Gennady Timchenko

Gennady Timchenko
Image	; Gennady Timchenko
Born	9 November 1952 (Forbes; EU Official Journal) Leninakan, Soviet Union (now Gyumri, Armenia) (EU Official Journal)
Nationality	Russian, Finnish and Armenian (EU Official Journal)
Residence	Moscow, Russia (Forbes)
Occupation	Investor
Known for	Owner of Volga Group; co-founder of Gunvor; shareholder in Novatek and Sibur
Children	3 (Forbes)
Education	Leningrad Mechanical Institute (Forbes)

Russian businessman; owner of Volga Group, a major shareholder in Novatek and Sibur, under US, EU and UK sanctions

Gennady Timchenko (born 1952) is a Russian businessman and owner of the private investment group Volga Group. Through it he holds large stakes in the gas producer Novatek and the petrochemicals group Sibur.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] He co-founded the oil-trading company Gunvor, and sold his stake in it on 19 March 2014, the day before the United States sanctioned him as a member of the inner circle of the Russian leadership.^[5]^[6] The European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on him in February 2022.^[1]^[7] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Gennady Timchenko 108th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$24.17 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Oil, gas.^[8]^[9] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Gennady Timchenko 107th, at US$24.2 billion.^[10] He holds Finnish citizenship, granted in 1999.^[11]

Early life and citizenship

According to the EU sanctions listing, he was born on 9 November 1952 in Leninakan in the Soviet Union, now Gyumri in Armenia, and holds Armenian, Russian and Finnish nationality.^[1] Forbes lists an engineering degree from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute.^[8]

Timchenko and members of his family obtained Finnish citizenship in 1999. In 2022 the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti, citing a source in the security police (Supo), reported that the then head of the Directorate of Immigration, Matti Saarelainen, had helped the application through without Supo's review.^[12] Yle reported that his business partner Kai Paananen had, according to Helsingin Sanomat, asked Saarelainen to speed up the family's applications. In April 2023 an Interior Ministry report concluded that the immigration authority had not broken the citizenship rules then in force, but the ministry said it would review Supo's internal supervision.^[11]

Business interests

In 2014 the US Treasury described Timchenko as one of the founders of Gunvor, one of the world's largest independent commodity traders.^[6] Gunvor said that on 19 March 2014, in anticipation of sanctions, his shares were sold from his personal holding vehicle to his partner Torbjörn Törnqvist, who became majority owner with 87%.^[5] Forbes says he had run a state oil-exporting company and became one of its largest shareholders when it was privatised.^[8]

The US Treasury described Volga Group as an investment group of which he is the sole shareholder, holding assets on his behalf.^[2] The EU listing says it has investments in key sectors of the Russian economy.^[1] In August 2024 Interfax reported that he held 23.49% of Novatek, behind Leonid Mikhelson.^[3] In November 2024 it reported that he held 14.45% of Sibur, whose other shareholders included China's Sinopec and Silk Road Fund with 8.5% each.^[4] The EU listing also names him as a shareholder of Bank Rossiya.^[1]

Forbes says he chairs the Russian hockey league KHL and is president of the SKA Saint Petersburg club. It adds that he grows apples in Russia.^[8] In Finland he formerly owned the Jokerit hockey team, and he held about 22.5% of the company that owns the Helsinki arena formerly known as the Hartwall Arena.^[12]^[13]

Sanctions

On 20 March 2014, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the US Treasury designated Timchenko under Executive Order 13661. It listed him with Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Yuri Kovalchuk and Bank Rossiya as people supporting a senior Russian government official. The Treasury said his energy-sector activities had been directly linked to Vladimir Putin and that Putin had investments in Gunvor and might have access to its funds.^[6] On 28 April 2014 it also designated Volga Group, as owned or controlled by him, and the rail freight operator Transoil.^[2]

On 22 February 2022 the UK froze his assets and banned him from travel, describing him as Russia's sixth-richest oligarch.^[7] The EU added him to its sanctions list on 28 February 2022. Its statement of reasons describes him as a long-time acquaintance of Putin who is broadly described as one of his confidants and who benefits from links with Russian decision-makers. It also cites his shareholding in Bank Rossiya, which it says opened branches in Crimea after the annexation.^[1] In April 2022 Finland's National Enforcement Authority froze his stake in the Helsinki arena company, worth about €10 million; Yle reported that he was the first Finnish citizen placed on the EU list.^[13] Forbes notes the US sanctions of 2014 and the EU and UK sanctions of 2022.^[8]

Wealth

Forbes gives oil and gas as his sources of wealth. Its profile record attributes to him this remark: "You have to pay for everything in your life. Even for your friendship with the president."^[8]

Wealth history

Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 18 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2008. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.^[10]^[8]

Forbes estimates by list year
Year	World's Billionaires rank	Net worth (US$ bn)
2008	462	2.5
2010	536	1.9
2011	185	5.5
2012	99	9.1
2013	62	14.1
2014	61	15.3
2015	118	10.7
2016	85	11.4
2017	59	16.0
2018	82	16.0
2019	49	20.1
2020	72	14.4
2021	78	22.0
2022	173	11.3
2023	89	18.5
2024	86	23.4
2025	85	23.2
2026	107	24.2

Philanthropy

The Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, earlier called the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, was set up in December 2010. It says it supported 4,461 projects in 76 Russian regions up to 2023, spending about 8 billion roubles. Its programmes cover the prevention of child abandonment, older people, small communities and children's sport.^[14]

Political activity

Forbes says he befriended Putin in Saint Petersburg in the 1990s, when he and the Rotenberg brothers started a judo club.^[8] The US, EU and UK sanctions decisions all rest on his links to the Russian leadership; see Sanctions.^[6]^[1]^[7] No political donations outside Russia or lobbying registrations in his name were found in the sources checked.

Controversies and legal issues

See Sanctions and the Finnish review of his citizenship under Early life and citizenship.^[1]^[11]

International and political links

This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."