China had a deal with a company close to Putin
Gennady Timchenko, a shareholder and board member of the Russian company Sibur, is considered very close to President Putin. This is the reason why Western countries have banned Gennady Timchenko as well. Gennady Timchenko is the sixth richest businessman in Russia. He has founded the Volga Group investment firm. He is also a big fan of Russian ice hockey. Armenian-born businessman Timchenko is also the president of the SKA St. Petersburg ice hockey team. He is also considered a former judo partner of Putin.
Putin and Timchenko have been friends for 20 years
Timchenko has known Putin for more than 20 years. He worked for Kirill Shamalov, the former son-in-law of the Russian President. Kirill Shamalov has earned millions of dollars from companies operating in the oil and gas sector of Russia. He is also said to be a major shareholder of the Russian oil company Sibur. In the 1990s, Timchenko started oil trading from St. Petersburg. At that time Putin was a rising politician there.
Putin and Timchenko also run the company together
At that time, together with President Putin and Timchenko, a company named Gunvor was founded. Gunvor was a Russian oil trading company. In 2014, the US government alleged that Putin had a personal stake in Gunvour, although it provided no evidence of this. However, the Russian company had denied these allegations by the US.
China pulled out due to US sanctions
According to the report, Gennady Timchenko holds the citizenship of Russia, Finland and Armenia. They live in Moscow while the rest of his family members and their three children live in Switzerland. His youngest daughter Ksenia is married to Gleb Frank, son of Putin’s former transport minister Sergei Frank. After announcing the sanctions, the US said that Timchenko is a major shareholder of Russian bank Rossiya. Bank Rossiya is a major stakeholder in the Russian state media conglomerate that supports the Russian policy of destabilizing Ukraine.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin