Gennady Timchenko Net Worth & Biography

Considered one of the most powerful and influential people in Russia, Gennady Timchenko is a Russian-Finnish billionaire businessman who is known to be a close friend and associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Currently, Mr. Gennady holds stakes in IG Seismic Services, Sibur Holding, Novatek, Transoil, and Colmar. He presently serves as the president of SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club and KHL’s chairman of the board. The businessman was born on November 9, 1952, in Leninakan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. He attended the Mechanical Institute of St. Petersburg from which he graduated with a degree in Electrical Mechanical Engineering. He is the father of 3 children and is currently married to Elena Timchenko. Mr. Gennady was one of the founders of the Netherlands-based oil company Gunvor international B.V., which is considered as the third-largest oil trader in the world. His professional career started in the year 1977 when he began working at a factory that specializes in manufacturing power generators, serving as an engineer. When Russia started becoming more liberal economically, Mr. Gennady became the head of Kirshineftekhimexport enterprise, a state-owned oil company. In 1990, he left Russia to work for the Finnish oil company URALS FINLAND based in Finland. The company specifies in importing Russian oil to several European countries. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education, Family

He was born Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko on 9 November 1952 in Leninakan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union (now Gyumri, Armenia). His father, a Soviet military officer, fought alongside Russian forces in World War II.

Gennady spent 6 years of his childhood in the German Democratic Republic, where he learned German, and in the Ukrainian SSR. He attended the Mechanical Institute of Saint Petersburg, graduating in 1976.

Professional Life: Business Career

Gennady Timchenko is best known as a Russian oligarch and billionaire businessman. He is the founder and owner of the private investment firm Volga Group. He previously co-owned the Gunvor Group.

When he had graduated from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute (now known as the Mechanical Institute of Saint Petersburg), he found employment at a company near St. Petersburg where he started working as an engineer. From there, he was moved to the trade department where he performed remarkably well.

In the late 80s, Gennady received a career boost when he was appointed the head of Kirshineftekhimexport, a state-owned oil firm. When the firm went private, he became a major investor in it.

Mr. Gennady co-owns or holds major shares, in multiple companies, including Russian Sea Group – a fish retailer, Sibur Holding, – a petrochemical company of which he owns 37.5%, and the Gunvor Group – a major energy firm. The majority of his holdings are controlled under the umbrella of his Volga Resources group. To also include, Mr. Gennady owns the engineering company, Stroytransgaz, and the railway company, Transoil, which focuses on transporting oil products.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests, Citizenship

Mr. Gennady Timchenko and his wife Elena have been married for decades. They have three children. As of this writing, the businessman lives in Moscow, Russia, while his wife and children reside in Switzerland. His daughter Ksenia Timchenko is married to Gleb Frank, son of Sergei Frank, who was formerly Putin’s transport minister.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gennady disclosed that he gave up Russian citizenship in 1999 and became a Finnish citizen. In 2004, the Helsingin Sanomat reported that he acquired citizenship in Finland and that he resided in Geneva at that time. In an interview with the Russian edition of Forbes in October 2012, the businessman mentioned that he had both Russian and Finnish citizenships. In an interview with ITAR-TASS in August 2014, Gennady stated that he needed Finnish citizenship to travel during the 1990s when it was difficult to travel using a Russian passport and that he never hid the fact that he had two passports. He said that, over the past decade, he had been paying taxes in Switzerland, and Finland, prior to that. The United States Department of Treasury announcement of persons under sanctions due to the 2014 Crimean crisis lists Gennady as a citizen of Russia, Armenia, and Finland.

His hobbies include traveling and paying attention to sports. He is a big sports fan and evidence of this is probably his roles as the president of SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club and KHL’s chairman of the board.

Gennady Timchenko Net Worth

The businessman and investor, Gennady Timchenko, is reported to have a net worth of 14 billion dollars as of March 2022 (according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index). His fortune makes him one of the richest people in Russia.

Born in Leninakan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, makes his wealth from his shares and investments in a number of business establishments, including IG Seismic Services, Sibur Holding, Novatek, Transoil, and Colmar, just to mention a few.