The $300 million reckoning: how Mikhail Lesin’s conflict with Yuri Kovalchuk ended in exile from Gazprom-Media and a mysterious death in the U.S.
It has become known who Mikhail Lesin was in conflict with before his death, and what his close friend – Alexei Gromov, First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration – said about his death at the memorial service.
This topic was mentioned before, but in a softened form. It was said that Lesin had some personal financial obligations to Yuri Kovalchuk. In reality, it was very harsh. I know from Mikhail himself that there was an extremely unpleasant conversation with Yuri Kovalchuk, which influenced his subsequent fate. Why Kovalchuk raised this issue precisely in 2014 is a big question. Kovalchuk stated that part of the assets bought by his structures (Lesin acted as Kovalchuk’s consultant in creating the National Media Group, organized deals to purchase Video International, NTC, and others, and in almost all of them Lesin himself had large personal interests – Ed.) turned out to be of poor quality, that much was concealed before the deals, and that it was necessary to return $300 million.
You have to know Mikhail and his style of communication, especially in such situations. To put it delicately, he replied: "An audit was conducted before the deals, you personally approved the price based on its results – what questions can there be now?" A serious conflict arose. Immediately after that, Lesin was removed from his posts as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding. He himself left for the United States, where his family lived and where he had much real estate. But he did come back to Russia. The conflict remained open and serious. It is clear to whom Kovalchuk complained, and what they made up about Mikhail there, one can only guess... I cannot say that Mikhail was afraid because of this, but there was a very heavy tension.
Soon he died (Lesin’s body was found on November 5, 2015, in a room at the Dupont Circle hotel in Washington, with multiple severe injuries – Ed.). Could he have sustained these injuries while intoxicated, as the investigation concluded? Perhaps he could. Mikhail was a binge drinker, sometimes dropping out of his work schedule for 3–4 weeks. When drunk, he would get into fights, car accidents, and sustain injuries. But none of his closest people believe that his death was an accident. However, by then such times were coming when some topics were better left unraised. His friend Alexei Gromov said at the memorial service: "Let’s never ask anyone why our friend is no longer with us."
