User:Codyave/sandbox
Simon Kukes | |
|---|---|
 Kukes shaking hands with Putin in 2000 | |
| Born | December 5, 1946 |
| Citizenship | United States, Israel[1] |
| Occupation(s) | oil business manager, consultant |
| Title | Chief Executive |
Simon Gregory Kukes (Russian: Семен Григорьевич Кукес; born 5 December 1946) is a Russian-born American-Israeli chemist and retired oil industry businessman. He immigrated to the US to work in the oil industry in the late 1970s, and returned to Russia with AMOCO in 1995. He became vice president at YUKOS, president of TNK-BP from 1998 until 2003, and returned to head Yukos, replacing Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Officially retired he is still consulting in the oil businesses.
Holding various positions over the years, Dr. Simon Kukes has served as the principal of his personal investment company, SK Energy LLC, since April 2013.
Since July 2018, he has been the CEO and Director of PEDEVCO Corp.[2]
His commitment to the oil and gas industry has inspired Dr. Simon Kukes to publish more than 60 scientific papers and two books on the oil and gas industry of Russia and the United States.[3] He is also the holder of more than 130 patents, primarily in Oil and Petrochemical Processing.[4]
Early life and education[edit]
Simon Kukes was born in Moscow to Jewish parents.[5] He studied at Mendeleev Moscow Chemical & Technological Institute and at Nesmeyanov Institute of Hetero-Organic Compounds for his postgraduate studies.[6]
Kukes attended several prestigious universities all over the globe, receiving his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, where he graduated with Honors.
From there, he pursued his PhD in Physical Chemistry at the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he would later be a Research Associate for Nuclear and Electronic Resonance.
Kukes then attended Rice University in Houston, Texas where he was a Postdoctoral Fellow. [7]
Career[edit]
Kukes immigrated to the US in the late seventies, and became an American citizen, giving up his Russian passport.[8][9] He briefly taught at Rice University, in Houston, Texas. From 1979 to 1987, he was the Technical Director of oil-refining and petro-chemistry for Phillips Petroleum and in 1987 became Vice-President over marketing and business development for Amoco. In 1995, he became vice president of its Moscow Office. From 1996 to 1998, he was vice president at YUKOS. He was also the President and Chief Executive of Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) from 1998 until it combined with British Petroleum in 2003 to create TNK-BP.[10]
In November 2003 after being elected to the board of YUKOS he replaced Mikhail Khodorkovsky to head the company for a year.[6][8]
In June 2004 he became co-owner of the Russian oil company ZAO Samara-Nafta,[6] a subsidiary of Lukoil.[8] As of 2005, Kukes owned 8 percent in Amarin Corporation, then a neurology drug developer.[6] He also was a partner at Hess Corporation, a New York-based oil and gas company.[8]
As of 2016 he is a consultant for oil businesses in the US and Russia,[11] as well as Leverate, a FinTech company for foreign exchange brokers.[12]
From January 2005 to April 2013, Kukes was the CEO at Samara-Nafta, a Russian oil company that partnered with US-based international oil company, Hess Corporation.[10]
Following his time at TNK, Kukes joined Yukos Oil Company in Moscow presiding as the CEO and Chairman.[13]
In 2019, Kukes invested in an Israeli company, GLAMZ, a platform connecting customers to local beauty service providers.
In 1999, the Wall Street Journal voted Kukes as one of the Top 10 Central European Executives. He is also the recipient of the Medal of the Ministry for Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, as well as the American Society of Competition Development Award for Leadership. In 2003, he was named by The Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers as one of the 64 most respected business leaders in the world.
Political contributions[edit]
In 2003 Kukes had said in an interview with the Guardian: "I am not a political animal. I spent one year in Siberia [sorting out operational oil issues for TNK] in 2001. That is not what someone interested in politics does."[14]
In 2016, Kukes gave more than $150,000 to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and fundraising committee called Trump Victory Committee.[8]
He has also contributed to Elizabeth Cheney's 2016 run for a congressional seat in Wyoming.[8]
Mueller Report[edit]
In September 2017, Kukes was reportedly being investigated by the Mueller special counsel investigation for his alleged ties to Viktor Vekselberg.[15]
Personal life[edit]
In 2000, Kukes bought a four-room condominium in Trump Parc in Manhattan.[16]
In 2016, Kukes was reportedly residing in the United States.
References[edit]
- ^ "Management Team". Retrieved June 9, 2023.
Dr. Kukes (who is a dual citizen of the United States and Israel) currently serves on the board of directors and is an investor in numerous international companies, including Leverate Technological Trading Ltd., an Israel-based technology company and trading platform provider (since October 2014 and as Chairman for two years), Fletschhorn, a Swiss-based hotel and restaurant company (as Chairman since June 2014), and GLAMZ Ltd., a privately-held Israel-based booking platform for the beauty industry (as Chairman since June 2018).
- ^ "Simon G Kukes, Pedevco Corp: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "Oligarch? I wish". The Guardian. 13 November 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "Results of Search in US Patent Collection db for: IN/Kukes". Patft.uspto.gov. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ Ron Kampeas (May 22, 2018). "Know your oligarch: A guide to the Jewish machers in the Russia probe". JTA. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- ^ a b c d "Simon Kukes Prefers Drugs to Oil". Kommersant. 25 January 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ "PEDEVCO Corp. (PED)". Pedevco.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Balcerzak, Ashley (26 September 2016). "Russian-born oil magnate gives big to Trump Victory". OpenSecrets.
- ^ "A Conversation with Simon Kukes ( Transcript)". Council on Foreign Relations. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Simon Kukes Prefers Drugs to Oil - Kommersant Moscow". 30 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-30. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "About NAFTA Consulting". website. NAFTA LLC. n.d. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ Avi Mizrahi (2 July 2016). "Oil Magnate Simon Kukes Explains Why He Became a Major Leverate Investor". Finance Magnates Ltd. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ "StackPath". Ogj.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ Terry Macalister (13 November 2003). "Oligarch? I wish". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- ^ Ross, Brian; Mosk, Matthew (September 26, 2017). "Special counsel probing flow of Russian-American money to Trump political funds". ABC News.
Additional contributions from Russian-connected donors came from Russian-born oil executive Simon Kukes and New York businessman Andrew Intrater, who oversees the U.S. arm of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group. Neither Kukes nor Intrater had an appreciable record of political contributions until last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. After Trump secured the nomination, Kukes gave $280,000 to an assortment of Trump-controlled funds over the next several months. Intrater contributed $35,000 to the Trump Victory committee, plus $250,000 to Trump's inauguration fund. [...] All three men -- Blavatnik, Kukes, and Intrater -- have been publicly identified as associated with Viktor Vekselberg, considered one of the richest men in Russia. Vekselberg is reported to hold frequent meetings with President Vladimir Putin as part of a business group known as the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
- ^ Deborah Schoeneman (27 March 2000). "Steve Wynn Bets on 820 Fifth Avenue and Loses Big; Upper East Side". The Observer. Retrieved 1 October 2016.