Alexander Mikhailovich Babakov (Russian: Александр Михайлович Бабаков; 8 February 1963) is a Russian politician and member of the State Duma, the Russian parliament. He was appointed Special Presidential Representative to Russians by Vladimir Putin in 2012.[1]
Alexander Babakov | |
|---|---|
| Александр Бабаков | |
.jpg) Babakov in 2019 | |
| Member of the State Duma (Party List Seat) | |
| Assumed office 12 October 2021 | |
| In office 29 December 2003 – 5 October 2016 | |
| Russian Federation Senator for Tambov Oblast | |
| In office 22 September 2020 – 12 October 2021 | |
| Nominated by | Head of Tambov Oblast |
| Preceded by | Alexey Kondratyev |
| Succeeded by | Mikhail Belousov |
| Russian Federation Senator for Tambov Oblast | |
| In office 28 September 2016 – 22 September 2020 | |
| Nominated by | Tambov Oblast Duma |
| Preceded by | Nikolay Kosarev |
| Succeeded by | Svetlana Korostelyova |
| Vice Chairman of the State Duma | |
| In office 24 December 2007 – 21 December 2011 | |
| Chairman | Boris Gryzlov |
| 2nd Chairman of Rodina | |
| In office 24 March 2006 – 28 October 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Dmitry Rogozin |
| Succeeded by | Aleksey Zhuravlyov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 February 1963 Chișinău, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | A Just Russia - For Truth |
| Education | Moscow State University |
He has been under EU, Canadian and Swiss sanctions since 2014, as well as US sanctions since 2017.[2]
Political activity
editHe is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Deputy Co-chairman of Inter-Parliamentary Group of the Russian Federation, Head of Delegation of the State Duma in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Chairman of State Duma Commission on legal support to military and defense industrial complex of the Russian Federation. He was appointed Deputy speaker of the Duma in 2010, a position he held until December 2011.[3]
In June 2012 he was appointed as Presidential Envoy for engaging with Russian organizations abroad by President Putin.[4][5][6]
He was the leader of Rodina, a political party in Russia, for several months in 2006 and organised the formation of A Just Russia, a merger between Rodina, the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Pensioners' Party, sitting on its governing committee.[7]
Between 2006 and 2007 he led A Just Russia's faction in the State Duma as the party leader, Sergei Mironov, served as speaker of the Federation Council of Russia.[3]
He was elected to the Russian State Duma in 2003 and became party leader of Rodina in March 2006 following the surprise resignation of Dmitry Rogozin.
Sanctions and legal action
editIn September 2014, following the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the wider Russo-Ukrainian War, Babakov was subjected to sanctions, including an asset freeze, by the European Union.[8]
Sanctioned by the UK government in 2014 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. [9]
On 14 April 2022 the United States Department of Justice issued an indictment against Babakov for "conspiring to have US citizens act as an unregistered agent for Russia in the United States, conspiring to violate and evade US sanctions, and conspiring to commit visa fraud."[10][11]
Financial interests
editAccording to anti-corruption investigations, including material published by Alexei Navalny, Babakov owns a heritage-listed estate in Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines, France and an apartment on Rue de l'Université in the wealthy 7th arrondissement of Paris.[12][13]
He was also reported to own a residential flat in Richmond Court, Knightsbridge, London [2]
In 2011 Babakov passed ownership of his British Virgin Islands registered holding company AED International to his daughter.[2]
Personal life
editHe is married and has three children.[14]
Awards
edit- Order of Friendship (2008)[15]
- Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (2020)[16]
- Order of Honour (2017)[17]
- Sretenje Order (2013)
References
edit- ^ "Александр Бабаков назначен спецпредставителем Президента по взаимодействию с организациями соотечественников за рубежом". Президент России. 17 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Sanctioned Russian oligarchs found sanctuary in Britain". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB). Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ a b "Бабаков Александр Михайлович - компромат, биография, образование, национальность". zampolit.com.
- ^ "Компромат.нет". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
- ^ Putin Makes Just Russia Founder Envoy, 17 June 2012, The Moscow Times
- ^ Sonne, Paul (December 27, 2018). "A Russian bank gave Marine Le Pen's party a loan. Then weird things began happening". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018.
Through what he described as work on a French-Russian development-bank project in 2004 or 2005, Schaffhauser said he met a Russian businessman and member of parliament named Alexander Babakov, who in 2012 became the Kremlin's special envoy for Russian organizations abroad.
- ^ "Бабаков Александр Михайлович – досье, все новости". Перебежчик.
- ^ "Factbox: Firms and people hit by new EU sanctions on Russia". Reuters. Brussels. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
- ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "US indicts Russian lawmaker for alleged anti-Ukraine propaganda campaign". Radio France Internationale. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
- ^ "Russian Legislator and Two Staff Members Charged with Conspiring to Have U.S. Citizen Act as an Illegal Agent of the Russian Government in the United States". www.justice.gov. April 14, 2022.
- ^ "Babakov". The database “PUTIN'S LIST”. 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Alexander Babakov - The Panama Papers". OCCRP.
- ^ "Бабаков Александр Михайлович – дети, семья, личная жизнь | VIPERSON". viperson.ru.
- ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 21.05.2008 г. № 822" (in Russian). kremlin.ru. 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 23.11.2020 № 732 "О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации"" (in Russian). publication.pravo.gov.ru. November 23, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 18.05.2017 № 215 "О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации"" (in Russian). publication.pravo.gov.ru. May 22, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2023.