Arkady Gaydamak: biography, activities, family

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

His name is surrounded by legends and rumors. He has citizenship of four countries. He was charged with criminal cases and brought to justice. A businessman, politician, philanthropist, diplomat and a person with fantastic connections in foreign financial communities. His name is Arkady Gaydamak. Who is he really?

Arkady Gaydamak. Biography

Secrets around his name begin from the very moment of birth. It is still unknown where Arkady Gaydamak was born. According to some sources, this happened on 1952-08-04 in Moscow, other sources claim that Berdichev became the birthplace of the future businessman. It is known that he spent his childhood in Ukraine.

At the age of twenty, Arkady Gaydamak became an Israeli repatriate. At the same time, he got a new name - Aryeh Bar-Lev. Everything that happened to him in his young years in Israel is known only from his words. He lived in a kibbutz (settlement) and was engaged in agriculture. The next career step is a deckhand on a tanker from Liberia. The same tanker became his guide to a better life: having arrived in Marseille, Arkady Gaydamakwent down the ladder to the shore and did not board the tanker again. France became his new home.

France

From Marseilles, together with the soldiers, whose documents were not checked at that time, Arkady Gaydamak reached Paris by rail. It is here that he takes the first step in entrepreneurship. By his own account, in Paris, he works as a painter and enters a business selling refurbished residential properties.

The entrepreneur invests all income in his own education, becomes a student of a technical school, and after graduation he is engaged in the translation of technical literature. Thanks to his own diligence and efficiency in doing business, he soon manages to open a translation agency. The business was successful, Arkady Gaydamak acquired a large clientele, and he had to use the services of hired workers to meet demand.

In the mid-seventies, a successful start-up entrepreneur invests in a new direction - serving foreign delegations. It was this business that became a lucky ticket for him in terms of new acquaintances and connections. His clients were the heads of state structures of the USSR and large Western corporations. At this time, the business gained such momentum that it aroused the interest of French counterintelligence. In 1982, he was summoned for interrogation and raised suspicions of collaborating with the KGB. Some media outlets suggest that it was as a result of this "conversation" that Arkady Gaydamak was recruited and became a double agent.

Business inUnion

In the mid-eighties, a prosperous entrepreneur lost interest in his existing business. At this time, he begins cooperation with the Soviet Union, and succeeds in this. By 1987 Arkady Alexandrovich Gaidamak was a successful trader. His interests include trade in metal, coal and oil, which he sells to the West with high profitability. The businessman's income reaches seven figures, he buys luxury real estate in England and France.

Angola. Arms supply scandal

Since 1992, Gaydamak has been supplying a large batch of oil equipment to Angola in exchange for local oil. At the same time, he becomes a citizen of Angola. Moreover, businessman Arkady Gaydamak is an adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country. In the mid-90s, he oversees negotiations to repay Angola's debt to the USSR.

The supply of weapons by the Soviet Union to Angola also falls into the sphere of interests of the enterprising Gaydamak. In 2000, France initiates an investigation into this case, puts him on the wanted list, and the businessman urgently leaves the country. In fairness, it should be noted that a year later the case was closed due to numerous procedural violations.

Business non-stop

Having left France, Gaydamak chose Israel as his new place of residence. All this time, the entrepreneur's assets have been steadily growing. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Moscow Bank, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Credit Bank. According to some publications, Arkady Gaydamakowns a large uranium business in Kazakhstan, Kazphosphate is his property. The media often mentioned his diamond and oil business in Angola.

Does not leave the businessman without attention and the Russian market. In 2005, Agrosoyuz LLC appears, he is also credited with the real estate business. United Media is a holding controlled by an entrepreneur. It includes the Business & FM newspaper, two radio stations, the weekly Moskovskiye Novosti and The Moscow News, the Popular Finance magazine, and an advertising agency.

Political activities

As is often the case in the business environment, entrepreneurs are trying to expand their spheres of influence through politics. Arkady Gaydamak was no exception. In the mid-2000s, he joined the political life of Israel, created the Social Justice movement. In 2007, the first congress of the party was held in the capital of Israel, at which Gaydamak announced that he would fight for the resignation of the government and lobby for the interests of the leader of the Likud party, B. Netanyahu. However, this did not prevent Gaydamak from doing the exact opposite: from Israeli media reports of that period, it is known that Gaydamak assisted Amir Peretz, the antipode and rival of B. Netanyahu.

Later, in 2008, an aspiring politician runs for mayor of the Israeli capital, but fails miserably, not even getting 4% of the vote.

Criminal prosecution

In 2009, the French prosecutor's office demandedfor Arkady Gaydamak six years in prison and a fine of 5 million euros in the case of arms supplies to Angola.

In the same year, information was leaked to the press that the businessman was asking for Russian citizenship.

A Parisian court in autumn 2009 found Arkady Gaydamak guilty in absentia of organizing illegal arms supplies to Angola in the period from 1993 to 1998. and sentenced him to six years in prison. Almost 40 people were convicted in this case, and the main defendant did not appear at any court session. In 2011, the Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to three years.

In October 2009, it became known that the Israeli authorities charged the businessman with fraud, money laundering, conspiracy with bankers and concealment of income in the amount of up to $ 200 million. After 3 years, the Israelis waived some articles of the charge in exchange for a partial admission of their own guilt, an additional payment of a fine of about $6,000, and a voluntary contribution of more than $800,000 to the state fund. Gaydamak agreed to such an agreement and pleaded guilty to obtaining benefits through illegal actions.

Investing in sports

Living in Israel, the businessman became the owner of not only a number of enterprises. His interests went further. He buys shares in sports clubs. Gaydamak bought the Beitar football club and actively sponsors the Hapoel basketball team. In 2013, the decision came to him to get rid of the football club, concludinga deal for its sale with businessmen from Russia and Kazakhstan. This caused a real riot of fans. Fans staged rallies and picketed the courts. Under their pressure, a new agreement was signed, according to which 75% of Beitar went to the former owner of Hapoel, E. Tabib, and 25% remained with the association of Israeli fans.

In 2006, the son of a businessman, Alexander, acquires a full stake in the English Portsmouth. The deal cost £32m. But already at the end of 2008 comes to the decision to sell the club. According to the millionaire, the reason for this decision is that he cannot afford to devote the necessary amount of time to the club. Suleiman El Fahim, a billionaire from the United Arab Emirates, became the new owner of the team.

Art connoisseur

Arkady Gaydamak is the owner of a large collection of antiques in the Empire style. According to him, things in this style are the most natural for human life. In 2000, Gaydamak wrote the book "Russian Empire". The publication was highly appreciated by art critics of the world. The businessman's interest in this direction was born in his young years in Paris, because it was this style that prevailed on the streets of the city. Arkady Gaydamak's taste was greatly influenced by Ariane Dondua, a great decorator.

Relationship with Levi Leviev

According to the Antikompromat public Internet library, Gaydamak Arkady worked closely with the Israeli "diamond king" Levi Leviev in the 2000s. In 2011 betweenpartners ran a black cat. Gaydamak files a lawsuit over the breakup of equity participation in diamond mining projects.

Gaydamak stated that his business partner has not paid commissions and dividends earned on the diamond trade since 2004, despite having received an average monthly payment of $3 million from Leviev until then. Arkady Gaydamak demanded that he and the defendant be recognized as equal partners. Levi Leviev, who, according to Forbes, ranks 782 in the world in terms of his fortune, appealed the lawsuit. In 2012, the London court satisfied the claim and recognized the businessmen as equal partners, but left the plaintiff's claim for compensation of funds without satisfaction.

Private life

Little is known about the businessman's personal life. Arkady Gaydamak, whose family consists of a wife and three children, does not make his personal life a subject of public discussion. They have been together with his wife since the seventies, although they got married only in 1980. In 1971, the son Alexander was born, in 1981 - the daughter Ekaterina, in 1984 - Sofia. Today, Gaydamak Jr. runs an independent business. Katya is a successful jewelry designer, while Sofia promotes her sister's jewelry to the market. On her shoulders - marketing and advertising. Arkady Gaydamak, whose wife belongs to the same faith as him, raised their children in strict religious traditions.

The last information occasion given by the businessman was the wedding of Sonya's youngest daughter. It took place in May 2015. happy fatherArkady Gaydamak, whose photo, like the entire ceremony, the beautiful bride and guests, was of interest to many, did not stint on organizing the event. To hold it, a whole small town was built near Tel Aviv. All tables and columns were decorated with thousands of white peonies and orchids. The wedding, according to family traditions, was held in accordance with religious canons.