Igor Putin
Igor Alexandrovich Putin | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 30, 1953 Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, political figure |
| Known for | Vice president at Master Bank, leader of Igor Putin Fund |
Igor Alexandrovich Putin (; born 30 March 1953) is a Russian entrepreneur and political figure, formerly serving as vice president at Master Bank. He is a first cousin of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Presently, he leads the Igor Putin Fund, an investment firm dedicated to fostering industrial growth in Russia’s peripheral regions.
Early life and education
Igor was born in Leningrad to Alexander Putin, a Soviet military officer and younger sibling of Vladimir Putin senior. The family later relocated to Ryazan, where Alexander worked as an instructor at the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School. Igor completed his studies at this military academy in 1974.
Career
Between 1974 and 1998, Igor Putin served in the Soviet and subsequently Russian armed forces. Following his military retirement in 1998, he took positions with the Ryazan Oblast Statistics Committee from 1998 to 2000 and then chaired the Ryazan Licensing Chamber between 2000 and 2005. Beginning in 2002, he also led the Ryazan Coordination Committee of the United Russia party. During this timeframe, he obtained academic qualifications from the Volgo-Vyatskaya Academy of State Service (2000) and the Moscow Institute of Economics, Management, and Law (2003).
In 2005, he assumed the role of chairman at the Samara Reservoir Plant, part of the VolgaBurMash holding company. By October 2006, he transitioned his political allegiance from United Russia to A Just Russia, although his political progress was reportedly curtailed by his cousin to prevent nepotism concerns. By 2007, he held a directorship at AvtoVAZbank.
In September 2010, Igor Putin was appointed Vice President of Master Bank, which soon after secured a valuable contract with the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation. His tenure was brief as he retired in December of that year.
By February 2012, he had invested in developing Murmansk port facilities and owned significant shares in Energiya (51%), Avangard 500 (40%), and Gorizont TV (25%). As of 2013, he served as Chairman of the Board for Pechenga International Sea Port and was a member of the Government Marine Board.
Sanctions
In 2022, he was subjected to sanctions by the UK government in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Money laundering
Igor Putin’s retirement coincided with a criminal inquiry into the alleged embezzlement exceeding 30 million Russian roubles from Master Bank by employees exploiting IT systems. The investigation implicated leading IT specialist Mery Tevanyan, who was accused of orchestrating an extensive illegal operation involving daily transactions up to 500 million roubles using bank resources. In March 2011, just five days after the investigation ended, Igor Putin resumed a directorial role at Master Bank but did not engage in everyday management. He maintained his directorship at AvtoVAZbank concurrently.
In November 2013, amid money laundering controversies, the Central Bank of Russia revoked Master Bank’s license. During this period, Igor Putin was on its Board and had previously served as Vice-President.
A report released in 2014 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) uncovered a $20-billion laundering network involving Russian banks and Moldindconbank in Moldova; Russian Land Bank transferred $5 billion within this scheme. Igor Putin held a director position at Land Bank but informed Forbes Russia that he resigned due to discomfort with questionable transactions. Other banks connected to him participated in the wider Russian Laundromat operation that funneled funds out of Russia into Europe through fictitious loans, offshore entities, and bribed officials.
The UK-registered company Lantana Trade LLP, owned by Igor Putin, attracted whistleblower Howard Wilkinson’s scrutiny when it appeared inactive in Britain while millions circulated through its Estonian bank account. The OCCRP exposed this as part of a $230 billion transfer operation linked to the Danske Bank. Russky Zemelny Bank, where Igor Putin was an investor, ceased operations amid suspicious activities tied to this $20-billion laundering case. Subsequently, he stepped down from boards of Russkiy Zemelny Bank, Promyshlenny Sberegatelny Bank, and construction firm Yakut.
In 2017, banker Alexei Kulikov was detained for illicitly transferring $10 billion out of Russia via Promersbank, where Igor Putin was a board member at the time of Kulikov’s arrest.
Family
His son, Roman Putin, is an entrepreneur who established the Russian company Putin Consulting in March 2014 and soon after revealed a corruption case involving Russian Railways. Additionally, he has a niece named Vera Putina, who is occasionally incorrectly referred to as President Putin's niece.