Originally Syndicated on July 22, 2023 @ 10:49 am
Table of Contents
Petr Fradkov: Early Life
Petr Fradkov was born in Moscow in the year 1978. He is the son of Mikhail Fradkov, former Prime Minister of Russia and former Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
Petr graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2000 and earned a Master Of Business Administration (MBA) from the Kingston Business School in 2007. He completed a second MBA and is a candidate for an economic sciences degree at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
Petr Fradkov: Career Growth and Prominence
Petr Fradkov is a Russian economist and banker who is currently serving as the chairman and CEO of Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned bank that provides financial services to the defence industry and supports state defence contracts.
Fradkov was appointed head of Promsvyazbank in 2018, with Dmitri Pozhidaev serving as his deputy.
Since then, he has worked to transform the bank into a bank that services the defence industry and supports state defence contracts.
Promsvyazbank oversees 70% of state contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry.
Fradkov has held working meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and participated in roundtable discussions in international forums in which he forecasts the bank’s long-term strategic plans for supporting the Russian defence industry.
He is also the General Director of the Joint Stock Company Russian Export Centre.
Controversies surrounding Petr Fradkov
Petr Fradkov has been involved in several controversies. On February 22, 2022, the U.S. Treasury imposed personal economic sanctions on Fradkov for operating or having operated in the defence and related material and financial services sectors of the Russian Federation economy.
He was also sanctioned by the British government on February 24, 2022, for his role as CEO of Promsvyazbank.
These sanctions were imposed in response to actions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by Promsvyazbank, where Fradkov is Chairman and CEO.
Fradkov’s father, Mikhail Fradkov, was also sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2018 for being an official of the Government of Russia.
Despite these controversies, Fradkov has held working meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and participated in roundtable discussions in international forums in which he forecasts the bank’s long-term strategic plans for supporting the Russian defence industry.
What is the effect of sanctions on Promsvyazbank?
The sanctions imposed on Promsvyazbank by the U.S. and British governments on February 22 and 24, 2022, respectively, have had a significant impact on the bank. The sanctions ensure that Promsvyazbank and Vnesheconombank (VEB) can no longer do business in the United States and are cut off from the U.S. financial system.
The sanctions also restrict transactions with the Central Bank of Russia and freeze the assets of VEB.RF, Promsvyazbank, and Bank Rossiya, and exclude select Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) financial messaging system.
The sanctions have kept approximately $1 trillion in Russian banking assets from flowing through the markets of the U.S. and its partners’ financial systems. They have also limited tech exports to Russia and squeezed the country’s tech industry. The sanctions have blocked $85 billion in Russian assets.
The sanctions have targeted Russia’s ability to finance aggression against its neighbours by sanctioning Promsvyazbank and VEB Bank.
Promsvyazbank is critical to Russia’s defence sector and is deemed by the Government of Russia as a systemically important Russian state-owned financial institution.
The bank was nationalised in 2018 and repurposed to finance the defence industry and service large defence contracts as part of a scheme to assist the government in avoiding new sanctions.
Despite the sanctions, Promsvyazbank continues to operate, provide financial services to the defence industry and support state defence contracts.
How many countries have sanctioned Petr Fradkov?
As of October 17, 2023, Petr Fradkov has three countries’ sanctions. The United States and the United Kingdom both imposed personal economic sanctions on Fradkov on February 22 and 24, 2022, respectively, for operating or having operated in the defence and related material and financial services sectors of the Russian Federation economy.
The European Union also blacklisted him on February 28, 2022, in relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, imposing an EU-wide travel ban and freezing all his assets.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Petr Fradkov, the prominent economist and banker from Russia, who is widely recognized as the Chairman and CEO of Promsvyazbank, is an individual with ties to both controversies and fame. Under his leadership, Promsvyazbank flourished, however, sanctions also affected the scenario.
