Leviev is a businessman. “The Diamond King”: how Lev Leviev built his empire. The British court rejected Gaidamak's claims against Leviev

"Biography"

Lev Leviev was born on July 30, 1956 in the capital of Soviet Uzbekistan - Tashkent, into a family of Bukharan (Central Asian) Hasidic Jews, immigrants from Samarkand. His father’s name was Avner (according to another version, Anvar), in whose memory Lev later created the educational network “Or Avner”. Mother's name was Hana.

Education

In 1971, when Lev Leviev was 15 years old, he and his family immigrated to Israel and Lev went to study at the Chabad yeshiva in Kiryat Malachi.

"Ratings"

"News"

Is Leviev in danger of losing control of Africa Israel?

The majority shareholder of the Africa Israel holding, Lev Leviev, and his partner in the fight for the acquisition of the company, Moti Ben-Moshe, did not advance to the next stage of the tender, as they refused to improve their offer. But they expect to try again later, when a winner emerges.

Lev Leviev will launch his own jewelry brand

The Moscow Jewelry Factory ranks second in the jewelry market after Adamas with annual revenue of 8 billion rubles. At the end of last year, the enterprise, whose beneficiary is Lev Leviev, operated 309 retail stores.

According to experts, Lev Leviev will launch a line of premium products under his own name. If Jewelry will be exclusive, then their target audience will be wealthy people who have not changed their consumer preferences during the economic crisis. This positive effect was felt, for example, by the Mercury and Richemont Group networks. While analysts see growth potential in the sales area jewelry only in the high-level segment, designed for foreign tourists or wealthy Russians. According to Olesya Dzyuba, director of the market research department at CBRE, the area of ​​one store where products under the LEVLEVIEV DIAMONDS brand will be sold can be up to 300 sq. m, and investments in opening one outlet can be almost 3 million euros. Olesya Dzyuba believes that one of the main risks that needs to be taken into account is the low awareness of the target audience about the brand.

Leviev will compete for the purchase of the Africa-Israel holding company

The majority shareholder of the Africa-Israel holding, Lev Leviev, expressed interest in acquiring the company. On January 16, he and entrepreneur Moti Ben-Moshe made an offer to bondholders. Previously, Ben-Moshe intended to acquire the holding on his own.

Details of the offer have not yet been disclosed, but it is known that, unlike other buyers, Leviev and Ben-Moshe do not need to conduct due diligence to form an objective picture of the investment object. This is their advantage over their competitors.

Lev Leviev will build a microdistrict in Odintsovo for 15 thousand residents

The AFI development company of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev will nevertheless build in Odintsovo one of the largest residential complexes in the capital region - “Odinburg”. total area of the new complex over 33 hectares. According to the developers, they have now taken into account all the wishes of the city residents. Experts predict good demand for Odinburg from buyers, but at the same time they fear that the already congested Minskoye Highway will finally stop working after the occupancy of the huge residential complex.

Ilya Shcherbovich’s UCP denies the purchase of VKontakte, valued at $2.8 billion

Information about the valuation of VKontakte at $2.8 billion during a transaction with its shareholders Vyacheslav Mirilashvili and Lev Leviev is not true, a representative of the United Capital Partners (UCP) fund told Vedomosti. He refused to disclose the amount of the transaction. Previously, two sources familiar with the participants in the transaction spoke about such an assessment of the social network’s business, but a UCP representative did not comment on this.

The deal between UCP and VKontakte shareholders became known on Wednesday, April 17. UCP bought 48% of VKontakte: 40% belonged to Mirilashvili, 8% to Leviev. UCP is a fund in which 65% belongs to Ilya Shcherbovich, the rest to his partners (Alexander Shmelev, Victoria Lazareva, Yuri Kachuro, Mikhail Trofimov, Igor Pavlov, Ivan Tyryshkin, Sergei Gabestro, Alexey Zakharov).

Negotiations on the purchase of the share of Mirilashvili and Leviev began in January of this year, and the purchase and sale agreement was signed on April 2. Commercial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The previous deal with VKontakte shares took place in 2011, when Mail.ru Group, as part of an option, acquired 7.5% of the social network at a valuation of $1.5 billion for the entire company.

The UCP Fund bought out the shares of two of the co-founders of VKontakte

The new owner of 48% of the shares of the company that controls the largest social network on the Runet, VKontakte, is the United Capital Partners fund, whose president and managing partner is Ilya Sherbovich. The fact of the closure of the deal was confirmed to RBC by the fund itself, reporting the repurchase of shares belonging to the co-founders of the social network Vyacheslav Mirilashvili (40%) and Lev Leviev (8%).

There is no information about the transaction price. Previously, experts estimated VKontakte as a whole at $1.5-2 billion.

In turn, VKontakte press secretary Georgy Lobushkin told RBC that neither he nor the founder of the social network, Pavel Durov, who owns 12% of its shares, has any information about the deal. Let us remind you that VKontakte shareholders have the right of priority to buy out the shares of the remaining shareholders if they suddenly decide to sell them.

In December 2012, billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is also a major co-owner (39.99% of shares) of the social network, stated that he intends to increase his share of VKontakte and is negotiating with the remaining owners. about all owners.

Lev Leviev begins large-scale housing construction outside the Moscow Ring Road

AFI Development is launching its first integrated development project for housing construction. As RBC daily learned, in early July, the development structure of Israeli entrepreneur Lev Leviev received permission from the Moscow region authorities to build a residential microdistrict with an area of ​​750 thousand square meters. m in Odintsovo. According to experts, investments in the project will amount to 38 billion rubles.

The construction of the shopping center near the Belorussky railway station was moved to 2nd Brestskaya Street.

RBC 07/16/2012, Moscow 17:14:32 The multifunctional complex, which was planned to be built near the Belorussky railway station in Moscow, will be built on 2nd Brestskaya Street. According to the Moscow City Committee for ensuring the implementation of investment projects in construction and control in the field of shared construction, the Moscow Urban Planning and Land Commission approved the draft urban planning plan land plot at the address: 2nd Brestskaya street, property 50/2, for the construction of a multifunctional office complex.

A London court rejected Arkady Gaydamak's claim against Lev Leviev

At the end of last week, Israeli media reported that the Supreme Court in London rejected the claim of businessman Arkady Gaydamak against Lev Leviev. The plaintiff argued that he was entitled to commissions and dividends amounting to about half of the Angolan assets of Leviev's diamond corporation. According to various estimates, we're talking about about hundreds of millions or several billions of dollars.

The British court rejected Gaidamak's claims against Leviev

A British court on Friday denied Israeli businessman of Soviet origin Arkady Gaydamak satisfaction of his material claims against former business partner Lev Leviev.

Moscow is looking for a developer for an interchange project on Tverskaya Zastava Square for 771 million rubles.

Moscow is looking for a developer for a transport interchange project on Tverskaya Zastava Square, near the Belorussky railway station in the capital, as well as an underground parking lot and reconstruction of the Tverskoy overpass, according to materials posted on the government procurement website. The maximum (initial) price of the government contract is 771 million rubles, that is, the auction will be conducted on a downward basis. Funds are allocated from the city budget.

Leviev may increase his stake in AFI Development

Developer AFI Development is negotiating a buyout from its majority shareholder Lev Leviev country project for 1,000 cottages per share, the company said on Tuesday. According to two sources, this cottage village“New Veshki” near the Moscow Ring Road, managed by the Sawatzku company, the general director of whose Moscow office, Mark Groysman, became the head of AFI Development last year.

Lev Leviev found money to buy parking in Moscow City

AFI Development by Lev Leviev found money to buy a parking lot in Moscow City.

Bellgate Constructions (part of AFI Development) has signed an agreement with VTB Bank to receive a loan of 4 billion rubles, the developer said in a statement.

AFI Development will buy out Moscow's share in Afimall City

AFI Development will buy out Moscow's 25% share in the Afimall City shopping and entertainment complex in Moscow City and an underground parking lot for 2,700 cars, the company said in a statement. The transaction amount will be approximately $310 million.

Putin's friend is in big trouble.

Israel detained six suspects in diamond smuggling worth more than $80 million on Monday and detained for a week. The criminal case of smuggling, as it turned out, has been investigated by the Israeli police and tax authorities for a year. On Tuesday, a court in the city of Rishon LeZion allowed their names to be published. Among those arrested were Zvulon Leviev, the son of Israeli billionaire of Soviet origin Lev (Levi) Leviev, his brother Moshe Leviev, as well as three employees of the company LLD Diamonds owned by Leviev. Lev Leviev is a native of the USSR, one of the richest people in Israel and the owner of many assets in Russia and around the world, who made a fortune in the mining, trading and cutting of diamonds. The name of Leviev, who is often called the “diamond king,” appeared in several publications about Donald Trump’s ties with Russia, and his company appeared in the “Magnitsky case.”

Couriers in bales

On Wednesday, November 7, the arrests of suspects in this case continued. The police came to three more employees of LLD Diamonds, and all the detainees were searched. In addition, Lev Leviev’s Israeli assets worth several million dollars were arrested: his villa and diamonds found in the LLD Diamonds offices in the Diamond Exchange building near Tel Aviv, Crimea.Realii writes about this.

According to officially published suspicions, an Israeli citizen, an employee of one of Leviev's Russian diamond processing plants, six months ago tried to smuggle precious stones worth $270,000 into Israel. To do this, he allegedly took advantage of the status of a “returned Israeli” (“toshav hozer”): Israel provides a number of benefits to repatriates who received Israeli citizenship under the “Law of Return”, but then left the country and lived at least several years abroad in case of their return to the country for permanent residence. These benefits include customs duties on the import of personal property. The suitcase with diamonds, as Israeli media reported, citing unnamed police sources, was confiscated by customs officers when its owner tried to pass through the “green corridor” without declaring the imported items.

In addition, the police suspect that the 16-year-old recent years The smuggling scheme involved students from religious Jewish schools - yeshivas, who also brought diamonds from Russia to Israel - perhaps for the reason that religious Jews with Israeli passports aroused less suspicion among customs officials. But that’s not all: according to the police special unit “Lahav 433” investigating this case (it is known as the “Israeli FBI” and is investigating the most high-profile cases related to organized crime, including the corruption case against the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu), part of the precious stones imported to Israel in this way were mined in Africa, in countries from which the purchase of diamonds is prohibited by international conventions. Such diamonds are often called “blood” diamonds, since the money from their sale can most likely be used to finance military conflicts. Russia has also joined these conventions, so if the suspicions of the Israeli police turn out to be justified, this will mean that Russian customs for some reason allowed diamonds through the border, the import of which was strictly prohibited into the country.

Childhood, adolescence, youth

Lev Avnerovich Leviev was born in 1956 in Tashkent, into a family of Bukharian Jews. His father, Avner Leviev, was a follower of Lubavitcher Hasidism; his grandfather was arrested in 1949 for promoting Jewish religious traditions and exiled to Siberia for 25 years. According to some sources, Leviev’s father was the head of a state antique store; according to another version, he was the deputy director of a city department store. As the Israeli writer Peter Lyukimson writes in his book “Business in the Jewish Way,” Leviev’s father raised him in strict Jewish Orthodox traditions, for example, he taught him to always wear a kippah, for which Lev was repeatedly punished by his anti-Semitic peers. The Leviev family was wealthy, but at the same time led a rather modest lifestyle, helping other members of the community - among other things, Avner Leviev paid the Bukharian Jews the “fine” that Soviet citizens who emigrated to Israel had to pay to the authorities for the education received in the USSR - approximately 1000 rubles

Leviev earned his first money, writes Lyukimson, after the birth of his younger brother: he got on a bicycle and began to travel around relatives, each of whom gave him a ruble or two for the good news. With the accumulated amount, he allegedly bought imported raincoats from an acquaintance of his father, a warehouse manager in a store, and subsequently resold them for 2-3 times more expensive. Another legend says that Leviev collected bottles in city parks at dawn, thus earning from 80 to 120 rubles a month - more than his teachers.

In 1968, Avner Leviev sent his son to the underground yeshiva of Lubavitcher Hasidim in Samarkand, where he continued to earn money in his free time: he repaired and resold broken bicycles and mopeds, and invested the proceeds in the purchase of fashionable and scarce goods “under the counter.” which he then resold. This did not affect his studies in any way - in the 2001 article “Levaev and Emptiness,” published on the since-defunct website of the Public Foundation for Asian-European Studies, it is said that already at the age of 13 Leviev “became famous among the Jews of Tashkent for his ability interpret the weekly portion of the Torah in Hebrew."

The same article provides a version, not the most pleasant for Leviev, but also not confirmed from any other sources, of why his family had to repatriate from the USSR to Israel in 1971. The reason was allegedly the interest in him and his father from the OBKhSS, the Department for Combating the Theft of Socialist Property - due to suspicions of speculation, which was a criminal offense in the Soviet Union. Before leaving for Israel, Avner Leviev bought diamonds with the money he had, which over the course of several years he himself and with the help of Bukharian Jews who had repatriated to Israel was able to take them out of the country.

As Forbes magazine wrote in 2004 (now this publication is not available on the publication’s website, but a copy of it has been preserved in other sources), Avner Leviev spent $1 million on the purchase of diamonds before repatriation. In Israel, he was able to get only 200 thousand for them - according to Forbes, the stones turned out to be of “low quality”; the authors of the article “Levaev and Emptiness” claim that they turned out to be fake.

Start from scratch and skyrocket

In Israel, as follows from the same media publications, Lev Leviev had to start his career from the very bottom of the diamond business. He got a job as a lapidary in a small workshop, served in the army, and after that, in 1977, he opened his own lapidary production. According to Forbes, Leviev's rise as a businessman was facilitated by the crisis in the Israeli diamond market in the early 80s, when many stone dealers went bankrupt. Leviev managed to avoid this fate because he avoided taking bank loans against his own diamond reserves. To purchase rough diamonds, Leviev traveled all over the world - from Russia and South Africa to Great Britain and Holland. He was one of the first to use laser cutting of diamonds, revolutionary at that time, which made it possible to level out the shortcomings of each specific stone. 10 years after the opening of his factory in Israel, in 1987, Leviev was one of the largest diamond producers in the world and received the status of “sightholder” from the largest diamond mining corporation De Beers - it is possessed by a narrow circle of people around the world who have the right to buy diamonds without intermediaries.

In the late 80s, at the end of the Soviet regime, the Main Directorate of Precious Metals and Diamonds (Glavalmazzoloto) was created under the USSR Council of Ministers, which was supposed to manage the mining of gold and diamonds in the Union, as well as the cutting and jewelry industry, and the wholesale trade of diamonds , diamonds and jewelry in the USSR and abroad. According to the industry information and analytical agency Rough and Polished, specializing in “studying the processes that determine the development of the global rough and polished market,” in 1989, representatives of Glavalmazzoloto, led by the former head of the Yakutskalmaz trust Valery Rudakov, during a trip to Israel, chose Leviev as a partner in the first joint Soviet-Israeli diamond cutting venture. The company was named "Ruiz Diamonds"; in 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, Leviev became the sole participant in the project.

Now Ruiz Diamonds is still one of the largest cutting enterprises in Russia, although Lev Leviev, according to the Kontur Focus database, is not listed among its founders (note that Leviev’s biography, to which we refer, has been deleted from the Rough and Polished website, but a saved copy is available online).

In 1995, the businessman lost his status as a “sightholder” of De Beers - according to one version, the reason for this was his participation in the sale of diamonds from the USSR GoKhRAN using “gray schemes”. According to another, De Beers sensed a serious competitor in Leviev. But friendship with Valery Rudakov opened up new opportunities for him and office doors at the most high floors authorities: Leviev told Forbes that he met with Mikhail Gorbachev more than once, however, as the businessman notes, they discussed not the sale of diamonds, but the opening of Jewish religious schools, in the creation and maintenance of which around the world Leviev, like his father, invested a lot of money .

Leviev did not have any special problems after the change of power in the country: in 1990, as Kommersant reported, Leviev bought the Moscow Jewelry Factory, and in 1996, as Rough and Polished writes, he became a co-owner of the Perm JSC Kama-Crystal ", the main raw materials for which were diamonds from the Uralalmaz mine. Soon, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree that 75% of the raw materials produced at Uralalmaz should be cut at the place of production, although an audit by the Accounts Chamber in 2002 showed that Leviev actually enjoys a monopoly on the purchase of raw materials from Uralalmaz. Russian media also wrote that Leviev's company Ruiz Diamonds had become a virtually monopoly buyer of diamonds mined by the joint venture of ALROSA and the administration of the Anabarsky district of Yakutia - OJSC Almazy Anabara. It was also reported about another Yakut enterprise of Leviev, Almi Diam LLC, which was engaged in cutting diamonds purchased from the Yakut mining enterprise OJSC Nizhnelenskoye.

It's interesting that through Perm region Leviev is associated with another Russian businessman who has been experiencing problems lately, Dmitry Rybolovlev. Both Rybolovlev and Leviev worked closely with former governor Perm region, and now Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government and Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far East Yuri Trutnev. It was during Trutnev’s governorship that Leviev privatized Uralalmaz; in addition, Trutnev oversaw ALROSA.

African diamonds and the war with De Beers

In 1997, Lev Leviev bought from the Israeli Bank Leumi a controlling stake in the investment holding Africa Israel Investment Ltd, created back in 1934 by investors from South Africa in the territory of Mandatory Palestine. Several years earlier, as stated in a publication on the website of the Public Foundation for Asia-European Studies, he had already begun doing business in Africa, the historical patrimony of De Beers. Leviev’s first point of serious effort was Angola, where in 1996, as Forbes writes, Leviev bought 16% of the country’s largest diamond mine for $60 million. Only shortly before the deal, this mine was recaptured by government forces of then Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos from UNITA rebels. Leviev quickly established connections with Dos Santos and soon received the exclusive right to purchase Angolan diamonds - while De Beers sometimes had to buy stones from UNITA militants, which led in 1998 to the introduction of UN sanctions on such purchases and the subsequent appearance of “certificates Kimberley" designed to ensure that money from the sale of stones does not go to finance military conflicts. Diamonds that did not have a "Kimberley certificate" became known as "blood" diamonds. Forbes and other media also reported on similar Leviev projects in Namibia and Congo, as well as in Kazakhstan. In addition, business in Angola allowed Leviev to meet another prominent repatriate from the USSR to Israel, Arkady Gaydamak, who was several times called a participant in the arms supply scheme from Russia to Dos Santos and an active mediator in negotiations to write off Angola’s state debt to the USSR. In a series of investigative documentaries on the Dutch TV channel Zembla, it was alleged that Leviev did not disdain the purchase of those very “blood diamonds,” and many of his real estate transactions were only part of a scheme to launder funds of “important people from Russia.” In addition, the authors of the investigation spoke about the cruel treatment of Leviev’s employees, former Israeli “commandos” from the Mossad, hired by him to guard the diamond mines, with local residents and workers. Lev Leviev indignantly rejects all such accusations.

Friend of Putin, Luzhkov and Trump

According to the Rough and Polished agency, in 1998-2005 Leviev created diamond cutting enterprises in India, China, Armenia and Ukraine. Leviev was not only involved in diamonds: as the Moscow News newspaper wrote in 2005, at that time his business empire included dozens of companies involved in construction, real estate, energy, tourism and clothing production. In Israel, Leviev bought the first Russian-language TV channel “Israel Plus” (later “Channel 9”), became the largest shareholder of the country’s first toll highway No. 6 and the owner of a network of gas stations. But his significant interests were still concentrated in Russia: in 2001, he created the company Donkamill Holdings Limited to manage the Russian assets of his investment holding Africa Israel. In 2004, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov called Leviev “the most desirable investor” in the Russian capital. In 2007 Donkamill Holdings Limited was renamed AFI Development. The first three letters in the name, referring to Leviev’s African-Israeli company, are well known to many Muscovites: among the numerous projects of AFI Development was a shopping center in the Moscow City complex, which to this day bears the name Afimall City. Leviev is well known in New York: in October 2007, he bought the former newspaper editorial building here for $525 million The New York Times. Also in the United States, Leviev owned almost 200 7-11 mini-markets in the states of New Mexico and Texas.

With the name of Lev Leviev, who all this time did not stop supporting Orthodox Jews in the territory former USSR(spending up to $30 million annually for these purposes, according to media reports), is also associated with the creation of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia in 1999 in defiance of the Russian Jewish Congress of Vladimir Gusinsky. According to Rough and Polished, this was a “serious service” to the Kremlin administration, which was occupied by Vladimir Putin shortly after the creation of the FEOR. The agency assumed that in exchange for this service, Russian authorities gave the green light to Leviev's development projects and gave him privileges in the trade of Russian diamonds. Those around the entrepreneur categorically rejected these rumors.

Leviev subsequently called Putin “a wonderful president when it comes to freedom of conscience.” According to Forbes, after Putin was elected to this post, Leviev helped him organize his first meetings with major Israeli politicians and with leaders of the American Jewish community.

The name of Lev Leviev was also mentioned in the American press in connection with the investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. True, these references do not indicate the businessman’s involvement in any illegal actions. According to Politico, in 2007, Trump was actively looking for ways to Russian market real estate. To do this, he joined forces with the Bayrock-Sapir company, which was headed by emigrants from the USSR Tevfik Arif, Felix Sater and Tamir Sapir - all of them were closely associated with Lubavitcher Hasidism. That same year, Trump organized the wedding of Sapir’s daughter and Leviev’s closest aide, which took place at his luxurious estate of the current American president, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach. A few months after that ceremony, Leviev met with Trump to discuss potential deals in Moscow and then arranged for the circumcision of the new couple's first son. Trump attended this ceremony along with his future son-in-law Jared Kushner, who later bought 5 floors in the above-mentioned building of the former editorial office of The New York Times from Leviev's Africa Israel Investments. As the British newspaper The Guardian wrote in the summer of 2017, this deal came to the attention of special prosecutor Mueller, since Kushner later borrowed $285 million to refinance it from Deutsche Bank, “which was involved in Russian money laundering scandals and whose loans to Trump are under increased scrutiny ".

AFI Investments was also a partner in Prevezon Holdings, which is owned by Denis Katsyv, the son of Russian Railways vice-president Peter Katsyv. In 2013, US authorities accused the company of money laundering for uncovering the theft of which from Russian budget Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky paid with his life. The charges were brought on the basis of the Magnitsky Act, adopted in the United States a year earlier. U.S. Justice Department settlement documents under which Prevezon Holdings paid $6 million to U.S. authorities in May 2017 in exchange for dropping the case list AFI Europe, a company allegedly linked to Leviev, as a debtor to Prevezon.

Decline of the Empire

However, as Emil Shleimovich, editor-in-chief of the Israeli publication Details, says in an interview with Radio Liberty, the case of diamond smuggling by Leviev’s people should be associated not with politics, but with routine work local law enforcement agencies to restore order in this extremely opaque industry. Now, at best, half of Leviev’s former fortune, which was severely crippled first by the global financial crisis of 2008, and then by the crisis in Russia after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the introduction of sanctions, remained (with greatly increased debts to Russian banks, which AFI Investments is trying to restructure). AFI Development's net loss in 2017 increased more than 2.5 times - from $20.7 million in 2015 to $55.7 million. Revenue from the Afimall City shopping center, which is considered the company's flagship project, decreased by 12%.

“Forbes in 2018 estimates his fortune at a billion, but we are accustomed to the fact that Forbes’ estimates are often underestimated. In general, they say that the diamond business is no longer the largest part of his empire; he has slowly begun to move away from it. The heyday of the diamond business came in the 90s, then Leviev was indeed one of the five largest diamantaires, a man who was able to challenge the De Beers syndicate. But the fact is that, firstly, the diamond industry itself in Israel is in the last place. time is experiencing a decline, and the decline is significant. Israel in this field is being squeezed by Dubai, is being squeezed by India, solely because of a more favorable tax climate, and even Belgium: at one time, Israel took over from Antwerp the right to be called the main Diamond Exchange of the world precisely because it has it. more preferential tax conditions were created. Now in Israel these conditions are becoming more stringent, in Belgium, on the contrary, they have reconsidered their mistake, as a result, the export of diamonds from Israel is falling, and falling quite seriously. As for Leviev himself, he has also been in trouble lately. Firstly, he is slowly leaving the diamond business, leaving it, apparently, to his family. In Israel, he has very serious assets - a financial company, a development company, and, of course, a construction business. At its peak, the Africa Israel company, which he once bought, was worth about 28 billion shekels, which is approximately $6.5 billion at the then exchange rate. But recently, Leviev’s financial structure, which was built over many years through issues, through partial sales of shares, and so on, “crumbled.” In 2008, Leviev, in the background financial crisis a huge debt of approximately 8 billion shekels, that is, about 2 billion dollars, was created. He was very actively involved in its restructuring, actively repaying it and, if I’m not mistaken, eventually brought the amount of debt to 3 billion shekels, that is, less than 1 billion dollars. But then it started economic crisis in Russia, which crippled his company AFI Development, prevented the next distribution of dividends, and problems arose there again, from which he has not been able to get out of for a long time. Recently there have been publications in Israel that, most likely, Leviev will leave Africa Israel altogether and close down this entire business, but we do not know his future plans for life - maybe he will prefer to give up everything and live in peace further in the UK (Levaev moved to London from Israel in 2007; now, according to unconfirmed reports, he permanently resides in Russia. - Note RS). Because it’s already clear that there will be enough money for him and the whole family.”

According to Emil Shleimovich, Leviev is unlikely to come to Israel to testify in the diamond smuggling case: “The police want to invite him to participate in this investigation. It is being conducted by the Lahav 433 group - this is the Department for Combating Organized Crime, which Israel is pursuing the largest cases against the most senior and influential people, including the Prime Minister. As far as I understand, Leviev is not going to return yet. People who are more or less privy to how events are unfolding there say: extremely high. “It’s likely that if he just flies to Israel, he will be detained at the airport.”

Shleimovich notes that Leviev’s case is not the first of its kind for Israel. “Until now, Leviev has coped with financial difficulties and come out of them more successfully than other businessmen. For example, such as Nohi Dankner, who was convicted of fraud, Eliezer Fishman, who went bankrupt and put a lot of his investors at risk. In Israel, the case about diamond smuggling is not perceived as any kind of “attack”, is not associated with any political nuances, he has not been very involved in the Israeli political life. He once owned a local Russian-language channel, but I understand he was glad to get rid of it when a buyer came along. The case of smuggling, as I can assume, arose simply as part of the ongoing work of the investigative authorities recently to expose illegal actions at the Diamond Exchange. They took on this market very strongly, and Leviev simply became another in this series. For the Office for Combating Organized Crime in Israel, it makes absolutely no difference who is behind the offender. On the contrary, if the face is larger, then there will be more noise. Now they have obtained information on him, but before that they obtained information on someone else. They became especially active after a scandal broke out in 2015 around the Swiss bank HSBC, in which, as it turned out, the Israelis kept undeclared funds. Tax office offered an amnesty, and then began to look for Israelis who thus hide money from taxation."

Perhaps, says Emil Shleimovich, the police introduced their informant into the number of diamond transporters from Russia to Israel - which made it possible to identify and arrest the courier at Ben Gurion Airport:

“We can assume that there were some kind of infiltrated agents, because, as a rule, our customs officers don’t just stop people and don’t accidentally find diamonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is another interesting nuance: there was a police statement that talks about six detained, and the police say that five of them are involved in this business (and there is everything - smuggling, forgery of documents, and so on), and not all six. That is, perhaps, after all, we are talking about some kind of embedded informant. ".

According to Emil Shleimovich, new arrests can soon be expected in the case of diamond smuggling to Israel - the public part of this story is just beginning to develop. Leviev's company LLD Diamonds said on Monday that it knows nothing about the investigation into diamond smuggling into Israel and "acts in accordance with the rules, carefully observing all laws." At the time of this publication, Radio Liberty had not received a response to written requests to the American and Israeli offices of LLD Diamonds asking for comment on the arrest of the smuggling suspects and to confirm or deny the presence of Lev Leviev’s brother and one of the sons among them. If an entrepreneur or his representatives want to express their point of view on what is happening, Radio Liberty is ready to provide them with such an opportunity at any time.

Lev Binzumovich Leviev (not to be confused with Lev Avnerovich Leviev) is a young millionaire, an investor in the field of IT technologies, one of the founders of the VKontakte project.

Biography

Lev Leviev is a second generation businessman. A successful start was provided to him by his father, Volgograd businessman Binzum Leviev. This beginning adds to many objective advantages; another one that is especially relevant for Russia is that it eliminates the significantly suspicious question: “Where does the money come from!?”

The father sent the young man back to health, and Lev Binzumovich was born in 1984 to study at an Israeli school, where he formed a useful acquaintance with Vyacheslav Mirilashvili, a partner in many future projects.

At McGill University (Canada), Lev Leviev received a bachelor's degree in finance. And a year later, in 2007, he took the position of executive director of the VKontakte project, which he did until 2012.

"In contact with"

According to popular opinion on the Internet, it was Lev Leviev and Vyacheslav Mirilashvili who interested the programmer and future general director of VKontakte with a story about Facebook.

Leviev became executive director from the start of the project in 2007, and remained so until 2012.

But, with the same confidence, we can say that Leviev, unlike Durov, in terms of his style of behavior in public and in business, is by no means a rebel. This became clearly evident after 2010, when the prospects for a change of ownership and management appeared on the horizon for Contact.

It was during this period that it became especially noticeable that if Durov declares himself to be an innovator who does not want any external guidance; then Leviev consistently acted as a businessman and investor.

Lev Leviev and Vyacheslav Mirilashvili wanted to sell VKontakte shares at the peak of their value. Why was the placement intended? valuable papers companies on the NASDAQ stock exchange. But due to the special position of Pavel Durov, the IPO was not carried out. VKontakte assets were still sold, only a little later and cheaper.

Other projects and investments

Another project of Lev Leviev (also in partnership with Vyacheslav Mirilashvili) was the Selectel data center, the full name is Selectel Data Center Network LLC.

The partners founded it back in 2007. Initially, this company provided VKontakte with a technical base for storing information. This continued from 2007 to 2012.

Gradually, Selectel gained the position of a large Internet provider, with 6 data centers and servicing many well-known programs.

Since 2014, Lev Leviev is not only the founder and co-owner, but also CEO Selectel LLC.

If VKontakte is mainly a virtual phenomenon, then Selectel is an independent provider with its own data centers, computer center and fiber optic lines. Selectel has cloud storage with impressive parameters, continues to expand its technical capacity and range of services offered.

In 2010, Levin and Mirilashvili founded the international investment fund Vaizra Capital. The fund's funds were directed mostly to high-tech enterprises, including startups that had not yet deployed active work. Vaizra Capital has several dozen investment projects of varying degrees of fame.

At the same time, Lev Leviev is a participant investment funds DST Global II and DST Global IV. Among the investments of the first of these funds: Twitter, Alibaba Group (owner of AliExpress and many other largest companies), etc.

Data on the personal wealth of Lev Binzumovich Leviev was published quite a long time ago, in 2012, then it was equal to 218 million dollars.

In addition to Russian citizenship, Lev Leviev also has Israeli citizenship. He often visits this country and invests in it.

Personal life

Lev Leviev has not yet “delighted” sensation hunters with striking personal events. Maybe he is too “sinless”, or even more accurately, smart enough not to give food for gossip.

It is known that he is married. But only.

Lev Leviev (Leviev) - in official documents he indicates his last name in different transcriptions, but more often Leviev is one of the largest diamantaires (diamond dealer) in the world. Leviev Group's turnover is about 3 billion dollars, of which more than 1 billion comes from the diamond business.

The group structure includes the Africa-Israel holding company (50.6%), which is involved in real estate, construction, telecommunications, tourism and energy. This company owns the Holiday Inn hotel chain in Israel, and the Gotex company, part of the group, is one of the largest manufacturers of beachwear in the world.

Leviev Group owns 40% of the Namco company, which mines diamonds in the offshore fields of Namibia and South Africa, and 18% in the Catoca diamond mine in Angola. In Russia, Leviev’s structures own two cutting (processing) enterprises - Kama-Crystal in Perm and Ruiz-Diamond in Moscow.

A year ago, Leviev became the owner of the Russian-language TV channel Israel Plus.

In 1990, he renounced Russian citizenship, retaining, in addition to Israeli, citizenship of Belgium, Greece, and India.

The passport indicates the place of residence: Israel, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, st. Bezalel, 52, 11th floor.

His office is located in the Diamond Exchange building. Modern design. At the entrance there is an oil portrait of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Schneirson. In the reception area there are several tastefully selected paintings.

* * *

Lev Leviev was born on July 30, 1956 in Tashkent into a family of Bukharian Jews. He was the first boy after four daughters.

His father Avner ran a government store and dealt in antiques. The family was law-abiding and religious. Family members belonged to a peculiar branch of Judaism - they were Hasidim, supporters of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

As a child, Leva even wore a “kippah” in the summer - a small Jewish cap. Perhaps it was because of her that he received, more often than other children, from anti-Semites.

This is one of the brightest impressions of my childhood,” Leviev recalls. “They hit me on the head, on the back, in the stomach. They hit me hard. Today, by helping the Jews of the former Soviet Union, I may be healing those wounds. And, for sure, I am strengthening the Jews living there now.

His family lived in the center of Tashkent, he studied at school 91, where about 20% of the students were Jews. They were constantly “at war” with Uzbeks and other non-Jews. So Leva had many cases when he was called a “kike.”

The family always celebrated Passover (Jewish Passover). They cleaned carpets and baked matzah. When he turned 13, his father sent him to an underground “yeshiva” (religious school) in Samarkand.

He still remembers all the details of that time. The “yeshiva” was constantly being watched, so the teachers changed its location. Were big problems with kosher food, and the students lived practically on bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. Even relatives who lived in Samarkand should not have known that he was studying in this city.

It should be noted that his father was a very brave man. He devoted his entire life to the Jewish tradition: he performed circumcision for free, and helped many families with money so that they could repatriate to Israel. This trait is passed down in the Leviev family from generation to generation.

In addition to his father, Leviev considers his grandfather a hero. After many warnings, until his arrest, he hid for three years in the attic of the house, which was constantly searched. Only because he wanted to remain a Jew and observe the traditions of his people. However, in 1949, for teaching Hebrew and Jewish traditions, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia for 25 years. Rebbe Schneerson was also arrested and served exile in Kazakhstan. This tragic coincidence gave rise to Leviev becoming one of the major figures in the Lubavitcher Hasidim movement.

According to their tradition, a person lives not for himself, but for his people. Therefore, Leviev does everything to help others: get on their feet, become established spiritually and financially, and support their people. He sees this as his mission on earth.

At the age of 13, Leva became famous among the Jews of Tashkent for his ability to interpret the weekly portion of the Torah in Hebrew. At the same age, he pulled off his first “business” when his brother was born. According to the custom of those places, the child who brings good news receives a reward. 27 years before the historic appearance of a check for $190 million at the National Bank of Israel, Leva decided that a good business could be made from the birth of his brother.

The enterprising boy did not limit himself to spreading this news among his neighbors. On his bicycle, he delivered it to remote areas of the city and enriched himself in a day in the amount of about 1,000 rubles (the average salary of a co-worker at that time was 100-120 rubles). With this money he bought some clothes and sold them for a profit. Having learned from his father when a shipment of the highly sought-after cloaks would be available, he bought them at the wholesale warehouse as soon as they arrived there and sold them on the black market at a noticeable profit for himself.

But this type activities in those years were still subject to the criminal code under the article “speculation”. Therefore, having noticed the close attention of the Tashkent OBHSS, the family urgently got ready to go to Israel. They say that they even managed to open a criminal case against the director of the store, Leviev Sr., and only the lack of jurisdiction of Leviev Jr. (then he was not yet 15 years old) saved the family from shame.

Having hastily sold their property, the family, among the Soviet repatriates, returned to their historical homeland...

* * *

This happened in 1971. Getting off the plane, Leva knelt down, kissed the ground and thought that, finally, he was in his homeland. And everything was fine until he got to the absorption center. He was sure that the Jews he would see here would be religious, friendly, helping each other...

But it turned out that everything is not quite like that. He suddenly saw that the world around him was cruel, not like the one he had imagined it to be. He realized that if you want to survive, move forward and deal with problems.

First, the Levievs settled in the town of Kiryat Malachi, then moved to Bnei Brak. And then came a terrible blow: it turned out that all the diamonds bought by my father with the money raised in Tashkent from the sale of property were fake. The family, in fact, found itself broke, and only social help the repatriates were not allowed to fall to the bottom by the Levievs (plus the help of the friendly Hasidic community).

Today Leviev is convinced that it was because of the trauma caused to his family that he decided to work in the diamond industry. But that will come later...

In the meantime, 16-year-old Leva had to temporarily give up the hope of getting a decent education. He was forced to go to work as an ordinary lapidary at the Zotar diamond grinding workshop. And then generally go to serve in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).

After serving in the army in signal units, he continued to polish diamonds. Then, having become proficient in cutting, he opened a workshop himself, and even won some kind of competition for lapidary masters.

According to the Internet site “Asiopa.org.ru.”, in the late 80s, Leviev found himself in Africa and, as the head of the Africa-Israel consortium, negotiated at various levels. At this time, he sells weapons, buys diamonds, exchanges airplanes for gold, platinum for pumps, sells swimsuits and condoms, oil and bauxite.

Together with Arkady Gaydamak (also a former Soviet), he will settle Angola's public debt to the Soviet Union. Moreover, in such a wonderful way that they themselves become co-owners largest deposit Catoca diamonds.

In Africa, Leviev was covered by such prominent friends as the retired heads of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, Dani Yatom and Meir Dagan.

In the end, he became fabulously rich and tired of Africa. By that time he had a special friendly relations with the “new Russian” oligarchs – Boris Berezovsky and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Very friendly, almost brotherly, but... not for long. Along the way, a characteristic feature of doing business in the leftist way - friendship is friendship, but diamonds are apart - clearly emerged.

As soon as Berezovsky decided to quarrel with Putin, Leviev immediately changed his team and began to be “friends” with Roman Abramovich. At Roma’s request, it is he who makes a revolution in Russian Jewry. The head of the Jewish Congress of Russia, Vladimir Gusinsky, who has fallen out of favor, according to Leviev, could cause a lot of trouble through world Jewry.

Therefore, he urgently puts together an alternative “Federation of Jewish Organizations of Russia” (FEOR), overthrows all of Gusinsky’s henchmen (including Rabbi of Russia Adolf Shaevich) and places his man in the chair - the chief Russian rabbi Berel Lazar. The operation was carried out masterfully, although it cost a lot of money.

As a reward, Leviev received the right to a monopoly trade in Russian diamonds. As you know, the main producer of Russian diamonds is ALROSA. It has rich deposits. Leviev has the largest cutting plant in Russia (Ruiz Diamonds). He ruined the rest of the factories himself, forcing ALROSA to sell diamonds only to him.

Today his Empire is advancing all over the world. It's not just diamonds. These are some big ones construction companies, a metallurgical plant in Israel, co-ownership of the Alon fuel company (1,700 gas filling stations and oil refineries in the USA), a full diamond mining concession in Angola.

The religious empire should be considered separately from the “business empire”. Leviev himself is the president of the Congress of Bukharian Jews of Israel, the founder and director of the Or-Avner Chabad Lubavitch Foundation (named in honor of his father) and the Or-Hana Chabad Lubavitch Foundation (named in honor of his mother). “His people” – Rabbi of Ukraine Shmul Kaminetsky, Rabbi of Uzbekistan Gurevich, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar.

The Or-Avner Foundation was opened a year before my father’s death. It has been around for 13 years. Under the tutelage of this foundation there are 85 daily schools with full curriculum, most of which are located in Ukraine. The foundation also provides humanitarian assistance - these are free canteens, kindergartens, and Sunday schools for those who study at the state school all week and come to the foundation school on Sundays.

According to people who know him, it was Leviev’s claims to leadership in the world Jewish diaspora that earned him so many enemies and friends. He doesn't know how to make friends and loves to quarrel. Too many prominent world-class entrepreneurs have come from Bukhara, and not every fellow countryman shares Leviev’s views on his own greatness.

Having not finished his business in Russia, he had to turn his attention to his second historical homeland - Uzbekistan and its environs. Oddly enough, it was there that a certain “Bukhara” opposition matured, which simply got in the way and confused the cards for the process of “further globalization of leftist business.” Recently, he began to clean out the old “Bukhara mafia,” which entered the Central Asian market before him and felt like a master there.

Leviev likes diamonds and gold. And wherever they are, sooner or later, he appears next to them. This is how he entered Kazakhstan. It was he who acted as the main intermediary in the supply of Kazakh weapons to Africa.

* * *

Experts compare Leviev’s career to a meteorite and call him a child prodigy. Its successes give analysts reason to fear for the monopoly of the South African corporation De Beers, which has been dictating the rules of the game in the global diamond market for more than 100 years.

Since childhood, I have been drawn to business,” he admitted in an interview. – I always loved to count and knew how to make money on almost everything. I had no doubt that I would become a serious businessman. Even while in the army, I dreamed of how to quickly finish my service and open my own business. I started it from scratch, without outside help.

Being the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (there are 407 of them), Leviev is not involved in repatriation. His task is to make people understand what it means to be a Jew, what Jewish traditions are, and to create conditions for raising children as real Jews.

And all this is due to the fact, he emphasizes, that we are students of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who taught us to help our brothers.

So that the reader does not get the impression that Leviev donates his money only to help Jewish communities in Russia and the CIS countries, I would like to note that 13 secondary schools with extended-day groups are now opening throughout Israel, in which the children of new immigrants will study.

When it is difficult for him, and problems arise difficult questions, he mentally imagines the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his father. The latter told him: “There is nothing that cannot be overcome. Do not be afraid of anything".

Once upon a time, every unsuccessful deal made me very upset,” says Leviev. - Observing my preoccupation, my father became angry, but I did not listen to his comments, believing that being preoccupied was for business man something like a duty. Today I understand that I was wrong and my father was right.

Reflecting on the secret of success, he emphasized:

You have to be diligent and committed to your goal, don’t despair and, of course, you need a little luck. Wisdom is to choose the right thing and never be stubborn in vain. I have no ready-made recipes. Everyone wants to make money, but the problem is that others begin to envy and copy your actions.

In another interview he stated:

I am a person who has always believed in God. The Torah says that you must give 10% of your profits to those in need. If you can't with money, give good advice, help me get a job, and God will not forget you. You have to think about the good, strive for the good, be optimistic and never give up.

The Israeli press calls him a “mysterious man.” He considers himself a realist.

When a young man who has been involved in diamonds suddenly enters a new field of activity, such as construction or hotel business, high-tech, communications or fashion, of course, it will seem mysterious,” Leviev agrees and adds: “But success is determined by how bankers and everyone else treat it.

According to him, of the thirty-two years that he has been in Israel, thirty of them have been working without a break. The diamond business is very complex and difficult. This includes cutting and production of jewelry. This is an industry where there is a lot of competition. However, his company is the leading one in the world.

During the most difficult times for the Israeli economy, he bought the Africa-Israel company. Moreover, not really good condition. And now, when many other companies are losing a lot of money and are in danger of bankruptcy, Africa-Israel is blossoming day by day.

“The Lord protects me very much,” says the successful businessman.

At 47, Leviev is one of the richest men in Israel. And if it weren’t for thousands of people living on salaries for working in his charitable institutions, he would have long ago taken up studying the Torah, obtaining a pilot’s license, and would have gone to trip around the world.

“I haven’t pleased my parents enough yet,” he often repeats.

His parents Hana and Avner left this world several years ago. But even after their death, he behaves as if the driving force behind him is the gaze of his parents’ searching eyes. Under this gaze, the loving son does not stop the unbridled race for millions.

Today, Lev Leviev lives with his wife Olga and nine children in Bnei Brak in a three-story villa with an elevator and a swimming pool.

My decision to get married at 20 was very wise,” he says. “I’m a grandfather, but I don’t feel like an old man.” I feel like I change every year. Let's say how I feel about losses... Today, losses are perceived by me the same way as profits. Anyone who does not know how to lose a lot will not be able to earn a lot.

There is no need to worry about the future of this large family...

A regular flight from Russia landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Passengers went through passport control, received their luggage and headed to customs. The man, whose name the investigation did not name, chose the green corridor along with everyone else. There he was caught red-handed. Diamonds worth $81 million were found in the suitcases. According to Israeli law enforcement, he worked at one of Lev Leviev’s Russian factories. This is one of the key players in the global diamond market, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at one billion dollars.

Ilya Shumanov, Transparency International: “The diamonds themselves are a luxury item, but they don’t have identification numbers. It is impossible to track the movement of cut stones. And often criminal groups use diamonds as a tool for laundering and storing money, since these investments are eternal, their price on the market is approximately the same.”

An Israeli court arrested six people this week. As reported by the Israeli publication Haaretz, among them are Lev Leviev’s brother Moshe and son Zvulun. The rest, according to the police, are connected with the companies of the “king of diamonds” in Russia and Israel.

suspect's lawyer

“We stated in court that the suspect has no connection with the company. He stopped having any connection with the company ten years ago. We are ready to prove this in court, and I am sure that within a few days everything will be over.”

But this is probably just the beginning. Israeli security forces even gave this case a special name - “Black Diamond”. It is handled by the Lahav-433 special unit, the tax department and the economic crimes investigation department.

In 2008, Lev Leviev met with Donald Trump on Madison Avenue, where Leviev had a store until recently. It is unknown what these “important” people discussed, but in 2015, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s company bought several floors in the former New York Times building in Manhattan from billionaire Leviev’s company.

He began cutting diamonds as a teenager. In the 90s, Lev Leviev was already the owner of a large holding company whose interests went beyond the boundaries of the former USSR. Arkady Gaydamak played an important role in expanding the boundaries of the business. In an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, he assured that he helped Leviev enter the diamond mining market in Africa.

Arkady Gaydamak, businessman, Kommersant newspaper No. 236 dated December 16, 2011: “I introduced it to the Angolan market in 1999. At that time the situation there was extremely difficult. We signed a written agreement (it existed in a single copy) and handed it over for safekeeping to the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar in accordance with religious rules- in the diamond world they still operate. And they began to work."

Then the agreement, according to Gaydamak, disappeared, and Lev Leviev stopped paying his partner his share. Arkady Gaydamak even sued Berl Lazar in Tel Aviv, as well as Lev Leviev in the High Court of London.

Leviev himself is the head big family, he has nine children. According to family tradition, sons are primarily involved in the diamond business, and daughters are responsible for development projects.

In the Afimall shopping center in Moscow City there is a real diamond of the development empire of Lev Leviev; it was opened in 2011. The flagship store of the Moscow Jewelry Factory, which also belongs to an Israeli businessman, is located here. So children often visit Moscow: the eldest daughter Tsviya Levieva is on the board of directors of the Russian division of AFI Development, which is responsible for Afimall.

Lev Leviev's eldest daughter Tsviya
Photo:

Anastasia Kirilenko, correspondent for The Insider:“I think that they are not independent figures and follow the instructions of their father. In any case, in other “reputable” businesses, children play an important role. On the other hand, of course, he can say that he has no connection with his children at all. Maybe there is a dossier on Lev Leviev himself somewhere in the police and intelligence services, but children are separate, and in a rule-of-law state their involvement will be more difficult to prove.”

Against the backdrop of information about the detention of Leviev’s relatives, a fragment was posted on the Internet telephone conversation. In the recording, the supposedly famous “authority” of the 90s, a defendant in the case of the Malyshev criminal group, Gennady Petrov, discusses Leviev’s construction business with businessman Arkady Burav. Also, correspondence from 2004 with Leviev’s Austrian colleagues was revealed, where it is written that he was already listed in the materials of the pre-investigation check of the Israeli police.

In Israel, Lev Leviev is called a major philanthropist who builds schools and helps Jews around the world. Leviev was at the origins of the creation of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. In the late 90s, Leviev brought matzo and wine to Russia for poor Jews, and traveled to the United States to a private school for children of emigrants, where he boldly instructed the children: “I am confident that each of you will be able to create in the future what I did.”

Executive Director of Transparency International Ilya Shumanov believes that the secret of Lev Leviev’s success is his contacts at the highest level, and the image of a philanthropist only helps to establish business connections.

Ilya Shumanov, Transparency International: “Levaev’s non-profit projects are probably a façade. And they, of course, make it clear that he is engaged in some kind of philanthropy. In my opinion, this allows him to claim the role of an emissary of the Kremlin, including in relations with other countries.”

The parent company LLD-Diamonds declined to comment on suspicions of smuggling. But Leviev’s Russian structure, AFI Development, firmly assures the legality of the “diamond king’s” business: “Mr. Leviev and the companies under his control operate in accordance with appropriate standards and comply with the law. We hope that the issue will be clarified soon and the suspicions will turn out to be unfounded.”

According to media reports, the Israeli police want to interrogate Lev Leviev himself. However, he has been living in London for the last 10 years, and there has been no information that he is ready to fly to Tel Aviv. However, Leviev can still be talked into: the police have already seized the businessman’s property worth several tens of millions of shekels.