"Goat" did not let anyone down. The murder of the deputy chairman of the Central Bank Andrey Kozlov: versions When the deputy chairman of the Central Bank Andrey Kozlov was killed

First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, killed in September 2006

First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia. Author of the concept of government short-term bonds (GKO), as well as the deposit insurance system. In the Central Bank of the Russian Federation carried out banking supervision, including related to the revocation of licenses. On the evening of September 13, 2006, he was seriously wounded by two attackers. He died after a long operation on the morning of September 14, 2006. The organizers and perpetrators of the murder were exposed and received various terms of imprisonment, one of the perpetrators was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Andrei Andreevich Kozlov was born on January 6, 1965 in Moscow. In 1982 he entered the Moscow Financial Institute. From 1983 to 1985 he served in the Armed Forces of the USSR. He resumed his studies in 1985, in 1989 he graduated from the Moscow Financial Institute (since 1991 - the Financial Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation). Kozlov was part of a group of 25 people specially assembled from those who served in the army, where the future governor studied with him Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Khloponin, future general director of Norilsk Nickel Mikhail Prokhorov, future general director of APK Agros Dmitry Ushakov.

After graduating from the institute, Kozlov began working in the Monetary and Economic Department of the State Bank of the USSR as a senior economist and expert of the II category. In 1990, he was an economist, an expert of the 1st category, a leading expert and head of the department for the methodology of stock operations of the Office valuable papers State Bank of the USSR.

After the abolition of the State Bank of the USSR in 1991, he began working at the Bank of Russia as head of the department for operations with securities of the Main Directorate for Regulation cash flow. In 1992, Kozlov headed the securities department of the Bank of Russia. In 1995 he was appointed vice chairman Central Bank RF and Director of the Securities Department.

In 1993, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Dmitry Tulin suggested that Kozlov develop a scheme for borrowing on the market. Kozlov developed and thought through the entire chain of GKOs (government short-term bonds), which two years later became the main source of budget financing. In fact, Kozlov wrote the entire accounting for GKOs, and in a way that made it possible to identify each bondholder.

After the default, Kozlov resigned, but returned to the bank two weeks later. In 1999, Kozlov left the Central Bank, becoming chairman of the board of Russian Standard Bank. In 2000, Kozlov left Russian Standard and became a private consultant on banking business process reengineering. Then, from 2000 to 2001, he served as general director of the Mir Aeroflot company, and from 2001 to 2002 he worked as the managing director of the Volunteer Corps to provide financial services"(USA). In 2002, Andrey Kozlov returned to the Central Bank to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Since 2002, Kozlov was in charge of banking supervision issues at the Bank of Russia, including issues of revocation of licenses. Since the beginning of 2006, the RF Central Bank has revoked the licenses of 44 banks. The reason for the recall for many of them was money laundering. In addition, Kozlov oversaw the acceptance of banks into the deposit insurance system. At that time, conflicts arose between the banks not accepted into the system and the Central Bank.

On the evening of September 13, 2006, at about 9 pm, Andrei Kozlov was seriously wounded in the neck and head in the parking lot near the Spartak indoor arena. In addition, Alexander Semyonov, the driver of the banker's service car, was shot in the chest. Kozlov was hospitalized at Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 33, where he underwent a complex neurosurgical operation. At 5:30 am on September 14, Kozlov, without regaining consciousness, died,.

On May 22, 2007, it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation had completed the investigation into the murder of Kozlov. Charges were brought against six suspects, including the alleged customer of the murder Alexei Frenkel and his accomplice Liana Askerova. All of them by that time were in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, the volume of their criminal case was 60 volumes.

On October 28, 2008, the jury found Frenkel, Askerova and the other defendants in the case guilty of murder. State prosecutors demanded that Frenkel be sentenced to life imprisonment and Askerova to 17 years in prison. In addition, Kozlov's father demanded to recover 10 million rubles from Frenkel for moral damage,.

On November 13, 2008, on the basis of an indictment by a jury, the Moscow City Court sentenced Frenkel to 19 years in prison to be served in a strict regime colony. Maksim Proglyad was sentenced to 24 years, Shafrai to 14 years, Belokopytov to 10, and Pogorzhevsky to 6 years in a strict regime colony. Askerova was sentenced to 13 years in prison general regime, and Polovinkin - to life imprisonment. In addition, the court full size satisfied the claim of Kozlov's father for non-pecuniary damage,.

In April 2011, there were reports in the press that the banker's killers were probably helped by three employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from Mytishchi near Moscow: Sergei Rybakov, Roman Zaika and Vladislav Zinkovsky. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow Region, they set up wiretapping of the phones of Kozlov and his driver, and the data on calls was recorded with reference to base stations, which helped the killers track the movement of the victims. On March 17, a criminal case was initiated against the suspects,.

Andrei Kozlov is survived by his wife and three children.

Used materials

Lilia Biryukova, Alexey Nikolsky. Andrei Kozlov was followed by the police. - Vedomosti, 14.04.2011. - №66 (2832)

Police officers helped the murderers of the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. - Rosbalt-Moscow, 14.04.2011

Killed in an assassination attempt.

Biography

Since 2002 - First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Russian Federation. He became one of the first to be invited to his team by the new chairman of the Central Bank Sergey Ignatiev. He received the position of first deputy chairman, a seat on the board of directors of the Central Bank and the key post of chairman of the banking supervision committee that makes decisions on the issuance and recall banking licenses. With the adoption of the law on deposit insurance in 2003, its role has increased dramatically. It was this body that decided whether a particular bank could be accepted into the insurance system and accept deposits from individuals. For this, in particular, banks were required to disclose information about the real owners. Having completed the selection for the insurance system, the Central Bank launched a campaign against banks involved in laundering and illegal cashing of money.

Murder

Vice-President of the Association of Regional Banks Alexander Khandruev said in connection with the murder of Kozlov:

It does not fit in my head that it was beneficial for someone from the banking community to solve their problems in this way. After all, the owners of banks whose licenses were taken away could easily buy another bank and thus solve their problems.

Andrei Kozlov was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery.

Personal qualities, personal life

He spoke English and German, was married and had three children.

The last, eighth defendant in the criminal case on the murder of Kozlov, Andrei Kosmynin, who, together with Pogorzhevsky, delivered weapons to the scene of the murder, was sentenced on March 19, 2010 to 9 years in prison.

"Too Correct"

Jokes from the cycle “for you, Kozlov, they say” pestered the deceased from childhood, and from childhood Andrei Kozlov took them with hostility. His mother worked in a pharmacy, so he, apparently, inherited his fighting qualities from his father, a professional military man.

Andrei studied at an ordinary Moscow school No. 703, which is on the Oktyabrsky field. In the lessons he had to answer at the blackboard (the teachers loved the young "nerd"), and after the lessons he gave the answer for the "goat" to his peers. As his former classmates recall, Andrei waved his fists fairly. And after school, without any special training, he swung at the Moscow Financial Institute.

“Even in his student years, Andrei Kozlov began to show the makings of a statesman rather than a businessman,” Mikhail Eskendarov, Vice-Rector of the Financial Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation, told the Sobesednik. - He entered our institute at the faculty of "international economic relations" in 1982, and in 1983 he was drafted into the army - then there was still such a practice. He served in the prestigious Military Space Forces. He returned already as a foreman and a candidate member of the party, which was still a great rarity. Studied excellently, "red diploma student". But I remember that Andrei has always had a special character. I called him a revolutionary cavalryman. He was a maximalist. Fundamental. Some people didn't like him for that.

“And you, Kozlov, I will ask you to stay”

Taking advantage of the patronage of teachers, graduate Kozlov easily solved the problem of employment, having landed a job in the State Bank of the USSR. A few years later, in his early thirties, this financier became the youngest deputy chairman of the Central Bank in the history of the country. He literally burned at work, but his enemies blamed him for doing this not only for state reasons. Deputy Andrey Makarov even wanted to bring Kozlov to trial, accusing him of behind-the-scenes connections with Potanin:

- After Rosbank was given a license to conduct banking operations, it almost immediately received a foreign exchange license. As practice shows, it should take from three months to several years before the bank is entrusted with foreign exchange transactions. And here all at once and in an instant.

But most of all, Kozlov got it for the infamous GKO, the “godfather” of which he is still called. It was Kozlov who built the state financial pyramid, which he himself stubbornly called the "column" and which collapsed in 1998, almost ruining the entire economy of the country. Then he still had to testify at the prosecutor's office, where he arrived directly from France, where, together with his wife Ekaterina (a former classmate), he experienced a default.

The investigators were especially interested in who had leaked information about the upcoming default to MENATEP and a number of other large banks, where Kozlov's friends worked and which suspiciously got rid of the GKOs in time. Along the way, it turned out that the deputy chairman himself made good money on the bonds he invented.

“...It has been established that Kozlov, while holding the position of First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, had ruble and foreign currency accounts in several commercial banks, to which funds received from GKOs were credited,” the operative document of the investigative team of the Prosecutor General’s Office says. “In 1998, his ruble account in Avtobank alone received 12 payments totaling about 560 million rubles.”

After the default, everyone predicted Kozlov, if not arrest, then at least resignation, but it turned out according to Gerashchenko: a well-known wit once played a joke at the end of a meeting:

- And you, Kozlov, I will ask you to stay.

Back to square one

When in January 1999 Andrei Kozlov announced that he was leaving the Central Bank, no one asked him to stay. They say that by that time in the banking corridors, many began to build a “goat” behind his back (both literally and figuratively). Andrei did not want to work in such a team, and even with reduced powers.

Beat the buckets for a short time. almost immediately former head MENATEP Alexander Zurabov (younger brother of the Minister of Health) invited Andrey to the newly created Russian Standard. But a year later, which "Standard" ended with a loss, Kozlov left from there too. For a few more months, under the patronage of the same Zurabov Jr., he worked at the Aeroflot World travel company, and when he went on vacation, they never waited for him back at the office. It turned out that Aeroflot lost a tidy sum on the “daughter”, and “mother” sued her.

The next step in Andrey Kozlov's non-state career was the position of the head of the Volunteer Corps for the provision of financial services (the same American non-profit office that once suggested to him the idea and mechanism of the GKO). Where exactly Kozlov went with the American volunteers this time, they refused to tell the Sobesednik building, but it was from this position that Andrei returned to the chair of the deputy chairman of the Central Bank four years ago.

“There were various rumors about who invited him there,” Alexei Mamontov, president of the Moscow International Monetary Association, told Sobesednik. - Another deputy chairman was named - Vyugin, with whom Andrei worked on the GKO. The names of Ignatiev, Kudrin were called. But I believe that special services were behind Kozlov's second coming to the Central Bank. Apparently, even then they planned a campaign against banking structures, and they really needed a person like Kozlov at the head of banking supervision.

Even the whales got scared

One way or another, in 2004 Andrei Kozlov began to zealously restore order in his household. A campaign has begun to revoke licenses from "suspicious" banks. The first victim was Sodbiznesbank, through which the ransoms for the kidnapped businessmen were cashed. Sodbiznesbank pumped money, and soon two of the three missing entrepreneurs were found dead. Last year, this bloody chain was continued by the contract killing of Alexander Slesarev, the owner of Sodbiznesbank.

In just two years, "for repeated violations" of licenses - this time, fortunately, bloodlessly - lost 66 banks. Each of this “damn” number had a reason not to like Kozlov, who was at the helm of the “cleansing” operation. The rest of the “moneybags”, although they survived, were also pretty worried. There were rumors about a blacklist of banks sentenced to close. Panic began, people, fearing a crisis, rushed in crowds to collect their cash from banks. Even the whales of the market, seeing how empty their money vaults, were afraid of ruin.

Money is shipped like potatoes

Or maybe, nevertheless, Kozlov was killed precisely because of his attempts to fight against cashing out and introduce a ban on the profession of a banker for those who at least once got caught in dubious transactions? Let's go back a year.

“At the beginning of this year, the licenses of two banks, Rodnik and AKA Bank, were already revoked,” Kozlov said at the end of 2005. “In terms of size, they were very small, but in terms of the volume of various kinds of shadow operations, they were champions. Now we are working with two more banks, which are also openly operating in the zone of "gray" operations.

He, however, refused to name the banks in respect of which the investigation was launched. And it has been conducted by the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for almost a year now. And as we managed to find out, there are much more defendants than two banks. The latest license was revoked from Centurion Bank on the 20th of August 2006. We can say, almost before the murder.

It turns out that there are several sites for mass cashing in the country. Operators admit:

- Money is transported around Moscow on trucks, in bags. Like potatoes.

They shared with the "Interlocutor" such, for example, information. The AKA bank mentioned by Kozlov, for example, managed to cash out 129 billion rubles in six months. This is a little less than the state spends on education per year!

There are several types of cash transactions, the investigators told us. The first is cashing out here in Russia and handing over to the client. The second is the withdrawal of funds over the hill: in dollars or in rubles.

Money goes black cash. Where? To casinos, to drugs, to buying weapons, to bribing voters? Who knows? In fact, investigators are engaged in clarifying these points today. Moreover, among the persons of interest to them, there is even an employee of the Central Bank.

"He was a financial Bolshevik"

- I have known Andrey for 15 years already, I know well ... I knew, - Alexei Mamontov, President of MMVA, continues. - I remember his former openness, cheerful disposition, slowness, democracy. He even asked his secretaries to switch to “you” with him - that was his communication style. He caught fire very easily, gave himself away, but the term "passionary" does not always have a positive meaning. He was a financial Bolshevik and gradually evolved in the same direction as the Bolsheviks once did: he did not feel sorry for himself and stopped feeling sorry for others. This transformation took place before my very eyes. The pause in the service hit Andrei hard. Many banks made offers to him, which they later refused. Perhaps it was on the basis of wounded pride that he developed bankophobia. He became intolerant, aggressive and arrogant, confident in his own infallibility and exceptional mission. He no longer saw how an environment was forming around him that gave rise to gigantic corruption.

According to the banking community, corruption in the Central Bank was generated by the deposit insurance system lobbied by Kozlov. Similar systems exist in all developed countries world, but only in Russia its introduction meant the actual revision of all banking licenses. Moreover, to decide who exactly to renew this license, the employees of the Central Bank have become at their own discretion. None of the bankers openly talks about how much someone had to give on their paw, but on the sidelines there is still crying about millions of dollars. And financial circles are completely afraid to think about the transition to international standards planned by the Central Bank, believing that the amount of bribes will increase at least twice.

At the banking forum in Sochi, just a week before the assassination, many on the sidelines told Kozlov that it was time to tie up the corruption of his subordinates (no one sinned against the deputy chairman himself). How closely Andrey Kozlov took these advice, now no one will know. (Or everyone will, depending on where the investigation into his murder leads.)

“If he hadn’t been reapproved in April, he would still be alive,” Mamontov is sure. - Andrei's opponents were disappointed that the authorities kept him in office. The reason for the murder is money. It doesn't matter which ones. I won't tell you the details... Andrei was a bright personality, a real man, a fighter. That is how he will be remembered by many. One could not fight with him, one could argue with him. But, unfortunately, the dispute, which we can resolve by the power of arguments and time, was resolved in a different way.

About the customer, the killers and their sentence, see.

On Wednesday evening, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov was mortally wounded in Moscow. Two assassins were waiting for him near the Spartak football base and opened fire when Kozlov and his driver left the building. The driver Alexander Semyonov died on the spot. Doctors fought for the life of the banker until the morning, but to no avail. Experts unequivocally link the death of Andrei Kozlov with his professional activity. He was engaged in the revocation of licenses from unscrupulous banks and amassed a lot of ill-wishers. It is strange, but with such a "execution" position, he was not entitled to the protection of state structures. And he did not use personal protection - he believed that nothing threatened him.

Shots during fireworks

On Wednesday evening, when the working day ended, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, Andrei Kozlov, went to the Sokolniki district. There, on the field of the educational and sports complex "Spartak" (USK), a football "corporate match" was to be held - the employees of the Central Bank played among themselves. Andrei Kozlov also played, and in attack.

The game started at 7pm. The ball was driven in an indoor arena. Until half past nine. Half an hour later, Andrey Kozlov left the arena doors and went to a dark blue Mercedes parked nearby. His driver Alexander Semyonov was walking beside him. Despite the fact that Kozlov held one of the leading positions of the Central Bank, he did not have personal protection (he was not entitled to the protection of the FSO), and Semenov often became his only escort. At that moment, fireworks exploded.

They celebrated something, had a corporate party, - girls from student hostel, which is located on the territory of Spartak. - We heard the fireworks clapping with might and main. Apparently, respectable people were walking.

It was at that moment that Kozlov came out and got into the Mercedes. Two people ran up to the Mercedes from around the corner of the arena. There are no streetlights in this place, and in the darkness no one paid attention to the approaching silhouettes. The territory of the sports complex is completely planted with trees, and all the paths have long been overgrown with thick grass higher than human height.

With a quick step, one of the killers approached the window of Kozlov's car and, literally point-blank, shot the banker twice in the head. At this time, the second went straight to the driver, who put the chief's bags in the trunk.

The killers fired pistols with silencers. However, the silencer of one of the killers was torn off, and he continued to shoot openly. But among the pops of fireworks, only Alexander Semenov paid attention to the shots. He looked out from behind the trunk and was immediately shot in the chest. With the last of his strength, Semyonov tried to run back to the sports complex - there were only a few meters to the entrance. But the killer shot him in the back. Semyonov died before the doctors arrived.

The killers managed to hide in the forest park, in the vicinity of the Deer Ponds. It wasn't difficult. Despite the fact that there are two official entrances to the territory of "Spartak" and each of them is guarded, they easily went into the thick of trees. The escape route was worked out to the smallest detail - there is a large hole in the fence nearby, the path through it leads to the forest park. From there - a few hundred meters to Oleniy Val street and Bogorodskoye highway. But service dogs took the trail only to the fence. Further - wet grass, and the trail was lost.

Injuries incompatible with life

Literally a minute later, Andrei Kozlov's colleagues and comrades poured onto the porch of the arena. Someone called an ambulance from a mobile phone, which arrived 10 minutes later. The doctors immediately took Andrei Kozlov, who was still alive, and took him to the intensive care unit of the 33rd city hospital. The second car arrived a little later and took the body of Alexander Semyonov. He worked together with Kozlov for several years, and professional relations have long since turned into friendships.

I'm shocked. I have known the driver who drove Kozlov for a long time, - one of the drivers of the elite garage of the Central Bank told Izvestia. - He worked with Kozlov for a long time, and they had a good relationship. I have no idea how the criminals managed to find out the route of the car.

The sports complex was cordoned off, and the Vulkan-5 interception plan was immediately introduced in the city. But in hot pursuit, the killers could not be detained. At the crime scene, forensic experts found four cartridge cases from a Makarov pistol and a blown silencer. And 300 meters from the crime scene, two pistols were found near the fence in tall grass - a home-made and a converted Baikal pistol.

In the 33rd hospital, Andrey Kozlov, on the verge of life and death, was immediately put on the operating table. There was no time to delay.

We performed a complex operation that lasted three hours, - Professor Nikolai Nikolaev, deputy head physician of the hospital for surgery, told Izvestia. - But he had injuries incompatible with life. Through wounds were struck by the centers of the brain, so he had no chance to survive initially. We tried to prolong his life.

After the operation, Kozlov was transferred to intensive care, but at half past six the banker's heart stopped. He died without regaining consciousness.

Yesterday at the entrance to USK "Spartak" there were pools of blood. Not far away was Kozlov's Mercedes. Investigative actions continued on the territory of Spartak. No one was allowed to enter the arena, and the “official” passages were reinforced by employees of private security companies and fighters of internal troops. Meanwhile, just like the day before, one could easily enter the territory through the “killer loophole”.

Near the building of the Central Bank on Neglinnaya, where Andrey Kozlov worked, a state of general depression was felt. Bank employees, going out for a smoke break, discussed the incident in an undertone. However, to all questions about the possible reasons for the murder, they only shrugged their shoulders.

Alexander Khandruev, ex-deputy chairman of the Central Bank:

He was very fond of playing football, although he did not do it very well. He was just very gambling, both in life and in work. Everything that happened, of course, is terrible, and this is not only a blow to the family, the consequences can be negative for banks as well: repressions and increased state control.

Alexander Murychev, Head of the Association of Regional Banks:

This event could set us back 10 years. Andrey Kozlov made a huge personal contribution to the development of a civilized banking system. Thanks to his talent, he was able to create a supervisory unit close to international standards. He knew how to negotiate with everyone. Of course, he stepped on the toes of many, often saying things that could not have been said.

Alexander Semenov, the deceased driver of Andrei Kozlov, was born on August 8, 1952. He worked at the auto enterprise of the Bank of Russia for more than 10 years. He is survived by his wife and daughter

Version of Izvestia: Banker died for the money of Sodbiznesbank and Kredittrast

The last major scandal with a criminal outcome - the death of a banker - is associated with the revocation of licenses from Sodbiznesbank and Credittrast. Andrei Kozlov was directly involved in this process. About a year ago, Alexander Slesarev, the owner of these banks, was killed. It is possible that the shots at Andrei Kozlov are links in the same chain.

Problems with Sodbusinessbank began in May 2004. The bank's management was accused of cashing out money intended for the ransom of the kidnapped general director of OJSC KamAZ-Metallurgy Viktor Faber and the company's deputy director for economics Natalya Starodubtseva (they were killed, although the kidnappers received a ransom). The bank's license was revoked, but the bank's management did not allow law enforcement agencies to enter "their territory" for two weeks. This required a special operation with the participation of riot police.

During the audit, it turned out that many of the bank's assets were withdrawn, including to the affiliated bank Credittrast.

Credittrast also had its license revoked. Its liquidation took place with scandals. According to some reports, assets worth 5.78 billion rubles (about $200 million) were withdrawn from the bank. $20 million were withdrawn to the National Capital bank. In early October 2005, a letter dated December 2004 was published. It was signed by the owner of NK-Bank, Dmitry Plytnik, who acknowledged the withdrawal of the assets of Credittrast and expressed fear for his life. Plytnik is still on the run, the National Capital bank was declared bankrupt (the powers of its interim administration were terminated on February 1, 2006). It is curious that the bankruptcy of the bank took place under the control state agency on deposit insurance.

To this day, more than 700 million rubles (more than $26 million) are stuck in Sodbiznesbank, Valery Miroshnikov, deputy general director of the Deposit Insurance Agency, told Izvestia yesterday, despite the fact that 70% of deposits were returned to individuals. Money from Sodbiznesbank was withdrawn not only to Credittrast, but also to other banks. Now the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is engaged in this. As for NK-Bank, the main amount of money was withdrawn from there by lending to enterprises. That is, the bank gave good amounts against "bad" bills.

We venture to suggest that not everyone was ready to put up with the loss of money in Sodbiznesbank and Credittrast. The unofficial owner of these financial and credit institutions (and this was recognized even by the leaders of the Association of Russian Banks) was businessman Alexander Slesarev. On October 16 last year, a few days after the publication of Plytnik's letter, Slesarev and his family were driving to the Moscow region along Kashirskoye Highway. He was overtaken by an Audi without license plates, from which automatic bursts and pistol shots were heard. Alexander Slesarev, his wife Natalya and 15-year-old daughter Elizaveta were killed, and their seven-year-old niece was seriously injured. It is curious that, as Izvestia found out, at the beginning of this year the investigation into the murder was suspended due to the impossibility of finding the killer, but just a month ago it was resumed.

The murder of Slesarev was the first criminal showdown in the banking community in a very long time. It is possible that the same people organized the assassination attempt on Andrey Kozlov. The fact is that Andrei Kozlov was directly involved in the liquidation of these banks and the search for their assets. In addition, the mentioned Deposit Insurance Agency is his brainchild. It is possible that after the bankruptcy of Sodbiznesbank and Kredittrast, some people who had serious money “hung” in the bank tried to get it directly from Alexander Slesarev. The negotiations were unsuccessful - Slesarev referred to the Central Bank and Andrei Kozlov personally, offering to find out the fate of the money from him. It is possible that after the murder of Slesarev, these people did just that ...

The youngest in the Central Bank

The biography of 41-year-old banker Andrei Kozlov was truly stellar. He was only 30 years old when he became deputy chairman of the Central Bank. The case is unprecedented for this very conservative department. Kozlov until the last moment remained the youngest on the board of directors of the Central Bank.

The future banker in 1989 graduated from the Faculty of International economic relations Moscow financial institution and immediately went to work in the Central Bank. There he was waiting for a super career - in one year he went from an economist to the head of the department for the methodology of stock operations of the Securities Department of the State Bank of the USSR. A year later, he headed the Securities Department of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and in 1995 he became deputy head of the Central Bank, Sergei Dubinin. In this position, he became one of the creators of the GKO pyramid, which led to the 1998 crisis. It was because of this young, promising banker that the first serious blow of fate overtook.

During the 1998 crisis, Kozlov personally promised Russian citizens to keep their deposits in banks if they transferred them to Sberbank. This call not only hastened the collapse of the country's banking system, but also led to the loss of savings of hundreds of thousands of Russians. Due to the undervalued exchange rate, they lost more than half of their savings on the transfer of accounts. Soon the Central Bank recognized this measure as erroneous, and the head of the Central Bank, Sergei Dubinin, together with Andrei Kozlov, were fired.

A young, talented banker quickly found work in commercial structures. He headed the Russian Standard Bank, the AEROFLOT World company, as well as the American Volunteer Corps for the provision of financial services. In April 2002, the new head of the Central Bank, Sergei Ignatiev, invited Kozlov back, making him his first deputy.

He loved football...

Andrei Kozlov was very fond of football. It was he who created the Central Bank team and regularly invited colleagues to play. In friendly matches with colleagues from other government agencies, Kozlov was the team captain.

When, after the 1998 crisis, Andrei Kozlov left the Central Bank, he gathered his employees and gave them a little show. “Now you will see something that you have never seen,” he said with a smile and ... knocked over a glass of champagne. Everyone gasped: no one had ever seen Kozlov drinking or, say, lighting a cigarette. The Central Bank simply did not have a more “correct” employee.

In the 1990s, when Andrei Kozlov was already deputy chairman of the Central Bank, one of his fellow deputy chairman accidentally found out that he lives with his family in a small two-room "Khrushchev". Although by that time several of Kozlov's subordinates had already received new service apartments. The question was put before the head of the Central Bank Dubinin, and the apartment was found.

AT last years Andrey Kozlov became a more secular person, he was often seen at banking forums and parties. However, at the same time, very few could call themselves his friends.

“Sometimes incompatible things were combined in him - he was completely childishly receptive and, at the same time, a principled professional in carrying out activities for supervision and regulation,” said one of Andrey Kozlov's colleagues.

Although he was considered a workaholic, Andrei Kozlov had a strong family - a wife, two sons (18 and 12 years old) and a daughter (8 years old).

He was not forgiven for "life excommunication"

No one in the Central Bank had as many enemies as Andrei Kozlov. When law enforcement agencies compile a list of those whom he crossed the road in recent years, more than a dozen pages will be needed. “A lot of people hated him,” one of Kozlov’s colleagues told Izvestia, “those from whom he revoked licenses, whom he did not accept into the deposit insurance system ... Andrei was generally a tough and uncompromising person.” After talking with Andrey Kozlov's colleagues and representatives of banks, Izvestia found out some of the most acute conflicts, because of which the banker's enemies could decide to eliminate him.

Version one. Lifetime excommunication

Just a few days ago, at a banking forum in Sochi, Andrey Kozlov unveiled a radical initiative. He offered to disqualify bankers for life, who once "lit up" in money laundering. The fact is that the owners of banks whose license was revoked, for example, for illegal “cashing out”, most often, after a short time, acquire a new bank in which they do the same. In order to more quickly identify bankers who have been exposed, Kozlov proposed an innovation: to oblige audit companies to report to the Central Bank if their clients (banks, companies and related individuals) are seen in dubious cases. Cashing is a multi-billion dollar business, often associated with crime, and Kozlov's initiative to ban it caused, for obvious reasons, dissatisfaction on the part of deputies, bankers and auditors.

Version two. Revocation of licenses

Since the beginning of this year, Andrei Kozlov has launched an unprecedented campaign to revoke licenses from "problem" banks. The number of revoked licenses has doubled compared to last year, in some cases licenses are revoked precisely for participation in the legalization of illegal income. Moreover, in the coming years, Kozlov promised to liquidate more than 400 small banks in order to "enlarge" the Russian banking system. Naturally, not everyone in banking circles liked this.

Moreover, the process of revoking the license was ongoing: for example, the last case was dated September 8th. Commercial "Investcombank BELCOM" was punished, among other things, for violating the provisions of the law "On counteracting the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism." Under the order, as always, Andrey Kozlov's signature.

Version three. Deposit insurance

Andrei Kozlov's favorite brainchild was the deposit insurance system, created after last year's summer banking crisis. Interestingly, Kozlov's enemies called him the culprit of this very crisis. The fact is that shortly before the memorable events, he announced the existence of a certain “black list” of banks that are in critical financial position. It was not announced which banks exactly, and frightened clients began to transfer their funds en masse from private banks to state ones. As a result, several large banks went bankrupt (read more about this on the same page).

Andrey Kozlov was entrusted with settling the consequences of the banking crisis, and soon, under his control, the Deposit Insurance Agency was created, which had the right, at its discretion, to accept banks into the system or not. The work of the agency caused numerous protests from those who were not accepted. Bankers even spoke about the corruption of this structure, but no confirmation of this has yet been received.

Which banks Andrey Kozlov revoked licenses in 2006

Bank "Archekas", CB "OTBank", "United Transport Bank", Bank "Transregional financial company”, Galichkombank, Zhilstroyeconombank, Orion Bank, Roskomveteranbank, Capital Capital Bank, Marketingbank, Delna Bank, BBC, Panemstroybank, Bank Regional Perspective”, “Krasnoyarsk Social commercial Bank”, “Joint-Stock Commercial Bank of Investments and Technologies”, Neftyanoy Bank, Alliance-Capital Bank, RTB-Bank, Russian Financial Traditions Bank, Intersectoral industrial bank”, “RFO Bank”, Bank “Petrovka”, “European settlement bank”, “Mosprombank”, “VIP-bank”, “Ifko-bank”, “Stroybank”, bank “Exciton”, “EAFA-bank”, bank “Union-Trade”, “ federal bank Development Bank, Interkontakt Bank, Mosoblinvestbank, Fonon Bank, Investment and Credit Bank, Univerbank, Federal Industrial Bank, Centurion Bank, OTBank, TFK Bank, Bank Discount, Bank Neman, Investcombank BELCOM and non-bank credit organizations Inkabor and National Settlement and Credit Society.

Maria ROGACHEVA, Oleg ZHUNUSOV

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Attempted Bank Secrecy:

In a recent speech to bankers from the rostrum of the Sochi forum, Andrey Kozlov, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said that he was in favor of introducing a life ban on the profession for bankers involved in tax fraud and money laundering crimes. Five days later, an assassination attempt was made on him.

The need for such strict measures, according to Andrey Kozlov, is due to the fact that, as a rule, the team of bankers of a credit institution, which the Central Bank deprives of a license, soon almost in full force finds itself in another bank, where it is also engaged in cashing. Recognizing that dealing with "gray bankers" is the task of law enforcement agencies, and not the Central Bank, Andrei Kozlov nevertheless believed that the issue of personal responsibility it's time to put the Central Bank.

Bankers of this level, especially state-owned ones, have not yet been killed in Russia. A truly banking system began to rebuild after financial crisis 1998, and even then not immediately.

No, of course, there were conflicts taking place on business grounds, and even now they sometimes turn into criminal incidents. It became, however, there are much fewer of them compared to the same 90s. Nevertheless, they are. As for Andrey Kozlov, he, being the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, oversaw perhaps the hottest issues: supervision of banks.

And lately, he has been pursuing a consistent tough policy to cleanse the system of banks involved in laundering criminal proceeds, cashing "muddy" money and dubious "tax optimization" operations. Since the beginning of 2006, under the leadership of Andrey Kozlov, the Central Bank has revoked the licenses of 46 banks; in August alone, the licenses of 7 were revoked credit institutions, and last bank lost the right to work in the market shortly before his death - on September 7. In most cases, the revocation of licenses was associated with the illegal activities of credit institutions.

In addition to appealing to bankers with a proposal to “squeeze out of the banking system” those colleagues who “disgrace their ranks”, Andrey Kozlov proposed a number of administrative measures to more effectively combat the Central Bank with “financial laundromats”, one of which was the abolition of bank secrecy in the audit of credit institutions . It consisted in obliging auditors to submit to the Bank of Russia data on the unfavorable state of affairs in the bank, which poses a threat to the interests of its depositors and creditors.

No less acute issue is the laundering of "dirty" money. For which not only banks could lose their license, but also many high-ranking officials could suffer. Moreover, in April next year the FATF will come to us with an audit, which will investigate in detail all issues related to the laundering of money obtained by criminal means. And by the end of the year, a law should be adopted, according to which officials of the so-called “A” and “B” category (ministers, their deputies, deputies, members of their families and even relatives) should not be seen participating in any JSC, LLC, banks and other.

And about getting any profit, whether it be dividends from shares or a second salary in an envelope, there is no need to talk. Bankers will have to report on all transactions on their accounts, and the banks themselves will be controlled by divisions supervised by Andrey Kozlov.

Another "explosive" problem in recent years has become, oddly enough, lending to the population by banks. Situation with bad loans led to the fact that banks began to compile not only lists of unreliable customers, but also entire cities and goods with which the greatest losses are associated. But not all credit institutions, as practice shows, attended to the solution of this problem. A number of pocket banks both issued and continue to issue loans in "safe hands". And as a result, the total portfolio of bank loans over the past two and a half years has increased fivefold, reaching 1.5 trillion rubles by July 1 (data from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation), while overdue debt has grown 11.7 times over the same time. Its volume exceeded one billion rubles, and three months later it almost reached 1.5 billion rubles. All this suggests that if loans continue to be issued at the same pace, or rather not returned, the path of banks from financial well-being to bankruptcy will be very short. True, not all. But that doesn't make it any easier for investors. After all, how do you know which bank is playing too risky a game on the “credit field”? Although credit organizations have become completely open, they are required to publish all information in the open press. But this press, sometimes, comes with a small circulation, and sometimes, to save money, banks even resort to the services of some regional newspaper. They didn't seem to break the law, the information was published, but go and look for it. Andrey Kozlov, as you know, actively opposed the unjustifiably risky credit policy banks, among which, of course, there were those who issued loans in "their reliable hands."

…In his latest development interview Russian market securities, Andrey Kozlov said: “I consider myself an adherent of one model - the Russian one!”

"Vedomosti", "He was ideological. Ideological and stubborn ":

“Kozlov was “an absolutely non-commercial person”, and his job was to come up with models and mechanisms, says Bella Zlatkis, deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank. “When he left due to the post-crisis change of team at the Central Bank, I suggested that he go into business. At first, Andrey actively participated in the formation of Russian Standard Bank: he was the chairman of the board, and I was the chairman of the board of directors, ”recalls entrepreneur Alexander Zurabov, who talked a lot with Kozlov during his leadership of Menatep Bank and Trust and Investment Bank.

Kozlov left Russian Standard in 2000, saying that he had fulfilled his mission as a project start-manager. Then for several months, as his biography says, he worked as a private consultant on the problems of reengineering banking business processes. Nothing is known about his clients at that time. But the next project received wide publicity.

In 2000, Kozlov again, with the help of Zurabov, became the general director of the Aeroflot World travel company, created by the national air carrier. “Of course, he had not been involved in tourism before, but I am convinced that in modern world a person must now and then change the type of activity - people from the outside have a fresh look at things. He was a strong, energetic, knowledgeable person - and actively involved in new business", - recalls Zurabov. Kozlov promised that the company would take 30% of the market, and even introduced the sale of tours on credit, which practically no one did at that time. But already in 2001, Kozlov went on vacation, from which he did not return to Aeroflot World, and in 2003 the company completely curtailed its activities.

Zurabov agrees with Zlatkis: Kozlov was a non-commercial person. “As a person, he was formed in state system. Get used to doing everything according to the rules, in fairness. And in business because of this, you can sometimes lose to competitors. He was alien to swindle, deceit. If he sold a product for 10% more, he said it directly, did not try to disguise the price, like others, Zurabov speaks about Kozlov's business career. Kozlov worked for another year as the managing director of the American Financial Services Volunteer Corps operating in Russia. Kozlov's acquaintances explained this appointment by his friendship with the American ambassador Alexander Vershbow.

... Kozlov was instructed to modernize supervision. And he got down to business, rolling up his sleeves, intending to make full use of the experience gained during his absence from the Central Bank. “I got a new perspective on the situation. I got to know the problems faced by bankers in real life, looked at them from the other side. I learned how they live, what worries them not only in relation to the Central Bank, but also in their relationship with each other. What orders, what atmosphere, what principles exist there - which, by the way, are also not always beautiful. Not all banks have something to brag about in this regard. Therefore, now, when I am engaged in supervision, I can look two or three levels deep into those problems that are formally written on paper, ”he admitted in an interview with Vedomosti in the spring of 2002.

Solutions were not long in coming. The battle was first declared fictitious capital- the classic "scheme", when the bank issued a loan, and then the same money was contributed to its capital, fell under the special control of the Central Bank. And although none of the large banks had to “blow off” capital, it became impossible to increase it so easily, the bankers admitted. This was followed by a call to reveal the real owners, the transition from formal supervision to a motivated judgment of the regulator on the state of affairs in the bank, the introduction of the institution of personal curators and control over compliance with regulations on a daily basis, which prevented banks from “drawing” balance sheets by making special transactions on reporting dates.

The bankers did not immediately accept the new reality. In private conversations, they did not hide their skepticism. “You can’t cut all the Gordian knots with cavalry attacks, and the Central Bank will not have enough strength or experience to prove the “scheme” of certain operations,” one of them said. However, all the innovations of the Central Bank were used in the selection of banks for the deposit insurance system - this law, which had lain in the Duma for almost 10 years, was adopted after Ignatiev and Kozlov joined the Central Bank.

… After the “Sodbusiness case”, Kozlov was forbidden to communicate with the press, and banks began to pass through the selection sieve into the insurance system. There were no offended. Rumors spread around the market that services for entering the system cost from several tens of thousands to millions of dollars. Those familiar with Kozlov said that his phones were torn from calls from high-ranking petitioners. “It’s hard for him, but he takes a hit,” one of his comrades-in-arms said then. However, he did not always succeed. “He told me that he would fight to the death, but one of the banks would not let through. Then I look - he is already in the system, ”recalls one of the officials. “We have repeatedly met with Andrei Andreyevich face to face. He helped us a lot with advice. And he had so many opportunities to get money from us that if he did this, he would certainly take advantage of the opportunity. He was ideological. Ideological and stubborn,” recalls the head of one bank.

“Kozlov has repeatedly warned that such steps cause discontent among many dishonest bankers. And what does he know about the press campaign being prepared against him, since the actions of the Central Bank undermine the billion-dollar cashing business, ”says Danilov-Danilyan. "I have no words. I am very sorry that this is happening in my country. Andrew was big man, a very important person for our country. He stood at the origins of Russian Standard Bank, was its first chairman. Although we worked together for a bit, I learned a lot from him. Above all, don't compromise, even when it's hard. I hope that we will all draw serious conclusions from this tragic incident,” said Rustam Tariko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Russian Standard Group.

"Vremya Novostey", "Surveillance in Russian":

The murder of the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov caused a unanimous reaction. This crime is a turning point in the development of the banking system, a challenge not only to the Central Bank as a regulator of the banking sector, but to the entire system of state power. Regardless of whether the murder is solved, its customers are found and punished, the authorities will have to realize that powerful forces are operating in its “rear”, whose criminal potential can cast doubt on the success of the growing Russian economy.

"Call public policy»

"This murder shows that in Russia the riot police should oversee the banking sector," one of Andrei Kozlov's colleagues told Vremya novostei yesterday. After high-profile scandals with the revocation of licenses from banks two years ago, the position of the first deputy of the Central Bank in charge of supervision began to be called “executive” on the market. Of course, then no one could have imagined what the fight against crime in the banking system would turn out for Andrey Kozlov, but it became obvious that this was the most controversial and dangerous area in the work of the Central Bank. He waged a persistent campaign to oust shadow operations from banking. “This work, which is not a direct function of the Central Bank, but which he was forced to do simultaneously with the tightening of supervisory requirements,” commented on the role of Andrei Kozlov in eliminating illegal operations in the banking sector, the former Minister of Finance, and now the head of VTB-24 bank Mikhail Zadornov.

…In 2004 Andrey Kozlov launched a full-scale and targeted war against money laundering in the banking system. "We cannot allow a new economic reality included a sick banking system. We cannot entrust the deposits of the population to banks with a dubious reputation,” Mr. Kozlov explained the tightening of supervision over banks.

Cleaning the ranks of the banking system, and not for the usual reason for the market - "unsatisfactory financial condition”, and under the article on legalization of criminal proceeds provoked the most powerful conflict of interest in the banking system since 1998. The scandalous opposition of the leadership of Sodbiznesbank to the Central Bank and personally to Andrey Kozlov gave rise to a "crisis of confidence" in 2004, "black lists", panic in the interbank loan market, liquidation of banks accused of aiding criminal and terrorist organizations.

“We work hard and seriously with banks, and we know enough about banks and bankers to demand that the situation be corrected,” Kozlov said after revoking the license from Sodbiznes.

Mr. Kozlov was accused of aggravating the situation in the market, as well as of failing to control the banking system. A stream of criticism and even demands for his resignation forced Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatiev to defend his deputy in the State Duma and give explanations to President Putin. And although the expected resignation of Kozlov did not happen, it is believed that in the Kremlin and in the White House they considered him guilty of the crisis. And if the destabilization of the situation in the sector were repeated, Kozlov would have been reminded of the panic of investors, and the scandal with Sodbiznes, and the revocation of licenses. However, there was no relapse. Already in September 2004 Andrey Kozlov spoke about the success of the fight against the legalization of illegal income through banks: “For five years, we have observed an increase in the scale of cashing operations Money on non-resident nominees. Now we see that for the first time since May, the volume of such cashing has been halved.”

And in the summer of 2005, Andrei Kozlov, in fact, thanked the banking crisis: "Even the crisis had more positive consequences, since it allowed the banking system to be cleansed of a number of odious organizations." Shortly before this, the head of the KFM, Viktor Zubkov, said that for every third out of 950 requests received from law enforcement agencies, "legalization of criminal proceeds is detected."

Although there were no more crises of confidence, the scandals still continued. It is worth at least recalling the investigation of the Prosecutor General's Office on violations of the Central Bank in relation to the bankrupt bank Credittrast, from where, allegedly, assets were withdrawn with the knowledge of the regulator.

And yet, the banking community seemed resigned to the purge of its ranks. Last year, the Central Bank revoked the licenses of 40 banks (since the middle of 2004, the Central Bank has revoked the licenses of 90 credit institutions). “I don’t undertake to give accurate forecasts, but, probably, the process will continue at such a pace,” Andrei Kozlov said last year, thereby once again making it clear that he intends to “clean up” the banking system from crime in the future.”

Vedomosti, Left without supervision:

“Already in the afternoon, during the inspection, about three hundred meters from the scene, two abandoned pistols were found, from which the murder was allegedly committed. This is a homemade pistol and a conversion from a Baikal pneumatic pistol chambered for a live cartridge. According to an investigator from the Moscow prosecutor's office, who has experience in investigating contract killings, such alterations are often used by hired killers. This weapon is not very reliable, which may indicate that it is not high level shooters. But the history of this weapon is almost impossible to trace, the investigator adds. The killers successfully chose the scene of the crime, said an employee of the capital's prosecutor's office. But this choice was quite risky, he adds, because not only Kozlov could have guards, but also other participants in the match. This, according to the interlocutor of Vedomosti, may also indicate a very average level of "professionalism" of criminals.

The well-known circumstances of the murder indicate that they carefully prepared for it, says Dmitry Fonarev, president of the Association of Bodyguards, most likely, Kozlov was observed in advance, they knew if he was guarded, they foresaw escape routes and conducted reconnaissance of the crime scene. But the perpetrators themselves, judging by the fact that Kozlov was not killed immediately, and by artisanal weapons, were not high-class assassins, Fonarev believes ...

... Most believe that the reason for the murder was not Kozlov's already committed actions, but his plans. “The version of the revenge of the offended bankers is too trivial ... Andrei would definitely feel the danger if it came from those whom he could offend,” says Andrei Cherepanov, who studied with Kozlov and worked with him at the Central Bank. Banker and State Duma deputy Alexander Lebedev recalls that quite recently “there were checks on some big banks". “This attempt cannot have everyday and accidental reasons, they must be sought precisely in banking supervision", he is sure. “He came to something systemic, connected with the laundering of dirty money, most likely, he saw the whole chain of laundering in its entirety,” says Sergey Vasiliev, head of the banking committee of the Federation Council. Sysuev advises “to pay attention to cashing out, schemes with non-refund of VAT, etc.,” not excluding the possibility that the customer of the crime could also be someone who could still be overtaken by the Central Bank’s sanctions. The customers of such murders are often not those who have already suffered from the activities of an official, but those who could suffer in the near future, says an investigator specializing in investigating contract killings. “Among the owners of banks involved in cashing and laundering funds, including those associated with “gray imports”, there may be scumbags who could order such a crime. Moreover, the fact that all the forces of the state will be thrown into its disclosure, these people might not care - it is very difficult to prove such crimes, ”he believes. The version with "thugs" is also supported by one of Kozlov's acquaintances.

… Finding a worthy replacement will not be easy. “Against the background of the Central Bank, which reformed banks cautiously, Kozlov was a phenomenon,” Sysuev notes. “He alone tried to act, and he did everything publicly.” This is the systemic weakness of the financial authorities - the deceased Kozlov may simply not find an adequate replacement, Sysuev believes. “We do not have a person with such experience of supervision and outlook as Kozlov has,” Vasilyev states. “Of course, the supervision system has been built up for him in principle, but all the same, I don’t see a replacement for him from the Central Bank – he was very bright.”