at the turn of the 90s and 2000s, when fighting for the Kachkanarsky GOK and the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (NTMK), the interests of Makhmudov and his partners diverged from those of the Uralmash organized crime group, which resulted in a conflict at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The head of the Sverdlovsk Region GUVD, Valery Kraev, who was considered a "lobbyist" of the Uralmash organized criminal group in law enforcement agencies, was forced to resign. But his opponents from the department for combating organized crime (Leonid Fesko) also lost their positions. Almost all of them went to work in the security service of NTMK, which, with the support of Makhmudov, went to a friendly structure - the Evraz Group company, and the Kachkanarsky GOK, for which UMMC “fought” with its rebellious manager Jalol Khaidarov, also went to it. Khaidarov eventually fled to the United States, where he called Makhmudov a member of a criminal group, which, in addition to him, included the Chernois brothers, Oleg Deripaska, Anton Malevsky (Izmailovskaya organized criminal group), Evraz-group and MDM-group.

In 1996-1998. Makhmudov - General Director of the Gaysky Mining and Processing Plant (Orenburg Region).

1999 - Deputy General Director for Development of LLC Siberian Aluminum Group.

Since 1999 - President of OJSC "Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company" (UMMC), formed on the basis of the plant "Uralelectromed". The holding itself was formed in 1998, when it included a number of mining and processing copper assets. Officially registered in 1999. The UMMC company employs two relatives of Makhmudov who permanently reside in the Sverdlovsk region: Makhmudov Shukhrat Khamraevich and Makhmudov Alim Khamraevich. Both hold senior positions at UMMC and most likely oversee Iskandar Makhmudov's interests in the company.

In the second half of the 1990s, a conflict began between Makhmudov's "godfathers" - the Chernois brothers, in which Makhmudov took the side of Mikhail Chernoi. According to Forbes, initially Makhmudov owned UMMC together with Mikhail Chernoi, but in 2002 Mikhail sold his share to Makhmudov, leaving the copper business.

In addition to ties with the Chernois brothers, Makhmudov's ties with the Glencore International AG are significant. According to available information, in the first half of the 2000s, the offshore schemes used by UMMC for the export of copper ultimately led to one buyer - Glencore International AG, which in turn sold copper on the London Metal Exchange. A similar situation is with Makhmudov's other largest asset - Kuzbassrazrezugol - the coal of this company was supplied to the Austrian trader Krutrade AG, who, in turn, as stated in the investment memorandum, also sold most of the coal to the Glencore International AG. It is interesting in this connection that, say, UMMC's competitor in the copper market, Norilsk Nickel, after 1997, having refused to work with the Chernois brothers', TWG, entered into a contract with the same Glencore to sell 60% of its production. The third player on the copper market, the Russian Copper Company of Igor Altushkin (a former junior partner of UMMC, who had a "quarrel" with Kozitsyn), also sold copper to Glencore in amounts close to 100%.

In the 2000s, Makhmudov created Transmashholding (production of railway transport). It is assumed that the success of this line of business was due to the ties of the Chernois brothers with the leadership of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation in the 1990s and early 2000s, which controlled Russian railways. It is reported that in the 2000s, Makhmudov managed to establish good relations with the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin.

In 2012-2013, high-profile trials of Oleg Deripaska with Mikhail Chernoi and Roman Abramovich with Boris Berezovsky took place in London. The name of Iskandar Makhmudov sounded at these trials. In the end, the current Russian oligarchs Deripaska and Abramovich chose to make peace with the disgraced oligarchs Chernoi and Berezovsky, who at one time were their "godfathers", in order to avoid voicing historical facts about the specifics of Russian business in the 1990s that were shocking to the world community. It is reported that Makhmudov was among the mediators in these negotiations.

Date of information update: 2013.