Ziyavudin Gadzhievich Magomedov (Russian: Зиявудин Гаджиевич Магомедов, born 1968) is a Russian businessman. In March 2018, he was arrested in Russia under politically motivated circumstances and issued with unfounded charges of "racketeering and embezzlement of state funds". Despite the lack of any evidence, Magomedov was sentenced to an unprecedented term of 19 years in prison in December 2022.

Prior to his arrest he was the owner of Summa Group,^[1] one of Russia's largest diversified private holdings, with significant investments in port logistics, transport and infrastructure, engineering, construction, telecommunications and technology, as well as oil and gas. Companies of the Summa Group were present in almost 40 regions of Russia, as well as abroad, and employed more than ten thousand people.

In July 2023, Magomedov filed a $13.8bn legal claim in London’s High Court alleging a Kremlin-led conspiracy to seize his assets.^[2][3][4][5] Defendants include private equity firm TPG, Dubai-based ports operator DP World, Transneft, and former executives at Magomedov’s company. The claim is one of the largest ever brought before the English High Court.^[6]

Early life

Ziyavudin Magomedov was born in 1968 in Makhachkala, Dagestan.^[7] His ethnicity is Avar. ^[8]

In 1993 he earned a bachelor's degree in international economics from Moscow State University.^[9] He earned a PhD in international economics in 2000 from Moscow State University.

Career

While a student during Perestroika in the late 1980s, Magomedov sold imported computers with his brother out of their university dormitory.^[10] In the early 1990s he founded the company Interfinance, specialising in investments and financial activities.

Magomedov expanded his business interests in the early 2000s, acquiring land in Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast on which the Primorsk Trade Port was built, with a significant stake owned by Magomedov.  

From 2004-2005 he was chairman of the board of directors of Trans-Oil and the chairman of the board of directors of First Mining Company.

In 2006, Magomedov acquired over 80% of the PJSC Yakutsk Fuel and Energy Company (YATEC), a gas and fuel production company and the main gas producer in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

In 2010, he became Russia's representative in APEC and in 2012 Chairman of ABAC, the APEC Business Advisory Council.^[11]

In January 2011, Magomedov together with "Transneft" acquired a majority (50.1%) of the Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP), the largest Russian port operator and the 3rd largest operator in Europe in terms of cargo turnover. In 2012 Mr. Magomedov was made Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC NCSP.

In 2012, he then bought a stake in the Fesco Transport Group from Sergei Generalov,^[12][13] which owns the Commercial Port of Vladivostok, the largest universal port in the Russian Far East.

By 2012, Mr Magomedov's Summa Group had reached annual revenues of $10 billion.^[14] In the same year the Summa Group bought a 50% minus one share stake in the United Grain Company,^[15] Russia's largest grain trading company.

In 2015, Magomedov began investing in technology companies. By September 2016, he had invested $300 million in technology stocks such as Uber and Virgin Hyperloop One.^[10] He was co-executive chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One prior to his arrest.^[16]

In 2016 Ziyavudin bought MMA promotion Fight Nights Global and created the commercial company Eagles MMA for sponsoring MMA fighters.^[17]

Prior to his arrest in 2018, Magomedov's net worth was estimated to be $1.4 billion.^[18]

Civic activities

Magomedov’s Summa Group financed the renovation of the Bolshoi Theatre, a project which had been pending since 2005. In 2007, Magomedov joined the Board of Trustees of the Bolshoi Theatre, with the Theatre reopening in autumn 2011.^[19][12]

Magomedov also founded and financed the PERI Foundation which supports conservation and cultural heritage projects inside and outside of Russia. Projects PERI has worked on include the repair of the oldest mosque in Russia, the protection of ancient gravestones in Dagestan and the digitalisation of ancient Jewish manuscripts, in conjunction with the National Library of Israel.^[20]

Mr Magomedov’s Foundation has also funded a programme to develop IT and computing skills among young people in Dagestan and donated to dozens of orphanages and schools in the region.^[21]

For his charitable activities, Magomedov had been awarded the Order of Friendship (2010),^[22] Medal of Honour (2012) and Presidential Certificate of Merit (2012). He was stripped of these awards following his arrest.^[23][24]

Arrest and imprisonment

On 31 March 2018, while preparing to flee to the United States,^[25] Magomedov was arrested and charged with "racketeering and embezzlement of state funds" by Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Magomedov denies the charges, but a Moscow court ruled on 31 March 2018 that he would remain in pre-trial custody, without bail, until 30 May 2018.^[26][27][28] Magomedov remained in pre-trial custody until December 2022, when he and his brother were sentenced to 19 and 18 years in prison respectively.^{[29] [30]} He is incarcerated in Lefortovo Prison, which the Federal Security Service uses as a maximum-security prison for political prisoners and other important detainees.^[2]

While awaiting trial, the Russian courts froze numerous assets with a total value of several billion dollars, despite alleging $180 million in damages. These assets were subsequently confiscated by the Russian state, including a 32.5% stake in logistics group FESCO and $750 million held in an account at Sberbank.^[31]

In March 2023, a ruling by the London Court of International Arbitration was revealed to have found that Magomedov’s joint venture partner, Texas Pacific Group, exploited his incarceration and struck a secret deal to sell its interest in FESCO to Kremlin-linked businessman Mikhail Rabinovich.^[32]

While in prison in Russia, Magomedov filed a $13.8bn legal claim in London’s High Court alleging a Kremlin-led conspiracy to seize his assets.^[2][3][4][5] The claim alleges that the Russian stated used his arrest to bring transportation group FESCO under the control of Rosatom, and that Transneft conspired to take his interest in NCSP. He alleges that US private equity firm TPG and Dubai-based ports operator DP World also participated in the conspiracy. The claim is one of the largest ever brought before the English High Court.^[6]

Magomedov’s imprisonment is believed to be part of an attempt by the Russian state to seize assets under his control, handing them to state entities such as Rosatom or Kremlin-affiliated businessmen^[33][31] such as Mikhail Rabinovich.^[32] It has been described as one of the highest-profile prosecutions of a Russian tycoon in years.^[16]

Personal life

Magomedov is married, with three children, and lived in Moscow prior to his arrest.^[9]

References