How does Kirsan Ilyumzhinov earn money?

Over the past couple of months, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has announced investments worth billions of dollars. Where will he get that kind of money from? They will not be needed - after all, in most cases, Ilyumzhinov acts as a lobbyist and mediator

Finding Ilyumzhinov in Moscow is difficult. According to him, he spends two-thirds of the year in negotiations abroad, and a third - in flights within Russia. “My office is a mobile phone,” Ilyumzhinov jokes. For a meeting with a Vedomosti journalist, he chose the Klopovskaya estate - a two-story mansion on Goncharnaya Street (near the high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment).

“This is the office of my partner Abusupyan Kharkharov,” says Ilyumzhinov. “Now we have several joint projects 50 to 50.” After some time, Kharkharov himself, the former director of the Makhachkala seaport, and now co-owner of the Safinat investment and logistics group, comes down to say hello to Ilyumzhinov. Safinat has its own fleet of 22 vessels in the Caspian Sea and investment projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Europe.

For two months now, the name of the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and ex-President of Kalmykia Ilyumzhinov has been on the pages of business publications. On June 19, it became known that he was buying 52% of Bulgaria's second-largest fuel retailer, Petrol Holding. July 10 - that he became a shareholder of the French Sucden, one of the world's largest sugar merchants. July 13 - that Ilyumzhinov with the British Ashmore Group creates a fund for $1 billion with the prospect of growth to $10 billion. And three days later, at a meeting with the President of Pakistan, Ilyumzhinov announced plans to invest $5.5 billion in the Thar coal field.

“Ilyumzhinov’s notebook contains half of the Forbes list, and on different pages there are the names of people who have been at enmity with each other for many years,” says his acquaintance. - Ilyumzhinov gets involved in conflict situations and helps to negotiate between the warring parties. You can make money on this or just get a share in the company. Another acquaintance is sure that Ilyumzhinov does not invest his money at all, but always receives a share: "He is not an investor - he is a shareholder." The third says that he still invests: “Ilyumzhinov is a walking investment bank: he finds a topic, organizes a deal and co-invests. Where more than 50%, somewhere 10-15%.

Where does the money come from? Ilyumzhinov jokes that back in 1993 he became a billionaire - however, in rubles and before the denomination.

First million

One day in the fall of 1993, people armed with machine guns burst into the Lirus Motor car dealership at the All-Russian Exhibition Center. They laid the employees face down on the floor and announced: "Now we are your roof, the fee is every tenth car." One of the employees asked permission to call the owner of the salon - Ilyumzhinov. “I was at the Metropol at the time and suggested that the bandits come for money. They came, we talked and parted ways. I didn’t give money or cars to anyone,” Ilyumzhinov recalls. He says that this was not the only case: “They came to me, I knew everyone and now I can call everyone by their nicknames, but I didn’t pay anyone.”

The 27-year-old MGIMO graduate Ilyumzhinov earned his first $1 million a year after graduation. In 1989, he got a job at the Soviet-Japanese joint venture Liko-Rainbow, which was engaged in the purchase of Volkswagen and Audi through Finland. “They paid 6-10% for sold cars. I took a directory of enterprises engaged in foreign economic activity, and the first one I came across was NLMK, - Ilyumzhinov recalls. - In the USSR at that time there were no free circulation of dollars, and enterprises selling their products abroad received a quota for the purchase of consumer goods. Someone bought down jackets, and I suggested NLMK Volkswagen and Audi. The directors agreed. Car sales went into the hundreds.

Having retired from Liko-Raduga in 1990, Ilyumzhinov became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, created the Sun corporation and went into business. Now he hardly remembers his assets of the 1990s: “The New Look newspaper”, the Ovation award, slot machines in the Izmailovo hotel, a share in TV-6, a Sochi television company, a trading house on the street. Dmitry Ulyanov, Russian Paper exchange, Hyundai dealer - the same Lirus Motor, the first sushi bar in Moscow with karaoke on Taganka ... They traded a lot, even pencils against cockroaches. In 1993, Ilyumzhinov said that he had about 50 companies with an annual turnover of $500 million.

offshore republic

In 1993, with the slogan "A rich president - incorruptible power" and a promise to make the Republic of Kuwait, Ilyumzhinov won the elections and became the president of Kalmykia for 17 years. To make Kalmykia Kuwait, he first made it offshore.

It began with the fact, Ilyumzhinov recalls, that acquaintances from his student years came to visit him - Valery Tutykhin, Boris Lipkin, Sergey Mamedov, Alexei Kucherenko and Berik Balgabaev (they later became ministers of Kalmykia, heads of state-owned companies or advisers to Ilyumzhinov). “They registered a law firm in Elista and said: let's do something. I suggested that they create an offshore zone,” Ilyumzhinov recalls.

In 1994, the Kalmyk offshore began work. Companies registered in it, instead of local taxes, made contributions to the President's Program Fund - $ 1,250 per quarter. The Kommersant-Vlast magazine estimated the fund's annual income at $20 million. This scheme lasted until 1998, when the Accounts Chamber came to Kalmykia at the request of the Yabloko party. Before the arrival of the auditors, the President's Programs Fund was liquidated (along with the archives), and the fund's banking documents were destroyed - the sewerage broke through.

In 1999, MGIMO graduates launched a new scheme. Kalmykia adopted a law "On tax incentives for enterprises investing in the economy of Kalmykia", which exempted investors from local taxes. There were 16 investment projects that gave the right to benefits, in the amount of $820 million. The most popular among resident companies was the Kalmyk Business Center project on the territory of the City-chess chess town built in 1998. The Ministry of Investment Policy of Kalmykia entered into an agreement with the company, which specified the amount of quarterly payments. The minimum payment was $300, the maximum was $3000.

According to a lawyer who worked with Russian offshore companies in those years, there were other, unofficial payments: the authorities of Kalmykia constantly demanded an additional payment, the amount of which was determined personally for each investor. But in any case, it was profitable: the tax savings are huge. So, the company "Asta-trade" (trader TNK-BP) in 2002-2003. paid the business center 1.9 million rubles, saving 1.9 billion rubles. on profit.

It all ended in 2002, when the tax legislation changed. Here worked a trap for investors. Since 2003, the Kalmyk tax authorities have bombarded the court with lawsuits against the “investors” of the Kalmyk Business Center. They refused to recognize the "payment for services" of the center, and the payments were made out that way - investments. And sued unpaid taxes. Asta-trade was eventually ordered to return 4.65 billion rubles, and the company went bankrupt. In most of the cases studied by Vedomosti, the amount of taxes is much less - hundreds of thousands of rubles. But the contributions were also smaller: the minimum was $300 per quarter.

Ilyumzhinov says that during the work of the offshore zone in Kalmykia, he met all the participants in the Forbes list. “Some of them at that time came to Elista in a Zhiguli,” he recalls.

Chess Republic

President Ilyumzhinov made Kalmykia not only an offshore, but also a chess republic. He has been fond of chess since childhood, at the age of 14 he was the champion of Kalmykia. And in 1995 he became president twice - he headed FIDE. In 1998, the World Chess Olympiad was held in City Chess, built on deductions from residents of the offshore.

Chess helps Ilyumzhinov in business. “Ilyumzhinov is known all over the world,” says his acquaintance, the first legal Soviet millionaire Artem Tarasov. - He is the president of FIDE, which includes the chess federations of most countries. There are a lot of countries where top officials, bankers, billionaires are fond of chess. It's like a Masonic lodge: those who don't play chess don't know anything about these people."

Photo from www.kalmykiatour.com

Back in 1999, together with Tarasov, Ilyumzhinov tried to launch chess Internet projects. “I then met with [Microsoft owner] Bill Gates, but he said that it was technically impossible to make an Internet platform for 100 million chess players,” Ilyumzhinov recalls.

Chess brought Ilyumzhinov together not only with Gates. The President of the Asian Chess Federation is another of his acquaintances - the Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa al-Nahyan (the one who helped divide the business of Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky). “I have known many people since the 1990s,” says Ilyumzhinov. - For example, we have been friends for a long time with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the UAE, he came to Kalmykia to hunt. Nahyan has about 560 own companies. Now I offered him to become a co-investor in some projects.”

In July, Ilyumzhinov also met with the President of Pakistan in his capacity as FIDE President. After discussing the development of chess in the country, the parties moved on to investment projects. On behalf of the Swiss Credit Mediterranee, Ilyumzhinov offered to invest $5.5 billion in the Thar coal deposit. Credit Mediterranee was registered in Geneva in March last year. According to one of the directors of this company, it manages a fund with a capital of about $ 2.5 billion and Ilyumzhinov is only one of the investors, and his partners are "multimillionaires from Southeast Asia and Arab countries."

Vietnam project

In May 2010, former Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet came to visit President Ilyumzhinov to fish and hunt. At the same time, they discussed the possibility of building a Vietnam town in Kalmykia and developing several Russian projects in Vietnam.

At the same time, Ilyumzhinov's friends also came to the republic - the founder of the Ru-com group Mikhail Abyzov, the co-owner of the Alltek group Dmitry Bosov and the latter's partner in the telecommunications business Evgeny Roitman. In an interview with Vedomosti, Nguyen Minh Triet answered evasively when asked about the investments of Ru-com and Allteka: “There is no specific information, but we support investments in telecommunications and high technology projects.”

A few months after the hunt, RusViet Telecom (part of Alltech) received a test license to build an LTE network in Vietnam; in October 2010, the network went live in Hanoi. According to Roitman, Ilyumzhinov is one of the shareholders of Alltech Telecom, which is developing telecommunications projects in Southeast Asia.

Bulgarian project

“I have known Denis Ershov and Mitko Sybev [co-owners of Bulgarian Petrol] for a long time,” says Ilyumzhinov. According to Ilyumzhinov, "Sybev and Ershov parted ways two years ago in their understanding of continuing the business." Because of the conflict, the company had problems with finances - banks stopped lending.

“Sergey Baturin [a former consultant to Ilyumzhinov], Volk Khan [world champion in ultimate fighting, businessman Magomethan Gamzathanov] and another comrade from Bulgaria came to me and said: maybe you can take a look? - Ilyumzhinov recalls.

According to Yershov, negotiations with Ilyumzhinov began in March. “The deal is actually closed, but consultations are still going on,” Yershov says. “After the corporate war, there are many controversial situations that Ilyumzhinov will have to resolve.”

Petrol is the second fuel trader in Bulgaria after Lukoil. It has, according to Ilyumzhinov, 361 gas stations, 80 oil storage facilities, three port terminals plus non-core assets (land, an airline with five planes, hotels, a football club and a stadium).

In June, Ilyumzhinov announced that Credit Mediterranee had bought out the shares of Ershov (47.5%) and Alexander Melnik (5%) and started negotiations with Sybev. According to Ilyumzhinov, he has already agreed with Sybev to sign settlement agreements on 17 lawsuits - so many former co-owners of Petrol managed to file against each other - and now the conditions for Sybev's exit from business are being discussed. Sybev could not be contacted, but he confirmed to the Bulgarian newspaper Capital Daily that he was negotiating with Ilyumzhinov to sell his stake.

What will Ilyumzhinov do with Petrol? There is another investor in the Petrol project, Ilyumzhinov says: “The partner said: “Come on, Kirsan, figure it out, and then I will go.” Ilyumzhinov has already consulted about Petrol with his "old and respected friend" Vagit Alekperov, the owner of Lukoil. But Bulgarian officials are unlikely to allow Lukoil to buy Petrol - even now they accuse him of monopoly. In 2010, negotiations on the purchase of gas stations from Petrol were conducted by Gazprom Neft, but they ended in nothing.

french project

“A few months ago in Paris, an old acquaintance, businessman Pyotr Panteleev, introduced me to the president and co-owner of Sucden, Serge Vorsano,” says Ilyumzhinov. “Vorsano wanted to consult on business in Russia and other countries.” The conversation quickly moved from the abstract to the concrete, and Ilyumzhinov, he said, was offered to become a shareholder in Sucden. In July, Ilyumzhinov announced that he had become one of the "key shareholders" of the trader. Why did one of the world's largest sugar traders need Ilyumzhinov's help?

The company has problems with the largest of its three plants in Russia - Dobrinsky (located in the Lipetsk region). The Cypriot company Endorsia bought the rights of claim to the plant for about 0.5 billion rubles. and sued him for about 2 billion rubles. The interests of Endorsia were represented in court by Sergey Fedosov, a former Alfa-Bank lawyer, a Vedomosti source in Sucden knows. And the Cypriot address of Endorsia coincides with the addresses of Alfa Group structures. A spokesman for Alfa Bank declined to comment.

Ilyumzhinov did not tell Vedomosti how he plans to resolve the current situation. “We hope that it will be quite effective,” Etienne Pelletier, director of the Russian office of Sucden, told Bloomberg.

The representative of the Russian Sucden refused official comments. A source in the Russian Sucden assures that Ilyumzhinov is not among the co-owners of either the head or the Russian structure: “Panteleev brought Ilyumzhinov to Vorsano, and they talked, but he does not provide any assistance in resolving the corporate conflict.”

Ilyumzhinov assures that he has a stake in Sucden and is already preparing several projects to expand Sucden's business: "We plan to build three sugar factories in the Stavropol Territory, we are considering options in Kazakhstan and Pakistan."

Panteleev has his own version - Sucden will act as a technical consultant, and he and Ilyumzhinov will build the plants: "Investments will come from a fund created by Ashmore Group and Ilyumzhinov, and we are also counting on significant state support."

- You have an interesting phone - vintage.

- And I don't have a computer. I don't even know how to turn it on and off. I have been using this phone for 19 years - and the number has been the same since 1996. It was recorded by Henry Kissinger, by Richard Gere, by the Dalai Lama. Muammar Gaddafi also knew him. 200 countries!

- In 19 years, there was not a single moment when the phone was lost?

- Once I forgot it on the plane when I flew to New York. The fact that he himself could not call anyone is okay, then they helped me out. But they call me too! My working day is from 7 am to 3 am, the rest is personal time. That's how it is with MGIMO. I have never been on vacation or taken a day off in my life.

What is the most unexpected call you have received on this phone?

- Once I went to see how the Holy Fire descends in Jerusalem. I stood all night, the people had already begun to fall asleep, some kind of fight between the believers began ... And at 6 in the morning I was awakened by a call from one president: “Christ is risen!” I'm surprised, of course, but I answer: "Thank you." And he laughs: “He has truly risen!” Thought it was a prank. Then he asks again: “Where are you now?” I say: “Yes, in Israel.” This is where it got torn apart!

- Do you fly around the world on a private plane?

“There was a Falcon-2000, I sold it to build the largest Buddhist temple in Europe,” promised the Dalai Lama. 64 meters, 12.5 meters golden Buddha. At first he sent 200 million - it was not enough. Here I sold it.

— Kalmyk New Year. What is it and how does it differ from a regular holiday?

- It is tied to the Tibetan New Year - the Dalai Lama has always been the spiritual leader of the Kalmyks. The exact date of the holiday is determined by the lunar calendar, it is different every year.

I remember when we were little, we got up at 6-7 in the morning, put on a coat with more pockets, and went from house to house - picking up sweets. In dwellings - where the Buddha stands - a lamp is usually lit and the dead are remembered. Bortsigs are always baked - this is when dough is dipped into hot oil and various figures are made. We, by the way, say that the year of the chicken has come, not the rooster.

There must be Kalmyk tea - so pressed, it used to cost twenty rubles. Grandma sent for him to the store. How to cook? A three-liter pan is taken, water is poured into it - a little less than half. A three-liter pot needs a sip of tea; every Kalmyk family has a small hatchet to crush it. The tea boils for about 5 minutes, the water turns brown, after which a liter and a half of milk is added there. The fire is turned off, a pinch of salt, a little oil and nutmeg are added to the tea. At the end, the grandmother took a ladle, scooped up water and poured it back. So you need to do 108 times - because according to Buddhism, a person lives 108 lives. Plus, when you do this, the tea is enriched with oxygen. Drink it in the morning and you can run for half a day.

- Did the players in Uralan drink this tea?

— Tried. I know that Pushkin did not like it. Lenin's father, Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, only drank Kalmyk tea. Mendeleev drank, his grandmother was a Kalmyk. Lavr Kornilov too. Boris Spassky liked it. Gazzaev.

— Are Carlsen and Karjakin the Messi and Ronaldo in the world of chess?

— Carlsen is a real top, the rest are nearby. He is a Norwegian bulldozer, half a head ahead of everyone. But all the same, Karjakin won a very important victory - in the eighth game of the championship match, when, after seven draws in a row, he won with black. Carlsen was shocked and ran away from the press conference. And then I almost lost the ninth game.

I remember that in 2004 we held the knockout world championship in Tripoli, this was the first official appearance of Karjakin. He and Carlsen are my nominees, I gave them a wild card when they were boys. And I'm rooting for both. So that you understand: there is a fight for places in tournaments, each federation asks for its players. But only I make the decision - they bring me folders with dossiers. Plus, I can get opinions from chess players and journalists I know.

— Where did you watch the decisive game of the match between Karjakin and Carlsen?

- Dangled between live broadcasts. For the first time in 92 years, a FIDE President did not take part in a World Championship match, can you imagine? On November 24, 2015, I was included in the sanctions list because of my connections with the leadership of Syria, which I did not hide. Bashar al-Assad and I opened a three-story chess center in Damascus, I donated thousands of chess boards and textbooks there.

When included in the list, I expressed dissatisfaction. Became the first of 10,000 sanctions, starting with Fidel Castro, who sued them. And he asked for an open trial - with journalists and press conferences. They fell apart after that. By law, American lawyers must defend you in an American court. I spent a month looking for those who would agree. On February 23, a major law firm finally received a license from the Ministry of Justice to defend a sanctioned suspect.

But the most important thing was to get hold of the case itself, the so-called case. They weren't issued to anyone before me.

- What's in this case?

Yes, here it is, you can study it yourself. They decided not to send it to lawyers, but to me personally - they even asked for a legal address for this. 46 pages! Look - they sent it on June 8, it took a month and a half. I say: did you send it by ship? But the most interesting thing is that I got on the list based on Guardian articles, statements by Garry Kasparov, and some other extracts.

- So what exactly is the US Treasury accusing you of?

— The fact that I know two people: the Minister of Economy of Syria and the President of the Syrian Chess Federation. I asked them to send to the US all the necessary photographs, hotel bills, letters from Syrian children… Then I had to answer another 200 questions of a special questionnaire. The questions are, what was I doing in Las Vegas in September 1999? What does this have to do with Syria? But nothing, he answered - he opened the World Chess Championship with Bill Clinton.

What question surprised you the most?

- A letter came from the US Consul General: give us a list of countries that you have visited since 2000 - with confirmations. I have five people counted for a week! 1200 trips turned out - an average of 80-90 per year. About 30 passports were sorted out - it's good that copies were kept.

At what stage is the trial now?

- After the presidential elections, they do not answer. I gave them phone numbers - I say, if you want - listen. Although they probably have been for a long time ... Lawyers tell me: maybe they are consulting with the FBI, with the CIA? Then I wrote a letter to the directors of the FBI, the CIA and Secretary of State Kerry: I am ready to take a polygraph test. A week later they answer: no need.

After that, I decided to provoke the situation and bought a ticket for the American airline Delta. Lawyers tried to dissuade me - they said that they could arrest me for violating the border. So I wanted an open process! Wrote: I ask American justice to protect me from the arbitrariness of American officials in accordance with the bill of human rights.

In general, I bought a ticket, I have a visa until 2018. And when I was already passing control at the airport, two people from Delta came up, apologized and gave the money for the tickets. I say, "Wait, what's the reason?" - “Mr. Ilyumzhinov, well, you are a politician. There was a team." And I called everyone in America at night and said: tomorrow at 10 I will stand at the checkpoint with my documents. The Deputy Secretary of the Treasury tells my lawyer: “Ilyumzhinov is crazy? The first case in 12 years that a sanctioned suspect came himself.” The guys laughed - "You're going to showdown." As a result, the Americans themselves began to dissuade me from the trip. I say: “No, I want to look into your eyes!”

- At the same time, the match for the world title was held in New York.

“I could have moved it, but I didn't. It was a Bobby Fischer memorial match that I have always emphasized. Although not a single American spoke about it. In addition, I promised the American chess fans that they would have a major tournament. This was my gift. You can not be offended because of some politicians. I know that Garry Kasparov went to the State Department several times and asked to be included in the sanctions list - back in 2014, because of the referendum in Crimea. But it didn't work out. And I support the Ukrainian Chess Federation - I even held the Women's World Championship in Lviv. I met with Poroshenko several times, I have a warm relationship with Klitschko. We are now introducing chess in schools there, and setting up chess pavilions in 16 parks in Kyiv. I always support those who support chess.

- Did you personally talk with Kasparov on the subject of sanctions?

- I made him an official offer - I have no enemies. When Kasparov lost the elections in 2014, I went to the podium and said that I was ready to appoint Kasparov as FIDE Vice President. Or offer an independent position - to supervise the international chess academy, the "Chess in Schools" program. And he just left the room. This is the only delegate who did not congratulate me.

I have always offered to cooperate with my opponents. In 2006, my opponent was the Dutch billionaire Bessel Kok, with whom Kasparov held parallel world championships in the 1990s. I offered him the post of first vice president. But Kok answered: I am already old, 64 years old.

Why did you run for president then?

- He started such a stormy campaign, traveled around the countries, that I made another proposal - to create Global Chess, a fund for the development of chess. 50 to 50, I give 2.5 million euros - and he gives 2.5. Kok agreed, sent his proposals. We registered the company in Amsterdam - he lives there. I didn’t appoint a single one of my people there, all the people are from Kok’s headquarters. But he himself did not deposit money. I ate mine - and after 2-3 years came: “I can’t take it anymore.”

— You said that you have made more than a thousand trips since 2000. Is North Korea the most mysterious country in the world?

— I started from South Korea. They had three organizations responsible for chess, I united them. Now we are planning a match: we are bringing 100 children from Pyongyang and 100 from Seoul, who will play chess on the border between Koreas.

North Korea is a very beautiful country. Clean, calm, safe. Kim Jong-un gave them a little liberalization, began to develop the private sector. Like in China in the 1990s. For example, we could not get into an expensive Japanese restaurant - all the places were occupied! Only when the president of the Korean Chess Federation called someone did they arrange a table. In the next room - karaoke and disco. A bunch of taxis - and if there are taxis, then people can pay.

— What is the biggest organizational difficulty you faced in Korea?

- There are difficulties in Korea, but they promise to solve them for athletes. There are really difficulties on the border with Ukraine: all men of draft age are interviewed. I flew to Lviv, my assistant was immediately taken away. And they also say to me: “What are you here for?” I answer: "Meet the president." And the woman looks at the passport: “Which president? With your?" No, I answer, still with yours. She is surprised: “What, are they filming already?”

In Libya we were bombed, in Syria I came under fire. In Libya, the Minister of Education and I had to sign an agreement on the Chess in Schools program. We arrived in the evening, I knew that NATO troops were bombing the city, but I did not think that this was all happening in the city center. And they started ironing from 9-10 pm. We stayed at a hotel, although we were offered a bomb shelter. And in the morning we wake up - the hospital opposite is half destroyed! They aimed at the parliament building, but it was only hit by shrapnel. In Tripoli, all industrial and government institutions were bombed.

Gaddafi is a Buddhist who believed in reincarnation. In recent meetings, they talked with him about the transmigration of souls. I asked him: “Why don’t you leave?” He answered: “Kirsan, where will I go? I lost my adopted daughter. She was bombed then. They were hunting for Gaddafi - they figured it out by mobile phone. He left - and seven minutes later a bomb flew into the house where his daughter lived. 15 people died: guards, a cook, a nanny and a 10-month-old granddaughter. Here Gaddafi said: “I buried my relatives and I know that they will kill me. But I will not leave my homeland.

And I went to Assad from Lebanon. Arrived in Beirut - and half of Syria was driving a white BMW. I was met by the vice-president of the country's chess federation. Assad’s assistant was then surprised: “Why did they give this unarmored?” And on the road, the militants went out onto the highway and fired at everyone in a row. A car caught fire in front of us. They themselves flew into the ditch, sat there until everything calmed down. It's good that they didn't go fast.

— How did the vice-president of the chess federation react to this?

- "Nothing, it happens." I was then asked the question on the BBC: why are you friends with the bad guys? I ask: with whom, with Gaddafi? Excuse me, are the Rothschilds yours? Nathan Rothschild asked me to introduce him. He hugged him for three days in Tripoli! And when Gaddafi came to London and bought weapons for 10 billion, he was good for you. Tony Blair accepted it.

— Another well-known chess fan, who was considered a bad guy, recently passed away. Fidel Castro.

Castro is a big fan of chess. Tables are always laid in the central square of Havana, and the masters give simultaneous games. I want to do this on Red Square next year. A couple of times Castro participated in such sessions, the last one was 6 or 7 years ago. One grandmaster offered Fidel a draw, but he said: "No, I'm going all the way." And then they began to play together with the boy who was sitting next to them. And they also argued with each other: Fidel goes on the attack - and the boy takes the piece. The grandmaster says: "Are you going to walk?"

— The most emotional meeting in your life?

When Bobby Fischer cried. When I became FIDE President, I thought that I needed to talk to all the leading chess players. But the answer came from Fischer that he would not talk to me because I am Russian. I say: Yes, I'm not Russian, I'm Kalmyk! And back in 1991, he said that he would not communicate with anyone from the Union, because he was deceived. Publishing house "Physical Culture and Sport" published the book "Robert Fisher. 60 memorable parties". I learned to play from this book, it has been translated into 100 languages ​​of the world. But our publishing house did not pay Fischer a fee. And the circulation was 100 thousand, and he was supposed to have a dollar per copy.

Fischer wrote a letter to Gorbachev - silence. In 1991, he wrote to Yeltsin - he was refused, and not in the most respectful form. When I found out about this, I asked Andre Lilienthal, the oldest grandmaster - he was 90 years old, to tell Fischer: as a citizen of Russia, I am ready to take on this debt.

An hour later, the phone rings: “This is Bobby Fischer talking to you. Perhaps you know me? This moment is one of the most memorable, Fischer was a demigod for me. He says: “I was told that you are ready to pay the debt of the Soviet Union. Is this a joke or are you a crazy man? I explained that, on the one hand, I want to thank him for his contribution to my development, and on the other, just to chat. He was surprised: “Communicate with me? What for? No, you're really crazy if you want to meet crazy Bobby."

Did he live as a hermit in Iceland?

- It's later. And then he gave me his bank account - Budapest, Export-Import Bank. I told the accountant to transfer the money. And it was evening, it was too late for banking operations. Fisher calls at night: "Did you transfer the money?" It turned out that no - in the morning. To which Bobby replies, "No, I don't trust your Jewish banks! Take the cash and bring it here."

The next day I flew to Paris - there was a chess evening with Disneyland. In the afternoon, Fisher calls me back: “Have you left yet? I missed Russian black caviar. There is an Iranian one here, but I don't like it. And take black bread. I flew in, Andrew Lilienthal took me to an apartment in the center of Budapest. The wife cooked dumplings, cucumbers. I got caviar, poured vodka. Bobby spreads caviar on bread and looks at me. All is silent. And I think: now I will give the money - and goodbye. In general, I take out a plastic bag. Bobby stops and uses the same knife he used to spread the caviar to cut through the cellophane. He sees a bank package there: “Jews too?” Then he asks if I have Jewish friends. And I was warned: not a word about the Jews. Fischer was an ardent anti-Semite, although his own father is Jewish. And he hated them because his father left his mother. In general, I say: "Let's better tell about the Mongols, about Genghis Khan."

- Did they tell you?

- Fisher at that moment took out a 10,000th pack from the bag and began to count: 100, 200, a thousand ... And there are 10 packs, and I have to fly away at 6 in the morning! Bobby counted 5 or 6 thousand. I am silent, Andre Lilienthal is silent, my wife is standing with dumplings. Fortunately, Andrew was found: "Bobby, while you count, the vodka is getting cold!". And Fischer had a string bag under the table - and now he poured all this mountain of money into it. Then he poured himself some vodka, drank sharply and began to cry. He poured it again and got up to make a toast: “I was deceived all the time. And here for the first time a man brought his money!” In America, the Bobby Fischer Lessons program was on, and he did not receive a dollar from it.

On this wave, I invited Bobby to play chess. In the first and second games he bombed me, but in the third and fourth I resisted! For me, as a chess player, it was the top. After that, Fischer accompanied me to the airport. We pass through the waiting room - and I don’t understand why everyone turns to us. Did you know? He was still wearing a cap ... Then I look: and Fischer has dollars sticking out of his string bag!

What else do you remember Fischer apart from that meeting?

- He was sentenced in America to 10 years in prison and a million dollar fine. When they began to bomb Belgrade, he trampled on the flag and said: "This is an aggressor country." As a result, he was detained in Japan. And before that, I gave him a mansion at City Chess. And so he writes: "Kirsan, I ask you for political asylum in Kalmykia." The funny thing is that before that I asked for help with the Dalai Lama's visa - because of the Chinese, there were problems with this. And then there's Fischer!

Bobby, by the way, read Russian newspapers. Sometimes in a conversation he switched to Russian. He told me that he learned our language in order to become a champion. As a child, he went to a second-hand bookshop and saw a publication about chess. It seems to be Nimzowitsch's My System. He asked: "What is this language?" I bought a dictionary along with the book. So advice from Fischer: if you want to become a millionaire, play chess, and for this, learn Russian. I always tell this story when I travel around countries.

- You also said that chess pieces should weigh a kilogram. For what?

- There is such a story: chess is recognized as a sport in 150 countries, in 117 it is included in the Olympic Committee. And in the UK, since the 1930s, an amendment was adopted according to which sport is where there is physical effort. I came to London, there were parliamentary hearings. We showed the parliament lead chess and I said: if you need physical effort, let's play such chess.

Before that, we conducted studies proving that during a game chess players lose up to a kilogram of weight, their arm muscles tense up. I talked a lot with Samaranch about this. In 1998, by the way, he donated half of the Olympic Museum for the match between Anatoly Karpov and Vishy Anand. At the same time, he said: “The FIDE President must also have a residence!” He collected papers and left me his office.

A little later, it was decided that FIDE should conclude an agreement with WADA. We have a commission that monitors lists of prohibited drugs from morning to evening and sends them to national federations.

The captain of the Ukrainian national team, Vasya Ivanchuk, did not pass the tests once - he was almost disqualified. In Dresden in 2008, during the Chess Olympiad, he was in a winning position, but instead of a checkmate, he got a checkmate himself. He jumped up from the table and ran away. And after the match, he had to pass urine. At that time I was in negotiations with the German minister - and then they call me: "Vasya escaped!" And I have a cat Vasya at home, I wonder: “Where did you run away?”. It turned out Ivanchuk. The chairman of the commission says: the only thing that will save him is if he is found within an hour. But Vasya does not use mobile. They searched for him, searched for him - they found him in the Dresden gallery near the Sistine Madonna. He says: I wanted to see if the Pope has six fingers or not. Do you know this riddle - how about Mona Lisa's smile? Vasya, what fingers? Go pee!

- Incredible thirst for knowledge.

- There was another funny incident with Vasya. I usually left work at one or two in the morning. A guard calls from below: there is some kind of chess player there. And then the Grand Prix tournament was held in Kalmykia, the next day there was a game. And then Ivanchuk comes in with a pile of books. He sits down, opens one of them - as if we were talking 5 minutes ago: “Kirsan Nikolaevich, I didn’t understand here according to the theory of emptiness in Buddhism ...” I answer: “Vasya, where are you from?” And in the evening he went to a Buddhist temple, began to look at books. The lama was there at that moment, and they started a discussion. Until 12 at night! No more taxis, no buses. And he went to see me at City Chess. In the end, I called him a car - I say: "Let's talk tomorrow."

Once his money was confiscated at customs - he received prize money and put it in his pocket. Didn't declare anything. Vasya is asked: “Do you have money?”. He replies, "No." And then they look - 10 thousand, 20 thousand, 30 ... They took it away, we still cannot return it.

- Regarding money: have you ever considered how much personal money you spent during the years of your FIDE presidency?

- About 100 million dollars, more than 90 - for sure. Example: In January 2003, New York Mayor Bloomberg promised to give money for Kasparov's match against the computer. The budget is one hundred million, 50 to 50. Prior to this, the Israeli government was supposed to finance, but it refused. Bloomberg ended up not listing anything, and I still had to pay extra rent for the room he gave.

FIDE President

Ilyumzhinov, Kirsan

FIDE President

President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) since 1995. Member of the United Russia party. Creator of New-Vasyukov - an elite hotel complex on the outskirts of Elista. In 1993-2010 he headed the Republic of Kalmykia; during this time, he repeatedly dismissed his own government, in 1998 announced the intention of Kalmykia to secede from the Russian Federation, was repeatedly accused of numerous financial violations and violations of federal law, but was never held accountable.

Kirsan Nikolaevich Ilyumzhinov was born on April 5, 1962 in Elista, the capital of the Kalmyk ASSR,. Ilyumzhinov's father was a party worker, his mother was a veterinarian.

At the age of 14, Ilyumzhinov became the champion of Kalmykia in chess. In 1979 he graduated from high school with a gold medal. In 1979-1980 he worked as a fitter at the Zvezda (Odn) plant,. In 1980-1982 he served in the Soviet Army, in parts of the North Caucasian Military District,.

In 1982–1983, Ilyumzhinov returned to the Zvezda plant. He worked as a locksmith, was a foreman of the youth brigade. In 1983 he joined the CPSU.

In 1983, thanks to his work experience (more than two years), party membership and excellent recommendations, Ilyumzhinov entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). At the institute, he was deputy secretary of the party committee for ideology and captain of the institute's chess team.

In 1988, Ilyumzhinov was expelled from the fifth year, according to a number of online media - for drug use, addiction to visiting restaurants, alcoholism, and even possession of potassium cyanide). However, after a few months it was restored,. In 1989 he graduated from the institute, having received the qualification of "specialist in Japan and foreign economic relations with the countries of the East",.

In the same year, Ilyumzhinov became president of the Sun international corporation. He organized the Step bank in Kalmykia (in 1992, the turnover was 15 billion rubles). According to media reports, in 1992, Ilyumzhinov, as the head of the Steppe association, proposed to the Russian government to provide Russian factories with high-quality wool. He was given a loan of approximately 11 billion (according to other sources - 14 billion) non-denominated rubles. Having received the money, the Steppe association transferred it to firms that were supposed to buy wool (it was also indicated that it transferred it to firms at interest), but none of them delivered the wool, and most of the credit disappeared without a trace. According to other publications, it was Ilyumzhinov's fraud with 14 million rubles allocated by the government of the Russian Federation to the Eco-Rainbow corporation for the purchase of wool. Also mentioned were accusations that while working at the Eco-Rainbow Corporation, Ilyumzhinov received a bribe of $ 5 million for the illegal supply of oil to Japan,. A number of media published information about the disappearance of $ 5 million intended for the purchase of two lines of the Elmi wool washing factory.

On March 18, 1990, Ilyumzhinov was elected a people's deputy of the RSFSR from the Manych territorial district number 821 (Kalmykia). Ilyumzhinov was included in the Committee on International Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations, was a member of the deputy group "Sovereignty and Equality", in the "Change - New Policy" faction. He was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the last convocation - until the collapse of the USSR,.

By April 1993, Ilyumzhinov headed more than 50 companies, banks and stock exchanges in the CIS countries and outside the former USSR (according to other sources, Ilyumzhinov was their founder). A number of media indicated that the annual turnover of these enterprises was $ 500 million,.

In January 1993, Ilyumzhinov was elected President of the Russian Chamber of Entrepreneurs and President of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kalmykia. In the same year, he put forward his candidacy for the election of the first president of the Republic of Kalmykia. Ilyumzhinov conducted his election campaign under the motto "A rich president is an incorruptible power".

In April 1993, Ilyumzhinov won the election with 65 percent of the vote,. According to a number of media reports, after winning the election, Ilyumzhinov made himself president of the Kalmykia state investment company, which owned controlling stakes in the republic's main industrial and commercial enterprises,.

During the events of October 1993 in Moscow, President Kalmyki led a group of six representatives of the Conference of the Subjects of the Federation, which entered the parliament building with a white flag, where, together with the President of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, he acted as an intermediary in the negotiations until the evening of October 4, when the parliament building was taken by storm by troops loyal to President Boris Yeltsin.

In November 1993, Ilyumzhinov was elected to the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the first convocation for the Kalmyk district number 8. In the Federation Council, he joined the committee on agrarian policy.

In April 1994, the Constitutional Assembly of Kalmykia adopted the Steppe Code, a new basic law in place of the constitution of Kalmykia that was in force before that. Not corresponding to the previous constitution in form, the Steppe Code was contrary to the basic federal law and in content,. According to media reports, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation sent a special certificate to the State Duma regarding the law on the election of candidates for deputies of the Kalmyk parliament - the People's Khural, in which it noted that in Kalmykia "the electoral right of citizens is limited." The certificate stated that a property qualification was introduced for candidates for deputies of the parliament of Kalmykia, a mandatory "electoral deposit" of 100 minimum wages, and a third of parliamentarians - nine people - are appointed directly by the president,.

In April 1995, Ilyumzhinov dismissed his government (later returned it back) after a commission from the Control Department of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation arrived in Kalmykia. The auditors, according to media reports, found many financial irregularities, in particular, they found out that in 1993-1995 a total of more than 40 billion rubles allocated from the state budget was spent. The head of the commission, Anatoly Dyatlenko, compiled a detailed report for the leadership, but this had no consequences for Ilyumzhinov. Shortly after the audit, Ilyumzhinov received a loan of 495 billion rubles allocated by the Russian government for the social and economic support of the republic. In May 1995, Ilyumzhinov became a member of the Our Home is Russia (NDR) movement.

On October 15, 1995, Ilyumzhinov was re-elected as President of the Republic of Kalmykia. In violation of federal law, he was elected for seven years, and the elections were held on an uncontested basis. By virtue of his position, he became a member of the Federation Council of the second convocation, was a member of the committee on international affairs. In 1998, Ilyumzhinov became deputy chairman of the committee.

In 1995, Ilyumzhinov abolished taxes for non-residents in his republic, replacing tax revenues with a system of quarterly payments to the Development and Cooperation Agency. The funds received by the Agency were managed by the Fund for Programs of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia controlled by Ilyumzhinov. However, the expected inflow of investments did not happen, since most of the companies registered in Kalmykia, according to media reports, worked in other regions.

In November 1995, Ilyumzhinov was elected president of the International Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs, FIDE). Subsequently, he was repeatedly re-elected to this post (the last time - in 2006),.

In 1995, the media wrote about the appearance in Kalmykia of an organized political opposition under the slogan "Down with Kirsan!" and on the creation of an opposition People's Party of Kalmykia (NPK) with branches in all districts and with cells in many state farms and with its own newspaper - "Soviet Kalmykia". Subsequently, a number of media outlets pointed out that the CPP, having failed to legitimize itself, soon left the political scene. Since 1998, the main ideological opponent of the authorities has become the regional branch of the Yabloko party, supported by the federal party and the faction of the same name in the State Duma.

In 1997, the media wrote that in Kalmykia, thanks to the patronage of Ilyumzhinov, all favorable conditions were created for the activities of the totalitarian sect of Moon Song Myung, whose activities are prohibited or limited in most civilized states. They pointed out that for several years, until the prosecutor's office intervened, the Moonist subject "My World and Me" was taught both in the classroom and outside the classroom in Kalmyk schools,. In 2003, at a press conference dedicated to the visit of the President of Kalmykia to the spiritual leader of the Buddhists, the Dalai Lama XIV, Ilyumzhinov emphasized that the Moon sect in Kalmykia was not registered and did not operate - "since the end of 1993, not a single Moonist has been seen in Kalmykia."

In February 1998, the head of Kalmykia issued a decree "On the optimization of the activities of government bodies, increasing the responsibility of leaders at all levels", according to which the staff of ministries, departments and executive bodies were to be reduced "by at least 50 percent" within a week. He resubordinated the structures of executive power directly to himself. Commenting on the decree of the President of Kalmykia for the media, a representative of his administration said that all ministers and deputy prime ministers would remain in place, and special commissions under their supervision would be created to resolve the vital issues of the republic, which would include former employees of the ministries,,. Already in November 1998, Viktor Baturin (brother-in-law of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov) was appointed chairman of the government, who held this post until January 1999. Until 2003, the government of Kalmykia changed several times,. Larisa Yudina, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Sovetskaya Kalmykiya Segodnya, wrote that the next resignation of the government was a sure sign of the high commission's imminent arrival in the republic.

In June 1998, Yudina, the author of numerous exposés about Ilyumzhinov, was killed. Ilyumzhinov's legal adviser Sergey Vaskin, who had previously been convicted several times, was accused of her murder. During the investigation, Ilyumzhinov repeatedly stated that the murdered journalist was engaged in commercial activities, and rejected the version of a political murder. Immediately after the murder of the journalist, the leaders of Yabloko stated that this crime had political overtones, since Yudina "actively fought against corruption in the leadership of Kalmykia."

On June 14, 1998, in an interview with the Obozrevatel news program (TV-6), Ilyumzhinov announced his intention to run for the presidency of the Russian Federation,.

In September 1998, the construction of New Vasyukov, or City Chess (City of Chess), initiated by Ilyumzhinov, was completed - a hotel complex on the southeastern outskirts of Elista. According to a number of media reports, the construction was carried out with budget money: Ilyumzhinov demanded that Khural approve the transfer of 236 million rubles from the account of the Russian Ministry of Finance to the account of the Ministry of Finance of the republic. In order to avoid such situations in the future, the Central Bank of Russia issued an order to stop financial transactions with the Bank of Kalmykia (the order was later suspended).

On November 17, 1998, Ilyumzhinov announced the republic's readiness to secede from the Russian Federation. According to representatives of the Yabloko party, Ilyumzhinov threatened that Kalmykia would secede from Russia if the audit group from the Accounts Chamber was not withdrawn from the republic. According to other sources, Ilyumzhinov called the blockade of Kalmykia by the Russian Ministry of Finance as the reason for his speech. On the same day, Russian President Yeltsin instructed the Security Council of the Russian Federation to consider Ilyumzhinov's statements, and the next day Ilyumzhinov said that he was making the statement in his capacity as a private individual. Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov, at a hearing in the Duma, said that Ilyumzhinov actually carried out an issue in August in the amount of more than 200 million rubles, which he transferred not to the accounts of the National Bank of the Republic (an analogue of the Main Directorate of the Central Bank), but to the Kalmykia clearing bank,.

In March 2000, Ilyumzhinov became chairman of the board of directors of the Nostrak transcontinental corporation.

On October 27, 2002, Ilyumzhinov was elected to the post of President of the Republic of Kalmykia for a third term, and in January 2003 he headed the government of the Republic of Kalmykia.

In November 2004, when the State Duma passed a law allowing high-ranking officials to combine work with party activities, Ilyumzhinov joined the United Russia party.

In the summer of 2005, by decision of the People's Khural, the position of the highest official in the republic was renamed and became known as the "Head of the Republic of Kalmykia". In October 2005, Ilyumzhinov addressed the President of Russia with a statement in which he raised the issue of confidence and early resignation of his powers in accordance with the federal law "On Amendments to the Federal Law" On the General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation "and to the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation"" dated December 11, 2004. On October 24, 2005, at the suggestion of Vladimir Putin, the People's Khural of Kalmykia vested Ilyumzhinov with the powers of the head of the Republic of Kalmykia for another five years.

According to some media reports, during the time Ilyumzhinov was the head of Kalmykia, oil production was halved in the republic, and the production of meat and grain was significantly reduced. Almost the entire industry ceased to exist. 75 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

On July 5, 2006, Ilyumzhinov got involved in a scandal related to the "case of Levon Chakhmakhchyan" - a member of the Federation Council, suspected of receiving a large bribe. On this day, the speaker of the council, Sergei Mironov, sent a submission on the early termination of Chakhmakhchyan's senatorial powers,. Ilyumzhinov stated that the People's Khural should satisfy the idea of ​​early termination of Chakhmakhchyan's powers. At the same time, the Kommersant newspaper claimed that there were long-standing friendly ties between Ilyumzhinov and the senator: Chakhmakhchyan supported Ilyumzhinov in the presidential elections in 2002, and Ilyumzhinov, in turn, lobbied for Chakhmakhchyan's election to the Federation Council.

In October 2007, Ilyumzhinov led United Russia's regional list of candidates in the Republic of Kalmykia in elections to the fifth convocation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. After the victory of the party, as expected, he refused the deputy mandate.

In December 2007, Ilyumzhinov announced a campaign in Kalmykia to "rejuvenate personnel" and on December 5 dismissed the government of the republic, and on December 12 appointed its new composition. On December 20, 2007, the deputies of the People's Khural of Kalmykia also decided to dissolve themselves by a majority of votes. According to the press secretary of the head of the republic, Buyanchi Galzanov, "it was adopted voluntarily on the recommendation of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov." According to Lev Mukhlaev, a former member of the Khural and a member of the United Russia faction, the idea of ​​self-dissolution belonged to the parliamentarians themselves, and they themselves proposed it to Ilyumzhinov as a variant of "resolving the parliamentary crisis." Among the reasons for the latter, the deputies called "the protracted confrontation within the United Russia parliamentary faction."

Ilyumzhinov also suggested that the mayor of Elista, Radiy Burulov (who, as Nezavisimaya Gazeta noted, was a year younger than the head of the republic), resign. However, he did not want to part with his chair. After that, at a meeting with the deputies of the mayor of Elista, held on January 4, Ilyumzhinov, according to its participants, said that from now on he takes over the leadership of the city, and instructs the government of the republic to execute the budget of Elista. NG stressed that this, in fact, meant the introduction of direct republican rule in Elista. On January 9, Burulov called an emergency meeting of the city assembly, where he made harsh accusations against Ilyumzhinov and, in turn, suggested that the head of the republic voluntarily resign and resign. It was noted that the mayor's speech caused a huge public outcry in the republic: the edition of the "Elistinskaya panorama" with the text of the mayor's speech was sold out in less than an hour, and photocopies of his statement could be purchased in crowded places for 100 rubles per copy. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, representatives of the federal center were forced to intervene in the conflict, offering to postpone the dispute over resignations until the election and inauguration of the new president of Russia, whose elections were scheduled for March 2008. In March 2008, it became known that the investigative department The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office for Kalmykia initiated a criminal case against the mayor of Elista on suspicion of abuse of office. In the same month, after a petition from the investigating authorities, the Elista City Court removed Burulov from his post.

On November 12, 2008, Ilyumzhinov got into an accident on Rublevsky Highway and was hospitalized at the Central Clinical Hospital with a concussion and abrasions on his head. However, he was discharged a few hours later, since, according to the results of the examination, he did not receive serious injuries. Traffic inspectors recognized the driver who was driving the car of the head of Kalmykia as the culprit of the incident,.

At the end of May 2009, Ilyumzhinov, by his decree, prematurely terminated the powers of the government of Kalmykia in order to "optimize the funds spent on executive authorities." It was noted that over the 16 years of Ilyumzhinov's rule, this was the ninth change of government. By another decree, the head of the republic reorganized his administration - the functions of the republican cabinet of ministers were transferred to it. Commenting on the latest personnel changes in Kalmykia, local observers associated them with Ilyumzhinov's desire to avoid responsibility "for serious miscalculations in his work."

On April 21, 2010, Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation, announced that Ilyumzhinov had again been nominated as Russia's candidate for FIDE President, who was to be elected in the fall. However, Ilyumzhinov's main alleged opponent in the election, Anatoly Karpov, declared the nomination illegitimate, and also accused the FIDE leadership of corruption, after which, in June 2010, Ilyumzhinov sued him for libel. In July 2010, Karpov himself turned to the International Sports Arbitration (CAS) in Lausanne and demanded that Ilyumzhinov's nomination was violated, but on the eve of the election of the head of FIDE, on September 27, it became known that this claim was rejected,. On September 29, 2010, the congress of the FIDE General Assembly in Khanty-Mansiysk re-elected Ilyumzhinov as FIDE President: 95 delegates voted for him, and 55 congress participants voted for his rival Karpov.

On September 6, 2010, Ilyumzhinov announced that he did not intend to remain as head of Kalmykia after the expiration of his fourth term,. On October 24 of the same year, Alexei Orlov officially replaced Ilyumzhinov as head of Kalmykia. On the same day, the new head turned to Ilyumzhinov with a proposal to head the government of the republic, but he officially refused. Regarding his plans after leaving the post of head of Kalmykia, Ilyumzhinov stated that "as a citizen of Kalmykia" he would "seek an invitation to Kalmykia for his holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama and the transformation of Elista into the center of world chess" .

In the summer of 2011, Ilyumzhinov appeared in the press as a co-owner of the Vel experimental art and production association (EKhPO) (as of March 2011, the former head of Kalmykia owned 18.5 percent of the enterprise). By this time, Vel, which had previously been engaged in the restoration of the halls of the Kremlin Palace, the buildings of the Bank of Russia, the Russian State Library, the Moscow GUM shopping complex, the Savoy Hotel and Moscow Metro stations, began the bankruptcy procedure and was the most problematic borrower of Rosbank.

In June 2012, it became known that Credit Mediterranee, owned by Ilyumzhinov, acquired a 52.5 percent stake in Petrol Holding, a monopoly in the Bulgarian oil market. Ilyumzhinov himself said that he intended to buy out the remaining share of the holding in the near future. In addition to gas stations and oil storage facilities, hotels, a casino, an airline and a football club were mentioned among the assets of Petrol Holding. It was noted that the company had high debts, in addition, the buyer assumed obligations to modernize its gas stations. The amount of the transaction was not named, but according to analysts, it exceeded $1 billion.

In July 2012, Ilyumzhinov acquired a stake in the Sucden group of companies, a Russian sugar producer that is part of the largest international sugar trader Groupe Sucres & Denrees. The amount of the transaction and the number of shares purchased were not named in the press, however, it was emphasized that Ilyumzhinov became a key shareholder of the group of companies.

Ilyumzhinov is a full member of the Academy of Social Sciences (1997), Honorary Academician of the Interregional Academy of Sciences of Science (1997), Honorary Doctor of the National Academy of Applied Sciences of Russia (1998). Member of the Union of Cossacks of Kalmykia (1990). In April 1997, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Ilyumzhinov was awarded the Order of Friendship "for services to the state and a great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples." Ilyumzhinov also has a number of awards from non-governmental organizations, including the FIDE Gold Medal of Peace for humanitarian work (1992) and the Order of Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st degree, the highest award of the Russian Orthodox Church. In April 2012, he was awarded the title Hero of Kalmykia.

Ilyumzhinov is a master of sports in chess. In addition to Kalmyk and Russian, he speaks Japanese, English, some Korean, Mongolian and Chinese. Calls himself a Buddhist.

Ilyumzhinov is married (he studied at the same school with his wife). In 1990, his son David was born.

In addition to Kirsan, the family had two more sons. Kirsan's older brother Vyacheslav also graduated from MGIMO,. In 1985-1993 he was an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kalmykia, after the election of Kirsan as president, he held the positions of state adviser on ideology and deputy chairman of the government of the Republic of Kalmykia. In the early 2000s, he was Deputy Governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug Vladimir Butov,. As of the beginning of 2006, Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CAP company,, member of the International Union of Economists - General Adviser of the UN Economic and Social Council (since 1995),. In November 2010, Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Kalmykia, Orlov. Experts called him the "viceroy" of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and suggested that in this way he would retain his influence in the region.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's younger brother Sanal is an economist. Graduated from the Moscow Financial Academy. As of the end of 2005, he headed the private National Clearing Bank established by Kirsan, which is the main shareholder of CJSC NC Kalmpetrol,. According to a number of media reports, the commercial structure headed by Sanal Ilyumzhinov, in addition to the bank, includes supermarkets, a company selling household appliances and computers, a number of mobile phone stores and a network of wholesale depots. This structure is a sponsor of Izvestia Kalmykia, the main official newspaper of the republic.

Used materials

Ilyumzhinov became a key shareholder in the largest sugar producer Sucden. - Gazeta.ru, 10.07.2012

Alexander Gudkov; Nikolai Marchenko, Sofia. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will refuel in Bulgaria. - Kommersant, 20.06.2012. - № 110 (4895)

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov received the title of Hero of Kalmykia. - Newspaper.Ru, 06.04.2012

Daria Yurishcheva, Yulia Lokshina, Anna Zanina. Half profit per borrower. - Kommersant, 28.07.2011. - № 137 (4678)

Ilyumzhinov Kirsan Nikolaevich

Russian statesman, entrepreneur. First President of the Republic of Kalmykia. President of the International Chess Federation in 1995-2018.

Born on April 5, 1962 in Elista, Kalmyk ASSR. Kalmyk. Hereditary Cossack (part of the Kalmyks - the genus "Buzava" - in tsarist times was ranked among the Cossack class). On the Don there was a collective farm named after his grandfather Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, commissar of the First Cavalry Army during the Civil War. Father - Nikolai Dorzhinovich Ilyumzhinov, mother - Rimma Alekseevna Ilyumzhinova.

In 1979-1980, after graduating from high school with a gold medal, he worked as a fitter-assembler at the Zvezda plant. In 1980-1982 - He served in the Soviet Army in the North Caucasus Military District.

In 1982-1983, K. Ilyumzhinov worked as a foreman of a youth brigade at the Zvezda plant. In 1983 he joined the CPSU.

In 1983-1989, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). He specialized in Japanese politics and history. During his studies, he was deputy secretary of the party committee for ideology. In 1988, K. Ilyumzhinov was expelled from the fifth year, at the same time receiving a severe reprimand as a member of the CPSU, but eight months later he was reinstated at the institute.

In 1989-1990, Ilyumzhinov served as the managing director of the Soviet-Japanese joint venture Eco-Rainbow.

On March 18, 1990, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected a people's deputy of the RSFSR from the Manych territorial district No. 821 (Kalmykia). He was a member of the Committee on International Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations. He was a member of the "Sovereignty and Equality" parliamentary group, "Change - New Politics" faction.

In 1990-1993, K. Ilyumzhinov was the president of the SUN corporation. In 1992-1993 he was elected President of the Russian Chamber of Entrepreneurs (Moscow) and President of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kalmykia (Elista). By April 1993, Ilyumzhinov headed or was the founder of more than 50 companies, banks and stock exchanges in the CIS countries and outside the former USSR.

As head of Kalmykia

In 1993, the collectives of the Zvezda plant and the Alachinsky state farm, the circle of the Cossacks of Kalmykia, as well as the congress of entrepreneurs of the republic, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was nominated as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Kalmykia.

During the election campaign from February 13 to March 11, 1993, K. Ilyumzhinov introduced a 50% subsidy for bread and milk from his own funds for the residents of Elista. According to media reports, Ilyumzhinov allocated 20 million rubles to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic and presented a Mercedes-Benz car, 5 million rubles to the Orthodox Church and a Zhiguli to the rector of the Orthodox church, and also claimed that he could allocate $ 100 to each Kalmyk family from his own funds .

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov won the presidential election, receiving 65% of the vote.

In October-November 1993, Ilyumzhinov participated in meetings of members of the Federation Council of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation in the building of the Constitutional Court. On behalf of the meeting, together with the President of Ingushetia Aushev, he negotiated with the besieged Supreme Council of the Russian Federation.

In November 1993, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected to the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the first convocation in Kalmyk constituency No. 8, receiving 75% of the vote. He was a member of the Committee of the Federation Council on Agrarian Policy.

In April 1994, the Constitutional Assembly of Kalmykia, on the initiative of Ilyumzhinov, adopted the "Steppe Code" instead of the Constitution of Kalmykia that was in force before that.

In May 1995, K. Ilyumzhinov became a member of the Our Home is Russia movement.

On August 15, 1995, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov called early presidential elections in Kalmykia, stating that "the people must make the final choice." On October 15, he was re-elected to the post of head of the republic for a period of 7 years (in violation of federal law). Elections were held on a non-alternative basis. 84% of voters who took part in the voting voted for Ilyumzhinov. He entered the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the second convocation ex officio. Member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Committee (since 1998).

In February 1998, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov signed a decree abolishing the republic's government and reassigning executive power structures directly to the president.

In June 1998, Larisa Yudina, the author of numerous exposés about Ilyumzhinov, was killed in Kalmykia. Sergei Vaskin, Ilyumzhinov's legal adviser, previously repeatedly convicted, was accused of her murder. Ilyumzhinov himself, during the investigation, repeatedly stated that the murdered journalist was engaged in commercial activities, and rejected the version of a political murder.

On November 17, 1998, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced the republic's readiness to secede from the Russian Federation. On the same day, Russian President Boris Yeltsin instructed to consider Ilyumzhinov's speech at the Russian Security Council. The next day, November 18, Ilyumzhinov disavowed his words.

Soon, Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov, at a hearing in the State Duma, accused Kirsan Ilyumzhinov of having actually issued an issue worth more than 200 million rubles, which he had transferred not to the accounts of the National Bank of the Republic, but to the Kalmykia clearing bank. This statement had no consequences for Ilyumzhinov.

In March 2000, K. Ilyumzhinov became chairman of the board of directors of the transcontinental corporation Nostrak. In June of the same year, he stated that there was not a single legislative act in Kalmykia that contradicted the Russian Constitution.

On October 17, 2002, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov went on vacation in connection with his participation in the election campaign for the presidency of Kalmykia (the head of the Central Election Commission Alexander Veshnyakov strongly recommended that he do this). On October 27, 2002, Ilyumzhinov was again re-elected to the post of President of the Republic of Kalmykia for a third term.

In January 2003, K. Ilyumzhinov headed the government of the Republic of Kalmykia.

In November 2004, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov joined the United Russia party.

On October 24, 2005, at the suggestion of Russian President V. Putin, the People's Khural of Kalmykia gave K. Ilyumzhinov the powers of the president of the republic for another five years.

In October 2007, K. Ilyumzhinov headed the regional list of United Russia candidates in the Republic of Kalmykia in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the fifth convocation. After the victory of the party, he refused the deputy mandate.

In December 2007, Ilyumzhinov announced a campaign in Kalmykia to "rejuvenate personnel" and on December 5 dismissed the government of the republic, and on December 12 appointed its new composition. On December 20, 2007, the deputies of the People's Khural of Kalmykia also decided to dissolve themselves by a majority of votes. According to the press secretary of the head of the republic, Buyanchi Galzanov, "it was adopted voluntarily on the recommendation of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov."

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also offered to resign the mayor of Elista, Radiy Burulov, but Burulov rejected this proposal. On January 4, 2008, Ilyumzhinov announced that from now on he takes over the leadership of the city, and instructs the government of the republic to execute the budget of Elista. On January 9, Burulov called an emergency meeting of the city assembly, where he made harsh accusations against Ilyumzhinov and, in turn, suggested that the head of the republic voluntarily resign and resign. In March 2008, it became known that the investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office for Kalmykia initiated a criminal case against the mayor of Elista on suspicion of abuse of office. In the same month, after a petition from the investigating authorities, the Elista City Court removed Burulov from his post.

On November 12, 2008, K. Ilyumzhinov got into an accident on Rublevsky Highway and was hospitalized with a concussion, but a few hours later he was discharged, since, according to the results of the examination, he did not receive serious injuries. The culprit of the incident, traffic inspectors recognized the driver who was driving the car of the President of Kalmykia.

On May 29, 2009, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, by his decree, prematurely terminated the powers of the government of Kalmykia in order to "optimize the funds that are spent on executive authorities." During the 16 years of Ilyumzhinov's rule, this was the ninth change of government. By another decree, the president reorganized his administration - the functions of the cabinet of ministers of the republic were transferred to it.

On April 29, 2010, K. Ilyumzhinov signed a decree on the resignation of Vladimir Sengleev, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Oleg Kichikov, who previously held the post of deputy general director of the state corporation Fund for Assistance to Housing and Public Utilities Reform, has been appointed interim prime minister.

On May 23, 2010, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov signed a decree according to which May 27 was declared a national holiday (non-working day) "Shakyamuni Buddha's Birthday" in the republic.

In mid-June 2010, the head of Kalmykia signed a decree "On the improvement of the executive authorities of the Republic of Kalmykia" . In accordance with the signed document, the prime minister now has two first deputies and three deputies.

On July 22, 2010, a message came that K. Ilyumzhinov intended to write a statement to Russian President D. Medvedev asking him not to consider his candidacy when appointing a new head of the republic. On September 6, 2010, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made a statement that he did not intend to be re-elected to this post for the fifth time, and would support any candidate proposed by the United Russia party and nominated by the President of the Russian Federation.

Chess career

At the age of 14, Ilyumzhinov became the champion of Kalmykia in chess.

In 1983-1989, while studying at MGIMO, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the captain of the institute's chess team.

In November 1995, K. Ilyumzhinov was elected President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Repeatedly re-elected to this post (1996, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).

In September 1998, the construction of City-Chess (City of Chess or New Vasyukov) initiated by Ilyumzhinov, a hotel complex on the southeastern outskirts of Elista, was completed.

June 2010 Ilyumzhinov went to court in connection with the statements of former world champion Anatoly Karpov about corruption in FIDE, stating that Karpov must either provide evidence of facts of corruption in the federation, or be punished.

In April 2018, FIDE turned to Ilyumzhinov with a request to immediately resign due to the fact that the functionary was under sanctions by the US Treasury Department, which could affect the activities of FIDE. 14 of the 15 members of the FIDE Presidential Council voted for this and received the answer: "They can't wait for my resignation!" .

In May 2018, the Russian Chess Federation voted to support Ilyumzhinov in his struggle for the presidency, but two months later, at a new meeting of the Chess Chess Federation, the priorities changed: for Ilyumzhinov - 2, for Dvorkovich - 22.

On July 13, 2018, the FIDE ethics commission removed Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from the post of president "for violating the FIDE code of ethics." It was reported that Ilyumzhinov would not run in the next FIDE presidential election.

On October 3, 2018, at the FIDE Congress in Batumi, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Arkady Dvorkovich was elected FIDE President. Ilyumzhinov did not participate in the elections.

Awards and titles

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov - master of sports in chess, honorary doctor of the National Academy of Applied Sciences of Russia (NAPNR). Member of the Union of Cossacks of Kalmykia (1990). Awarded the Gold Medal of Peace for humanitarian work (1992). In April 1997, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the Order of Friendship "for services to the state and a great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples."

Vice President of the international non-governmental organization Convention of the Mongols of the World.

Language skills

In addition to Kalmyk and Russian, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov speaks Japanese, English, some Korean, Mongolian and Chinese.

Family status

Married, has a son.

Sources:

1. Ilyumzhinov sued Anatoly Karpov - Lenta.Ru, 06/03/2010
2. RCF President: Ilyumzhinov's victory shows that Russia has worldwide support - ITAR_TASS, 08/12/2014

Kirsan Nikolaevich Ilyumzhinov is a politician, well-known businessman, former head of the Republic of Kalmykia and president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). On April 5, 1962, in the historical city of Elista, Nikolai Dorzhinovich and his wife Rimma Alekseevna had a boy in the early morning, who was named Kirsan.

The entrepreneur often recalled that after his birth, a conflict arose between relatives. The stumbling block was that the family could not decide for a long time what name to give the child. Nikolai Dorzhinovich insisted that his son should be named after his uncle Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who distinguished himself during the civil war, and the grandmother of the future politician dreamed that her grandson would be called the same as her father - Badma. According to the Kalmyk tradition, the last word was left to the head of the family, but because of the feminine principles, the grandmother called the boy the name Badma until the first grade.

The young man, along with his brothers, grew up in an average exemplary family: his father, an engineer by education, was in the position of a party worker. Kirsan's mother worked as a veterinarian, raised children, and in her free time was fond of growing flowers (the politician said in his autobiography that Patriarch Alexy, who was visiting the Ilyumzhinovs, really liked Rimma Alekseevna's flower garden).

Ilyumzhinov grew up as an inquisitive child, he often preferred reading books to active outdoor games with yard boys. It is known that Kirsan's favorite work was the autobiographical novel How the Steel Was Tempered. Thanks to the analytical mind and diligence in the young man's diary, there were only fives. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1979 Kirsan graduated from Elista's third school with a gold medal.

After receiving a matriculation certificate, the future president of Kalmykia learned from his own experience what hard work is: a graduate worked as an assembly fitter at the Zvezda plant for one year, and in 1980 the young man reached military age and went to serve in the North Caucasian military district. While serving in the army, Kirsan gained invaluable experience in handling weapons and learned how to rationally use precious time, besides, the guy learned what it is like to work in a team and defend his personal interests when an unofficial hierarchical system dominates the troops - hazing.

Further, in 1982, Kirsan entered one of the most prestigious universities in Russia - the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, where he showed himself not only as a diligent student, but also served as deputy secretary of the party committee.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in national costume

In 1988, following a false denunciation by two ill-wishers of classmates, the gifted student was expelled from MGIMO as an Afghan-Iranian spy. Ilyumzhinov was also falsely charged with drinking alcohol, drug addiction and possession of potassium cyanide. After repeated letters from Kirsan to his name and a six-month trial, the young man was reinstated at the university as a trustworthy citizen of Russia, and all charges were dropped.

After graduating from the university, Ilyumzhinov was hired as the manager of a division of the largest Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi (it is noteworthy that Kirsan speaks not only Russian and Kalmyk, but also Japanese, Mongolian and Chinese). According to the politician, this experience in foreign business was the first and fundamental for him. The fact is that Kirsan always set himself the goal of earning a million. However, when Ilyumzhinov, thanks to perseverance and hard work, hit the big jackpot, his passion disappeared: he realized that money should not be in the first place in a person's life.

Chess

Kirsan has been practicing mental gymnastics since childhood. Ilyumzhinov similarly manipulated sixteen pieces on a checkered board and beat his opponents on the spot with quick checks and childish checkmates. Therefore, it is not surprising that, as a 15-year-old teenager, Ilyumzhinov led the adult chess team of Kalmykia.

In the fall of 1995, Kirsan first became president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). According to Ilyumzhinov, going to France for the FIDE congress, he did not suspect that he would become the head of a sports organization. However, this alignment of events was predicted to him by a Bulgarian clairvoyant. In the fall of 2010, Kirsan re-occupied the chair of FIDE President. According to rumors, the world champion in chess sports claimed this post.

It is also known that Ilyumzhinov acquired the diamond crown of Garry Kasparov, which the latter won in 1990 from Anatoly Karpov in the match for the world title. According to the winner, the 7.5 kg piece of jewelry by Korloff was put up for sale by Harry in order to help the Armenian refugees with the proceeds.

Policy

In 1983, Kirsan Nikolaevich joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Ilyumzhinov earned his first million in 1990, the entrepreneur seriously engaged in commercial activities and began to head the international association Sun. Later, Kirsan became the founder of the Kalmyk Steppe Bank, and also placed his capital in textile enterprises and invested in the service sector - restaurants and hotels.

In the same 1990, Ilyumzhinov became an Honorary Cossack in the Union of Cossacks of Kalmykia under the leadership of Ataman Yuri Khakhulov. Three years later, the businessman was accepted as president of the Russian Chamber of Entrepreneurs, and also headed a similar position in Kalmykia. In 1991, Ilyumzhinov joined the ranks of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. At about the same time, the young man met the first president of Russia, who, in turn, was imbued with confidence in the Elista citizen.

On April 1, 1993, Kirsan Nikolaevich, gaining 65.4% of the vote, became president of the Republic of Kalmykia, overtaking his competitors: Vladimir Bambaev, president of the farmers' association, and General Valery Ochirov. In 1995, Ilyumzhinov was re-elected to the post of head of government ahead of schedule. The second term dragged on for 7 years, until 2002 (in 2002, Kirsan Nikolaevich again won the presidential race).

It is noteworthy that in the fall of 1998, Ilyumzhinov made a number of statements, judging by which Kalmykia was supposed to be separated from the Russian Federation (due to non-receipt of funds from the Russian treasury). Therefore, Ilyumzhinov was checked by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

Personal life

Vanga's predictions are not the last mystical incidents in the life of a Kalmyk entrepreneur. In 2001, speaking on Radio Liberty, the politician made a sensational statement: according to Kirsan, on September 18, 1997, he visited an intergalactic ship with aliens.

As for the family, Kirsan met his first wife Danara Davashkina at school. From this marriage, the son David was born, who, according to the politician, at one time was fond of chess and won first places in school competitions. The second chosen one of the millionaire was Lyudmila Razumova. Also, according to some information, Kirsan Nikolaevich has a daughter, Alina.

It is known that Ilyumzhinov loves to travel the world and do shopping: the ex-president of Kalmykia dresses immaculately, preferring popular brands such as Brioni and Bally. His favorites are light-colored shirts with a classic cut. He also likes to buy expensive watches and always carries a talisman stone - a 57-carat Indian sapphire.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov now

In 2016, Ilyumzhinov took part in the program "Alone with Everyone", where he talked about his work, about chess and how he came into politics.

In the spring of 2017, the International Chess Federation announced that Kirsan Nikolaevich was resigning. However, the ex-head of Kalmykia denied this information. The FIDE President's Board has confirmed that the resignation has been made and will be considered in the near future.

Achievements

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (March 17, 2011);
• Order of Friendship (April 3, 1997) - for services to the state and a great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples;
• Honorary Diploma of the President of the Russian Federation (December 12, 2008) - for active participation in the preparation of the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation and a great contribution to the development of the democratic foundations of the Russian Federation;
• Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology in 2008 (March 10, 2009) - for the development and implementation of a sustainable production system for obtaining beef based on Russian breeds of beef cattle;
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (August 12, 1996) - for active participation in organizing and conducting the election campaign of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996;
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (August 25, 2005) - for active participation in the work of the State Council of the Russian Federation;
• Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts;
• The title of "Hero of Kalmykia" with the award of the Order of the White Lotus (April 5, 2012);
• Honorary Doctor "PRUE" them. Plekhanov in Tashkent.