Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch and a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
39 Facts About Yevgeny Prigozhin
2.
Yevgeny Prigozhin stated that he founded it in May 2014, to support Russian forces in the war in Donbas.
3.
Yevgeny Prigozhin had long denied his role in Russian interference in US elections.
4.
Yevgeny Prigozhin's father died early, and so his mother supported him and his sick grandmother by working at a local hospital.
5.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was trained by his stepfather Samuil Zharkoy, who was an instructor in the sport, and attended a prestigious athletics boarding school from which he graduated in 1977.
6.
In November 1979,18-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin was caught stealing and given a suspended sentence.
7.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was pardoned in 1988, and was released in 1990.
8.
From 1991 to 1997, Yevgeny Prigozhin was heavily involved in the grocery store business.
9.
Around the same time, Yevgeny Prigozhin became involved in the gambling business.
10.
The Novaya Gazeta notes that this may be when Yevgeny Prigozhin met Vladimir Putin for the first time, as Putin was chairman of the supervisory board for casinos and gambling since 1991.
11.
When revenues of his other businesses began to fall, Yevgeny Prigozhin persuaded a director at Contrast, Kiril Ziminov, to open a restaurant with him.
12.
Yevgeny Prigozhin hosted US President George W Bush in 2002.
13.
Yevgeny Prigozhin received hundreds of millions in government contracts for feeding school children and government workers.
14.
Yevgeny Prigozhin has been linked to several aircraft since, including two Cessna 182s as well as Embraer Legacy 600, British Aerospace 125 and Hawker 800XP jets.
15.
Alexei Navalny alleged that Yevgeny Prigozhin was linked to a company called Moskovsky Shkolnik that had supplied poor quality food to Moscow schools, which had caused a 2019 dysentery outbreak.
16.
Yevgeny Prigozhin is the self-reported founder of the controversial Kremlin-affiliated private military contractor Wagner Group.
17.
On 26 September 2022, Yevgeny Prigozhin stated that he founded the Wagner Group specifically to support Russian forces in the war in Donbas, in May 2014.
18.
In February 2018 Concord and Yevgeny Prigozhin denied any connection to Wagner.
19.
Yevgeny Prigozhin even travelled to the Donbas to personally oversee the group's progress.
20.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was pictured at the frontline wearing military fatigues alongside Russian Duma member Vitaly Milonov.
21.
In September 2022, a leaked video exposed Yevgeny Prigozhin attempting to recruit convicts to bolster the Russian forces on the front lines in the war against Ukraine.
22.
Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed allegations, previously denied by the Russian government, that the group had been involved in other countries aligned with Russian overseas interests, stating that the Wagner mercenaries who "defended the Syrian people, other people of Arab countries, destitute Africans and Latin Americans have become the pillars of our motherland".
23.
On 23 October 2022, Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces were making advances of 100 to 200 metres per day, which he claimed is the norm for modern warfare.
24.
Yevgeny Prigozhin underscored that they are taking more than 5 times as many losses as he expected.
25.
Yevgeny Prigozhin blamed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the Russian armed forces Gen.
26.
Yevgeny Prigozhin became involved in such countries as Madagascar, the Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Senegal, Rwanda, Sudan, Libya, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Nigeria, Chad, South Sudan, and South Africa.
27.
In March 2020, it was revealed that Yevgeny Prigozhin had financially assisted Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late overthrown Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in his bid for the Next Libyan presidential election.
28.
Since early 2018, the Yevgeny Prigozhin-associated company Lobaye Invest has mined diamonds, gold, and other minerals in the prefecture of Lobaye.
29.
Yevgeny Prigozhin is alleged to have financed and directed a network of companies including a company called the Internet Research Agency Ltd.
30.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was designated for being owned or controlled by Prigozhin.
31.
In September 2019, three more Yevgeny Prigozhin companies were sanctioned in connection with the Russian interference in the 2016 United States election.
32.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was charged with funding and organizing operations for the purpose of interference with the US political and electoral processes, including the 2016 presidential election, and other crimes including identity theft.
33.
In February 2021, Yevgeny Prigozhin was added to the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
34.
On 7 November 2022, Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had interfered in US elections and would continue to interfere in the future.
35.
Yevgeny Prigozhin owns a network of boutique stores known as the Chocolate Museum in Saint Petersburg.
36.
Yevgeny Prigozhin owns the New Technologies SPA LLC which is located at plot 1, Granichnaya street in Lakhta Park, Sestroretsk, Kurortny District, Saint Petersburg.
37.
Yevgeny Prigozhin is the owner of Agat, part of the Concord group.
38.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation in 2022.
39.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was awarded the 2022 Corrupt Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.