Vladimir Litvinenko
Vladimir Litvinenko | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 14, 1955 Timashyovsky District, Russia |
| Occupation(s) | Scholar, entrepreneur, university rector |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Known for | Rector of Saint Petersburg Mining University; campaign manager for Vladimir Putin; major shareholder and chairman of PhosAgro |
| Notable work | Supervision of Vladimir Putin's 1996 dissertation; direction of Putin's 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns |
Vladimir Stefanovich Litvinenko (, born on 14 August 1955) is a Russian scholar, entrepreneur, and served as the campaign manager for Vladimir Putin.[1] He holds the position of rector at Saint Petersburg Mining University located in St. Petersburg.[1]
Career
Since the 1990s, Litvinenko has occupied the role of rector at Saint Petersburg Mining University.
He oversaw Vladimir Putin's 1996 dissertation,<ref> which has faced allegations of extensive plagiarism and questions about Putin’s authorship. Litvinenko has been criticized for either disregarding or failing to address these claims.<ref name=cdi.org> Clifford Gaddy highlighted Litvinenko’s simultaneous responsibilities as both dissertation supervisor and a member of the government accreditation commission responsible for degree standards, further complicating the controversy surrounding the accusations of academic dishonesty.<ref> According to Litvinenko’s daughter Olga, he was the actual author of the dissertation.[2]
Litvinenko directed Putin's presidential election campaigns in both 2000 and 2004.
On June 11, 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Germany.[3]
In 2022, Litvinenko endorsed the Address of the Russian Union of Rectors, publicly supporting Putin's military action in Ukraine.<ref>
Business career
Litvinenko holds close to a 15% ownership stake in PhosAgro, an Arctic-based phosphate mining enterprise formerly partially owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He asserts that his shares were compensation for consultancy services rendered in 2004, claiming full compliance with legal requirements.
PhosAgro debuted on the London Stock Exchange in July 2011, with Litvinenko among its shareholders and serving as chairman. When his stake was approximately 5%, its market value was near $260 million. In April 2014, he purchased an additional 4.9% from Andrey Guryev, the company’s controlling shareholder, for $269 million.
Personal life
Litvinenko is married to Tatyana Petrovna Klovanich and has a daughter named Olga, born in 1983, who formerly served in the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. In 2010, Vladimir and Tatyana assumed custody of Olga’s daughter Ester-Maria (born 2009) and declined to return her, prompting Olga to pursue legal proceedings. Olga has characterized her father as "Russia’s wealthiest rector" and an oligarch. After Olga left Russia in 2011, Vladimir reported both her and her son Michael Stefan as abducted and had her assets frozen. Olga contends that all her defense attorneys were arrested and sentenced.
References
External links
- Profile of Litvinenko, Saint Petersburg Times
- Olga's Daughter Facebook (in Russian)
- 1955 births
- Living people
- People from Timashyovsky District
- Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class
- Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
- Russian billionaires
- Russian businesspeople in real estate
- Academic staff of Saint Petersburg Mining University
- Saint Petersburg Mining University alumni
- State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates