Alexander Viktorovich Temerko (born 9 September 1966) is a Ukrainian businessman in the energy sector, currently a director of the British company Aquind Limited. Previously, he was director and deputy chairman of the British company OGN Group. While in Russia, he held senior posts in the Russian Defence Ministry in the 1990s and, from 1999, was a senior executive and director at the Russian oil and gas company Yukos. He has resided in the United Kingdom since 2004. He became a British citizen in 2011.
Temerko is a member and advocate of the UK Conservative Party. He has donated more than £1.3 million to the party. He is also a member of the advisory council of right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs. In November 2019, he called for the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament′s report ("The Russia report") on Russian influence in British politics. In connection with the report, Temerko has denied he has ties with the Kremlin.
Biography
Temerko was born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (present-day Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union) on 9 September 1966.
In 1987, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building (MIEM). He also graduated from the Institute of Public Administration in 1999. He began his career in the field of environmental science, initially as the chief engineer of capital construction at the State Committee of the USSR on Environmental Protection, and then as director of the Department of Environmental Protection under the Ministry of Forestry.
During the events preceding the dissolution of the USSR, Temerko became a prominent figure in the team of Boris Yeltsin.
From early 1992, he held a series of positions in Russian state agencies under the Defence Ministry in charge of supplies and armaments.
From 1999, he held executive positions in the Russian oil company Yukos. In 2003, upon the arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Temerko became the company's vice president. He was in charge of interaction with state bodies. He resigned from the post on 15 March 2005.
Temerko also served as a Director and vice chairman of the Newcastle-based OGN Group, a provider of engineering and construction services in offshore oil and gas and renewable energy companies. Among its clients were Apache, EnQuest, ConocoPhillips and others. The company management publicly called the UK government to support British supply chain in the oil and gas and renewable developments.
In 2016, Temerko was appointed as a director at Aquind, which mounted a bid that was later rejected to build a $1.4 billion power link between the United Kingdom and France, with power equivalent to 5% or 3% of British and French consumption respectively.
Flight to London, criminal prosecution and extradition case
Temerko fled to London shortly after he was examined by criminal investigators in October 2004. In May 2005, Russian prosecutors charged Temerko with having stolen shares in the oil company Yeniseineftegaz, forgery, and perverting the course of justice.
Russia's bid to have Temerko extradited from the United Kingdom failed as Judge Timothy Workman in December 2005 ruled: "I have come to the conclusion that the motivation for the charges against Mr Temerko are inextricably entwined with the motivation for the prosecution of Mr Khodorkovsky. I therefore find that the prosecution of Mr Temerko is politically motivated and the request for his extradition is made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing him on account of his political opinions."
Temerko himself alleged that the motivation of the Russian state's assault on Yukos was president Vladimir Putin's desire to silence those who challenged him politically. The ruling on his extradition case was in line with a dozen other similar cases of former Yukos employees who absconded to the UK.
Views and political activism in the UK
Temerko's views on Russia's economy and the Yukos affair were cited by the Financial Times in the late 2000s. He himself contributed articles on the Russian oil industry developments to outlets such as The Observer and The Wall Street Journal.
Temerko is a member of, and major donor to, the British Conservative Party where he is a member of the Leader's Group. He also actively supports local Party associations in the North-East England where his company is based and Cities of London & Westminster association where his office and residence are located. He has commented on the impact that developments in politics and business would have on the North-East, in particular regarding the North Sea.