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Vladimir Peftiev
Vladimir Pavlovich Peftiev (Belarusian: Уладзiмiр Паўлавiч Пефцiеў; Russian: Владимир Павлович Пефтиев, born 1 July 1957) is a Belarusian businessman, philanthropist[1] and author.[2][3] BiographyVladimir Pavlovich Peftiev was born on 1 July 1957 in the city of Berdyansk, Ukraine.[4] BusinessPeftiev was co-owner of BelTechExport, a Belarusian arms and military equipment exporter. As of 2012, Peftiev sold his holdings in BelTechExport and "completely ceased his participation in this group of companies".[5][6][7] He owned BT Telecommunications, investment[8] and construction[9] agent. Peftiev also co-owned Sport-Pari, an interactive lotteries operator. Another co-owner of Sport-Pari through one of his companies is Max Mirnyi, Belarusian tennis player and olympic champion.[10] Peftiev was a minority shareholder of GSM operator "velcom".[11] "velcom" was subsequently sold to A1 Telekom Austria Group and rebranded as A1.[12][13] [14] Controversies, criticismEU sanctionsIn 2011, after controversial 2010 presidential election in Belarus, the Council of the European Union listed Peftiev and his companies "BelTechExport", "Sport-Pari" and "BT Telecommunications" as sanctioned entities. In the Council's decision, Peftiev has been described as a "person associated with President Lukashenko and his family, chief economic advisor of President Lukashenko and key financial sponsor of the Lukashenko regime".[15][16] Peftiev brought action against the Council in the General Court of the European Union.[17] The team that defended Vladimir Peftiev in court included specialists in the field of human rights, including professor of Yale University and former President of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Michael Reisman, and former Director of International Law department of University of Bonn professor Rudolf Dolzer.[18] According to The Times, The European Court of Justice annulled sanctions against Mr Peftiev in 2014, after finding that the EU council had adduced no specific evidence to support its allegation that he was a key financial supporter of President Lukashenko, and as a result of that ruling the sanctions are deemed never to have existed.[19] The General Court of European Union decided in Peftiev's and his companies’ favour on 9 December 2014, annulling the sanctions and ruling that the Council of the European Union and European Commission failed to prove their assertions of Peftiev's links to Lukashenko.[20][21][22] The General Court's judgment of 9 December 2014 concerning Peftiev's company reads the following, deeming the sanctions to have never existed (clause 149):[23]
Situation with sanctions against Peftiev was referenced by professor Rudolf Dolzer in his interview on May 8, 2018, to Latvian newspaper “Dienas bizness”, in which he pointed out to the false information in the Internet that was used against Vladimir Peftiev, and namely baseless accusations regarding illegal incomes of Mr. Peftiev and illicit arms trade.[24] This decision of European General Court was left unattended by mass media. Moreover, various sources continued to publish disproved information that originated before or during sanctions, instead of deleting it from their servers according to the court's decision. This was described by Professor Rudolf Dolzer in his article «Weeding Out Fake Journalism» for 10th issue of Forbes Georgia:[25][26]
Canadian sanctionsIn 2022, Peftiev was blacklisted by Canada.[27] OffshoresPeftiev was mentioned in the Bahamas offshore leaks in 2016: allegedly, he held three companies in Bahamas through an intermediary.[28] In 2020, an investigation by The Times and Transparency Networks found that Peftiev's family owned 12 flats in London, with a total worth around £18 million. This portfolio was purchased through a number of offshore companies. Peftiev's family were not under sanctions and the purchases did not breach sanctions.[29] Science and technologyPeftiev has contributed to research and development of a number of new technologies in various fields, with multiple patents issued to his name. In his work, Peftiev has cooperated with Belarusian scientists such as Vladimir Alexandrovich Katko and Sergey Vladimirovich Pletnev.[30][31] PhilanthropySportPeftiev actively sponsored various sports projects in Belarus. He managed and supported creation of tennis club responsible for training young Belarusian players, among which were Olga Govortsova and Ekaterina Dzehalevich. [32][33] Peftiev was the main sponsor of Victoria Azarenka, Olympic tennis champion and former world No. 1, at the beginning of her career.[34][35] From 2009 to 2012, Peftiev headed the Belarus Tennis Federation.[36][37] Max Mirnyi, former No. 1 player in the ATP Doubles Rankings, expressed his gratitude to Peftiev's work as a CEO of Belarus Tennis Federation.[38] Religious heritagePeftiev's contributions to the preservation of Orthodox Christian heritage have been recognised with awards from the Belarusian Orthodox Church.[39] He was a leading sponsor of the Nikolsky Orthodox Church in Tonezh (completed 2015), built to commemorate the site of a Nazi atrocity.[40][41][42] History and the artsPeftiev has sponsored and in some cases co-authored a number of art and historical publications, mainly in the historical series "В поисках утраченного" ("In Search of the Lost") by Belarusian historian Vladimir Lihodedov, volumes of which include:[43][44][45]
Peftiev co-authored the following:
In 2017, a book of maxims by Vladimir Peftiev titled "Maxims of a Man of Schemes"[52][53][54] was published with a foreword by the British philosopher and author A. C. Grayling. The foreword says:
Another book authored by Peftiev was published in 2020 and is titled "Quotations From Stories Yet To Be Written", with a foreword by a British author Adam Roberts.[55][56] In 2012, an exhibition titled "2012. War and Peace" featuring Peftiev's private historic and art collection was opened in Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War.[57][58] References
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