Vladimir Vinogradov
Vladimir Vinogradov | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 September 1955 Ufa, Bashkiria, Soviet Union |
| Died | 29 June 2008 (aged 52) Moscow, Russia |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Known for | Founder and president of Inkombank |
Vladimir Viktorovich Vinogradov (Russian: Владимир Викторович Виноградов; 19 September 1955 – 29 June 2008) served as the founder and president of Inkombank, which ranked among the largest banks in Russia during the 1990s. In 1996, he was listed as the 12th wealthiest individual in Russia, but his institution ultimately failed following the financial turmoil of 1998.
Early life
Vinogradov was born in Ufa, Bashkiria, and experienced the loss of his father at a young age, growing up under modest circumstances. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Moscow Aviation Institute and was employed as a construction engineer at the Atommash plant from 1979 until 1985. Engaged actively in the Komsomol youth movement, he pursued further education at the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics and became chief economist at Promstroybank by 1988.
Career
In October 1988, Vinogradov established Inkombank (Moscow Innovative Commercial Bank), one of Russia’s earliest fully private commercial banks, which eventually expanded to become the nation’s largest private banking institution. He participated in Boris Yeltsin’s business advisory council and was recognized as one of the influential "seven bankers" shaping Russia’s financial sector. By 1997, he held the position of vice president within the Association of Russian Bankers.
Inkombank maintained partnerships with prominent figures such as Bruce Rappaport. In 1992, Vinogradov openly endorsed Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and led the economic group PPI alongside notable individuals including Vladimir Gusinsky, Leonid Nevzlin, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Although an early supporter of Yeltsin and an adviser to the Economics Ministry, he criticized government policies in 1995 for their inflexibility and highlighted economic damage caused by the conflict in Chechnya.
Starting in 1992, Edmond Safra’s Bank of New York served as correspondent bank for Inkombank, which was its largest commercial client. During this period, Igor Komarov was employed at Inkombank.
The bank encountered violent opposition; in 1993, an Inkombank banker was murdered amid mafia attempts to seize control over a St. Petersburg branch. American investment funds reportedly acquired a significant stake in Inkombank that same year but later experienced complications related to dividend payments and ownership documentation.
A contentious transaction occurred in 1994 when $2 million was illicitly transferred from Bank of New York accounts to a bankrupt Russian bank temporarily rescued by an Inkombank loan secured with state assets; this operation received approval from Boris Nemtsov and Anatoly Chubais and involved high-level government oversight.
By May 1996, with assets nearing $4 billion, Inkombank arranged Russia’s inaugural unsecured syndicated loan valued at $20 million from Western financial institutions. Vinogradov successfully sued media outlets controlled by Boris Berezovsky for libel after false insolvency rumors about Inkombank circulated. In December 1996, he introduced the first American depositary receipt for a Russian bank on US stock markets, complying with US accounting regulations. Early in 1997, he forecasted that half of Russia’s approximately 2,000 banks would cease operations within five years.
Vinogradov cultivated international relationships including those with Rothschild Bank and McKinsey & Company, which assisted in refining his business strategy. Inkombank’s industrial portfolio encompassed holdings in jet manufacturer Sukhoi and aluminum producer Samara Metallurgical. In a landmark hostile takeover during 1995, Vinogradov acquired Babayev chocolate factory through transparent terms fairly extended to minority shareholders. Nevertheless, allegations surfaced that organized crime connected to Semion Mogilevich had infiltrated Inkombank by 1994.
In May 1998, Chase Manhattan facilitated a $50 million commercial paper program for Inkombank, which reported assets totaling $5.1 billion at that time. The financial crisis of August 1998 inflicted severe losses due to investments in GKOs; despite receiving a $100 million credit line from the Central Bank of Russia, Inkombank soon collapsed. Vinogradov resigned prior to the revocation of its license on 29 October 1998 due to excessive risk exposure and deterioration of asset quality. The bank was officially declared bankrupt on 1 February 2000.
Subsequent investigations after the collapse uncovered allegations of illicit fund transfers abroad via subsidiaries and money laundering involving accounts at Bank of New York and other institutions. Vice president Vladimir Dudkin asserted that stolen loans and foreign aid were funneled overseas through intermediaries under misleading designations such as "Pension Funds," supported by forged documentation.
From the early 1990s onward, Russian security agencies discovered connections between Inkombank and Georgian drug traffickers who used cotton shipments as cover—a network allegedly backed by Georgian security forces but contested by Western authorities. Under US RICO statutes, attorneys representing Inkombank faced accusations of obstructing justice during these probes.
A prominent auditor investigating suspicious transactions linked to Inkombank was assassinated in Moscow in October 1997.
In September 1999, hearings were convened by the US Congress concerning alleged illegal conduct involving Vinogradov and Inkombank.
A lawsuit filed in 2005 revealed that Inkombank utilized accounts at Bank of Cyprus to launder sums exceeding $1 billion.
Personal life
Vinogradov was married to Liudmila and together they had three children: two daughters and a son. He passed away in Moscow on June 29, 2008, at the age of 52, following a prolonged illness caused by a stroke.
Books