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Showing posts with label Evgeny Lebedev. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evgeny Lebedev. Show all posts
Friday, June 30, 2023
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Boris Johnson, l’espion russe et le lord de Sibérie
LE MONDE : L’ancien premier ministre britannique se voit reprocher d’avoir nommé à la Chambre des lords Evgeny Lebedev, le fils d’un oligarque ex-agent du KGB, contre l’avis des services de renseignement, convaincus de l’existence de liens entre la famille Lebedev et le Kremlin.
Capture vidéo de l’homme d’affaires russo-britannique Evgeny Lebedev, lors de sa nomination à la Chambre des lords, à Londres, le 17 décembre 2020. PARLIAMENTARY RECORDING UNIT (PRU) / AFP
Un documentaire de la chaîne de télévision britannique Channel 4, diffusé mardi 28 juin, relance la polémique sur la nomination par Boris Johnson, peu après être devenu premier ministre, d’Evgeny Lebedev à la Chambre des lords. Ce dernier, fils de l’ex-agent du KGB Alexander Lebedev, un contemporain de Vladimir Poutine devenu un richissime homme d’affaires après la chute de l’URSS, a fait son entrée à la chambre haute du Parlement britannique en novembre 2020, avec un titre aussi pompeux qu’étonnant : baron Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia. La Chambre des lords n’a pas les pouvoirs de la Chambre des communes mais y siéger (on en est membre à vie) donne accès au cœur du pouvoir britannique et confère un épais vernis de respectabilité. » | Par Cécile Ducourtieux (Londres, correspondante) | jeudi 29 juin 2023
Un documentaire de la chaîne de télévision britannique Channel 4, diffusé mardi 28 juin, relance la polémique sur la nomination par Boris Johnson, peu après être devenu premier ministre, d’Evgeny Lebedev à la Chambre des lords. Ce dernier, fils de l’ex-agent du KGB Alexander Lebedev, un contemporain de Vladimir Poutine devenu un richissime homme d’affaires après la chute de l’URSS, a fait son entrée à la chambre haute du Parlement britannique en novembre 2020, avec un titre aussi pompeux qu’étonnant : baron Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia. La Chambre des lords n’a pas les pouvoirs de la Chambre des communes mais y siéger (on en est membre à vie) donne accès au cœur du pouvoir britannique et confère un épais vernis de respectabilité. » | Par Cécile Ducourtieux (Londres, correspondante) | jeudi 29 juin 2023
Friday, July 29, 2022
Evgeny Lebedev Wanted Private Russia Trip for Johnson When Mayor of London
THE GUARDIAN: Weekend trip was discussed in 2013 at Moscow dinner with London mayor’s chief of staff and Lebedev’s ex-KGB agent father
Evgeny Lebedev and Boris Johnson at an awards ceremony in London in 2009. Photograph: Ian West/PA
The Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, sought to organise a private weekend trip in Russia in June 2014 for Boris Johnson when he was London mayor, according to emails newly disclosed under freedom of information laws.
The unusual excursion, at one point discussed over dinner in Moscow by Johnson’s then chief of staff, Edward Lister, and Evgeny’s father, Alexander, would have been tacked on to the end of an official visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Ultimately, the proposed trip, with its two-day “personal leg”, did not go ahead. But emails sent the previous autumn show there was enthusiasm on both sides for a holiday that sheds fresh light on the relationship between Johnson, Evgeny Lebedev and his father, a former colonel in the KGB.
Evgeny Lebedev’s chief of staff wrote directly to Lister on 7 August 2013 to begin outlining a trip by Johnson to Russia in June the following year. The email makes clear the two had already discussed the idea.
“He is very happy to agree to a June date for the proposed visit to Russia,” the aide wrote. “In terms of the personal leg of the trip, he [Evgeny] was keen this happened at the tail end – ie the weekend following the ‘formal’ business.” » | Dan Sabbagh | Friday, July 29, 2022
Boris Johnson and the Lebedevs: how I exposed the prime minister’s defining scandal: The ties between the PM and an ex-KGB officer, first revealed in the Observer three years ago, could be Johnson’s lasting legacy »
The Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, sought to organise a private weekend trip in Russia in June 2014 for Boris Johnson when he was London mayor, according to emails newly disclosed under freedom of information laws.
The unusual excursion, at one point discussed over dinner in Moscow by Johnson’s then chief of staff, Edward Lister, and Evgeny’s father, Alexander, would have been tacked on to the end of an official visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Ultimately, the proposed trip, with its two-day “personal leg”, did not go ahead. But emails sent the previous autumn show there was enthusiasm on both sides for a holiday that sheds fresh light on the relationship between Johnson, Evgeny Lebedev and his father, a former colonel in the KGB.
Evgeny Lebedev’s chief of staff wrote directly to Lister on 7 August 2013 to begin outlining a trip by Johnson to Russia in June the following year. The email makes clear the two had already discussed the idea.
“He is very happy to agree to a June date for the proposed visit to Russia,” the aide wrote. “In terms of the personal leg of the trip, he [Evgeny] was keen this happened at the tail end – ie the weekend following the ‘formal’ business.” » | Dan Sabbagh | Friday, July 29, 2022
Boris Johnson and the Lebedevs: how I exposed the prime minister’s defining scandal: The ties between the PM and an ex-KGB officer, first revealed in the Observer three years ago, could be Johnson’s lasting legacy »
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Evgeny Lebedev’s Nomination for Peerage ‘Paused’ after MI5 Advice
THE GUARDIAN: Appointments commission raised security concerns in 2020 but felt ‘bounced’ into approving him because No 10 pressed for it
Evgeny Lebedev is a friend of Boris Johnson, whom he has regularly invited to his parties.Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Evgeny Lebedev’s nomination for a peerage was paused after advice from MI5 and was only ultimately approved with a letter advising his appointment would be controversial, the chair of House of Lords appointments commission has told MPs.
Giving evidence on Wednesday morning, Lord Bew said that MI5 had raised security concerns when the Evening Standard owner was put forward for a peerage by Downing Street in March 2020 – which prompted “a protracted period” of review.
Bew did not spell out what those concerns were to MPs on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, but it is understood that the agencies had initially flagged up that Lebedev’s father, Alexander, was a former KGB agent, prompting the commission to press for further details.
The commission, Bew said, had received advice that “required further elucidation”, a process that he admitted “went on for some weeks”. He added: “Does that constitute a pause? I suppose so.” » | Dan Sabbagh, Defence and security editor | Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Evgeny Lebedev’s nomination for a peerage was paused after advice from MI5 and was only ultimately approved with a letter advising his appointment would be controversial, the chair of House of Lords appointments commission has told MPs.
Giving evidence on Wednesday morning, Lord Bew said that MI5 had raised security concerns when the Evening Standard owner was put forward for a peerage by Downing Street in March 2020 – which prompted “a protracted period” of review.
Bew did not spell out what those concerns were to MPs on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, but it is understood that the agencies had initially flagged up that Lebedev’s father, Alexander, was a former KGB agent, prompting the commission to press for further details.
The commission, Bew said, had received advice that “required further elucidation”, a process that he admitted “went on for some weeks”. He added: “Does that constitute a pause? I suppose so.” » | Dan Sabbagh, Defence and security editor | Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
MPs to Question Chair of Appointments Panel over Evgeny Lebedev Peerage
THE GUARDIAN: Committee summons Paul Bew to give evidence on No 10’s role in Standard owner’s elevation to Lords
Evgeny Lebedev and his father have owned the Evening Standard since 2009. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters
The chair of the commission that advised on the appointment of the Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords has been summoned to give evidence to MPs when parliament returns next week.
Paul Bew, an Irish historian, will appear before parliament’s public administration committee on Wednesday to answer what its chair described as “very serious questions” about Downing’s Street’s role in the appointment.
“We will be holding an evidence session on the role of the House of Lords appointments commission with Lord Bew,” the committee’s Conservative chair, William Wragg, said in a letter to the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner. He said members would raise some of the issues regarding Lebedev’s elevation in the session.
Controversy has surrounded Lebedev’s peerage after it emerged that the commission expressed concerns about his elevation to the Lords and asked Downing Street to reconsider in March 2020, after advice from Britain’s spy agencies. The appointment went through only after it was resubmitted amid pressure from Downing Street. » | Dan Sabbagh | Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The chair of the commission that advised on the appointment of the Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords has been summoned to give evidence to MPs when parliament returns next week.
Paul Bew, an Irish historian, will appear before parliament’s public administration committee on Wednesday to answer what its chair described as “very serious questions” about Downing’s Street’s role in the appointment.
“We will be holding an evidence session on the role of the House of Lords appointments commission with Lord Bew,” the committee’s Conservative chair, William Wragg, said in a letter to the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner. He said members would raise some of the issues regarding Lebedev’s elevation in the session.
Controversy has surrounded Lebedev’s peerage after it emerged that the commission expressed concerns about his elevation to the Lords and asked Downing Street to reconsider in March 2020, after advice from Britain’s spy agencies. The appointment went through only after it was resubmitted amid pressure from Downing Street. » | Dan Sabbagh | Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Evgeny Lebedev Peerage: Labour Seeks to Force Ministers to Publish Advice
THE GUARDIAN: Angela Rayner to force binding vote on release of information, including on PM’s involvement in decision
Evgeny Lebedev during his introduction in the House of Lords on 17 December 2020.Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The government could be forced to reveal private advice over the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, amid evidence the security services had concerns about the peerage.
Labour will force a binding vote on releasing information about Boris Johnson’s involvement in the decision to award the peerage to the Evening Standard owner. Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, will demand the information concerning the appointment from the Cabinet Office.
The Guardian revealed in October 2020 that Johnson met Lebedev in March, shortly before the House of Lords appointments commission, which scrutinises all nominations, wrote to the prime minister. It is understood to have expressed concerns about Lebedev’s proposed peerage and asked Downing Street to reconsider.
Peers were said to have had confidential briefing from the UK security services, which suggested the appointment was a potential security risk because of Lebedev’s father, Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent who worked undercover at the Soviet embassy in London. » | Jessica Elgot, Chief political correspondent | Monday, March 28, 2022
The government could be forced to reveal private advice over the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, amid evidence the security services had concerns about the peerage.
Labour will force a binding vote on releasing information about Boris Johnson’s involvement in the decision to award the peerage to the Evening Standard owner. Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, will demand the information concerning the appointment from the Cabinet Office.
The Guardian revealed in October 2020 that Johnson met Lebedev in March, shortly before the House of Lords appointments commission, which scrutinises all nominations, wrote to the prime minister. It is understood to have expressed concerns about Lebedev’s proposed peerage and asked Downing Street to reconsider.
Peers were said to have had confidential briefing from the UK security services, which suggested the appointment was a potential security risk because of Lebedev’s father, Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent who worked undercover at the Soviet embassy in London. » | Jessica Elgot, Chief political correspondent | Monday, March 28, 2022
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Boris Johnson Was Warned of Lebedev Security Concerns, Says Cummings
BBC: Dominic Cummings has said he was present when Boris Johnson was told of security concerns about his plan to award a peerage to Evgeny Lebedev.
The ex-adviser said he was "in the room" when the PM was told intelligence officials had "serious reservations" about giving the honour to the Russian-born businessman.
It follows reports the security services changed their advice after Mr Johnson intervened.
The PM has previously denied this.
Lord Lebedev, who owns the Evening Standard newspaper, has denied posing a "security risk" to the UK.
Last week, the Sunday Times reported that in March 2020, the House of Lords Appointments Commission - which vets peerage appointments - advised Mr Johnson against granting Mr Lebedev a seat in the House of Lords on security grounds.
The newspaper said the assessment was withdrawn after Mr Johnson - a long-time friend of Lord Lebedev - personally intervened.
Another source has confirmed to the BBC that concerns were raised by security services. With video » | BBC | Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The 'acid test': Would you buy a ‘used car’ from BoJo? No? Thought not! – Mark
WIKIPEDIA: Evgeny Lebedev »
THE MOSCOW TIMES: Baron of Hampton and Siberia »
Extract:
“The senior Lebedev [Evgeny's father] was reportedly one of the figures investigated as part of the British Parliament’s intelligence committee report on alleged Kremlin interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum. The report concluded that British government and intelligence agencies failed to investigate reports of Russian interference.” | Source: The Moscow Times.
WIKIPEDIA: The Moscow Times.
Monday, March 14, 2022
Evgeny Lebedev May Be No Secret Agent: But Would Boris Johnson Notice If He Was?
THE GUARDIAN: Wild parties in Tuscany and a peerage for the Russian newspaper owner are hardly signs of a precautionary approach
Evgeny Lebedev and Boris Johnson pictured in 2015 as they slept outside in central London as part of a campaign against homelessness. Photograph: Nigel Howard
On the night Boris Johnson finally threw his lot in with the Brexiters, naturally only his nearest and dearest were privy to his thoughts.
His then wife, Marina Wheeler, was there, plus the leading leaver Michael Gove and his then wife, Sarah Vine. The odd one out over a supper of slow-roasted lamb at Johnson and Wheeler’s Islington home, meanwhile, was Evgeny Lebedev. The millionaire son of a former Russian KGB officer apparently hung out with the wives making “polite conversation in stage whispers” while Johnson and Gove talked by speakerphone to a fellow cabinet minister who was trying vainly to persuade them to back remain. Vine did not explain, in her subsequent newspaper column describing the evening, why Lebedev was playing gooseberry on such a momentous and sensitive night for the nation’s future. If the presence of the Evening Standard and Independent proprietor surprised her, however, she didn’t say so.
For a famously shy man, Lebedev certainly gets around. Here he is with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, photographed for the annual Evening Standard theatre awards (at which, the Guardian’s veteran awards-coverer Hadley Freeman points out, winners would invariably thank “darling Evgeny” and mention his “beautiful house in Tuscany”). Here he is handing the Standard editorship to George Osborne, an ousted chancellor in need of a job but not noticeably a journalist. Here he is photographed with Prince William, with Peter Mandelson, with Tony Blair, with Elton John. And here he is hosting what Johnson’s biographer, Tom Bower, called bacchanalian weekends in his castle in Italy every summer, where Johnson could apparently behave “like a naughty schoolboy”. There are no photographs of those, of course; just reports of an unkempt Johnson the morning after one of them looking (according to a fellow passenger at the airport) like he’d slept in his clothes. Johnson was foreign secretary at the time. » | Gaby Hinsliff | Monday, March 14, 2022
Multiple links apropos of Evgeny Lebedev.
Can this prime minister really be trusted? – Mark
On the night Boris Johnson finally threw his lot in with the Brexiters, naturally only his nearest and dearest were privy to his thoughts.
His then wife, Marina Wheeler, was there, plus the leading leaver Michael Gove and his then wife, Sarah Vine. The odd one out over a supper of slow-roasted lamb at Johnson and Wheeler’s Islington home, meanwhile, was Evgeny Lebedev. The millionaire son of a former Russian KGB officer apparently hung out with the wives making “polite conversation in stage whispers” while Johnson and Gove talked by speakerphone to a fellow cabinet minister who was trying vainly to persuade them to back remain. Vine did not explain, in her subsequent newspaper column describing the evening, why Lebedev was playing gooseberry on such a momentous and sensitive night for the nation’s future. If the presence of the Evening Standard and Independent proprietor surprised her, however, she didn’t say so.
For a famously shy man, Lebedev certainly gets around. Here he is with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, photographed for the annual Evening Standard theatre awards (at which, the Guardian’s veteran awards-coverer Hadley Freeman points out, winners would invariably thank “darling Evgeny” and mention his “beautiful house in Tuscany”). Here he is handing the Standard editorship to George Osborne, an ousted chancellor in need of a job but not noticeably a journalist. Here he is photographed with Prince William, with Peter Mandelson, with Tony Blair, with Elton John. And here he is hosting what Johnson’s biographer, Tom Bower, called bacchanalian weekends in his castle in Italy every summer, where Johnson could apparently behave “like a naughty schoolboy”. There are no photographs of those, of course; just reports of an unkempt Johnson the morning after one of them looking (according to a fellow passenger at the airport) like he’d slept in his clothes. Johnson was foreign secretary at the time. » | Gaby Hinsliff | Monday, March 14, 2022
Multiple links apropos of Evgeny Lebedev.
Can this prime minister really be trusted? – Mark
Sunday, March 13, 2022
Boris Johnson wegen Nähe zu Lebedev unter Druck
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Evgeny Lebedev ist ein russischer Medienmogul in Großbritannien. Seit 2020 sitzt er im britischen Parlament. Möglich machte das vor allem Boris Johnson, indem er ihn zum Baron ernannte. Die Opposition kritisiert das nun.
Großbritanniens Premierminister Boris Johnson gerät wegen seiner Nähe zum russischstämmigen Medienmogul Evgeny Lebedev unter Druck. Johnson müsse angesichts der Tatsache, dass er Lebedev zum Baron ernannt und damit einen Sitz im Oberhaus verschafft habe, „ernste Fragen“ beantworten, sagte der Oppositionsführer von der Labour-Partei Keir Starmer am Sonntag im Sender „Sky News“. Der Zeitung „Sunday Times“ zufolge hatte Johnson Warnungen des Geheimdienstes MI6 im Zusammenhang mit der Verleihung der Adelswürde an Lebedev ignoriert. » | Quelle: AFP | Sonntag, 13. März 2022
Related links:
here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Friday, March 11, 2022
Statement from the Proprietor in Response to Media Speculation
EVENING STANDARD: It troubles me that I am even writing this at a time when others are suffering so much and deserve unreserved focus. The harrowing news we are hearing from Ukraine is heart-breaking. Each hour brings fresh reports of a child killed, lives lost or families forced to flee their homes.
Nevertheless, accusations are coming from credible media outfits who are posing incredible questions to me so I feel I have no option but to respond. As someone who believes in transparency and the freedom of the press, I want to provide this statement as some context.
I am a British citizen. I first moved here as a child and was educated in the United Kingdom at primary and secondary level. I am proud to be a British citizen and consider Britain my home.
I have publicly made clear my condemnation of the war in Ukraine and called on President Putin to end the invasion of the country in the most public way possible through a letter to him published on the front page of the Evening Standard.
Our Ukraine Appeal has so far already raised £300,000, with every penny going to help the men, women and children who are fleeing the fighting in search of safety and desperately need food, water and medicines. » | Evgeny Lebedev | Friday, March 11, 2022
More about Evgeny Lebedev.
Related links here.
Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev insists he is not ‘an agent of Russia’: Media magnate issues statement in relation to peerage, as 386 Russian MPs added to UK sanctions list »
Boris Johnson and Evgeny Lebedev: a decade of politics, parties and peerages: Pair have been friends since 2009, but security concerns were raised because of the Russian tycoon’s father, a one-time Moscow spy »
Evgeny Lebedev Says He Is 'Not Some Agent of Russia'
THE GUARDIAN: Evgeny Lebedev has said he is “not some agent of Russia” following allegations that a British security services assessment said he posed a national security risk was withdrawn following an intervention by the prime minister.
The Russian-born owner of the Evening Standard and Independent and member of the House of Lords said “I am not a security risk to this country”. » | Miranda Bryant (now); Léonie Chao-Fong and Samantha Lock (earlier) | Friday, March 11, 2022
Related links.
The Russian-born owner of the Evening Standard and Independent and member of the House of Lords said “I am not a security risk to this country”. » | Miranda Bryant (now); Léonie Chao-Fong and Samantha Lock (earlier) | Friday, March 11, 2022
Related links.
Wednesday, March 09, 2022
Interview: Evgeny Lebedev: 'Russia Is Not a Homophobic Country'
THE GUARDIAN: From reciting Shakespeare to curating his private library of 500 scents, Independent and London Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev makes an unusual newspaper proprietor. Now he's planning to unleash himself on viewers as a TV presenter
'I come from a family who had values, a very educated family, a sort of intelligentsia family' … Evgeny Lebedev. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
Britain's youngest media magnate has only just begun to talk when he gets distracted by his own fingers, and breaks off to sniff them. Inhaling delicately, he smiles to himself, and explains that he keeps a private library of 500 scented oils in an office, which he had been checking on before I arrived. "Professional perfumers tell me I've got a good nose, which I'm very proud about. I think smell is one of the most powerful things in the world. It's like a time machine. Most people don't realise that. If I smell lilacs, for example, I'm immediately transported back to my childhood, because there are a lot of lilacs in Russia."
I've never met a newspaper proprietor before, so for all I know this could be par for the course, but I doubt it. I was expecting Evgeny Lebedev to be like a businessman. In 2009 he bought the Evening Standard for £1, when circulation had slumped below 250,000 and the paper was losing money. Today it is distributed for free to 900,000 Londoners, and last year began turning a profit. The Independent was losing £20m when Lebedev bought it in 2010 – but having launched a hugely successful cheaper sister title, i, today he can claim combined daily sales of almost 400,000, which have reduced annual losses to nearer £5m. So obviously he must be a serious businessman.
But he's not a conventional capitalist, because when I ask if he couldn't have found a more lucrative way to invest £100m, he agrees. "There are certainly more profitable things. Definitely. But I can't honestly think of anything that could be more fun," he says. He's not an obviously political animal, either. His father, Alexander, is a former KGB spy turned billionaire oligarch and high-profile critic of Vladimir Putin's regime, but the 34-year-old is cagey on Kremlin politics. And although there has been talk of him running for mayor of London, he tells me: "To be honest with you, I find British politics quite boring." In fact, he is so unlike any recognisable professional type that the best way to think of Lebedev is probably as a character from an Evelyn Waugh novel. » | Decca Aitkenhead | Saturday, March 14, 2014
The strange world of Evgeny Lebedev »
Related.
Boris Johnson denies overruling spies’ concerns over Evgeny Lebedev peerage: PM says he did not intervene to get Russian-British newspaper owner into Lords after security risk warning »
Evgeny Lebedev: Don't call me an oligarch: Evgeny Lebedev is a Russian billionaire. As a child, he wanted to be a cosmonaut 'like all good Soviet children'. Today he owns a couple of British newspaper titles, dates glamorous women and has a pet wolf called Boris. But he's no ordinary playboy »
EVGENY LEBEDEV WROTE THIS IN THE 'EVENING STANDARD’ ON FEBRUARY 28TH APROPOS OF THE WAR:
President Putin, please stop this war: A personal plea to the Russian leader from Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev »
Britain's youngest media magnate has only just begun to talk when he gets distracted by his own fingers, and breaks off to sniff them. Inhaling delicately, he smiles to himself, and explains that he keeps a private library of 500 scented oils in an office, which he had been checking on before I arrived. "Professional perfumers tell me I've got a good nose, which I'm very proud about. I think smell is one of the most powerful things in the world. It's like a time machine. Most people don't realise that. If I smell lilacs, for example, I'm immediately transported back to my childhood, because there are a lot of lilacs in Russia."
I've never met a newspaper proprietor before, so for all I know this could be par for the course, but I doubt it. I was expecting Evgeny Lebedev to be like a businessman. In 2009 he bought the Evening Standard for £1, when circulation had slumped below 250,000 and the paper was losing money. Today it is distributed for free to 900,000 Londoners, and last year began turning a profit. The Independent was losing £20m when Lebedev bought it in 2010 – but having launched a hugely successful cheaper sister title, i, today he can claim combined daily sales of almost 400,000, which have reduced annual losses to nearer £5m. So obviously he must be a serious businessman.
But he's not a conventional capitalist, because when I ask if he couldn't have found a more lucrative way to invest £100m, he agrees. "There are certainly more profitable things. Definitely. But I can't honestly think of anything that could be more fun," he says. He's not an obviously political animal, either. His father, Alexander, is a former KGB spy turned billionaire oligarch and high-profile critic of Vladimir Putin's regime, but the 34-year-old is cagey on Kremlin politics. And although there has been talk of him running for mayor of London, he tells me: "To be honest with you, I find British politics quite boring." In fact, he is so unlike any recognisable professional type that the best way to think of Lebedev is probably as a character from an Evelyn Waugh novel. » | Decca Aitkenhead | Saturday, March 14, 2014
The strange world of Evgeny Lebedev »
Related.
Boris Johnson denies overruling spies’ concerns over Evgeny Lebedev peerage: PM says he did not intervene to get Russian-British newspaper owner into Lords after security risk warning »
Evgeny Lebedev: Don't call me an oligarch: Evgeny Lebedev is a Russian billionaire. As a child, he wanted to be a cosmonaut 'like all good Soviet children'. Today he owns a couple of British newspaper titles, dates glamorous women and has a pet wolf called Boris. But he's no ordinary playboy »
EVGENY LEBEDEV WROTE THIS IN THE 'EVENING STANDARD’ ON FEBRUARY 28TH APROPOS OF THE WAR:
President Putin, please stop this war: A personal plea to the Russian leader from Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev »
Sunday, March 06, 2022
Ukraine War: Investigate Claim PM Intervened to Help Evgeny Lebedev Get Peerage, Says Starmer
BBC: Sir Keir Starmer has called for a senior parliamentary committee to investigate claims Boris Johnson pushed for a Russian-born businessman to get a peerage, despite security concerns.
The Sunday Times reports the security services withdrew an assessment that giving Evgeny Lebedev an honour posed a security risk after the PM intervened.
The Labour leader said he was "very concerned" about the case.
However, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab insisted there was no "impropriety".
Speaking to the BBC's Sunday Morning programme, Mr Raab said: "There is a very strict and stringent process when anyone is granted a peerage".
He added that the rules around the honours process were "applied very rigorously in this case."
"This was done properly and correctly and we have procedures and systems in place to make sure it is." » | BBC | Sunday, March 6, 2022
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Boris Johnson and Evgeny Lebedev: A Decade of Politics, Parties and Peerages
The theme of the party attended by Boris Johnson was unmistakable. On the first floor was a mural of Joseph Stalin, dressed in green military uniform. A hammer and sickle decorated the windows. In the centre of the room was an ice sculpture in the shape of a pistol, from where a barman dispensed vodka shots.
A gun – presumably fake – lay on a red double bed in the basement, next to an outdoor smoking area. “Do you like my gun?” the party’s host, Evgeny Lebedev, reportedly asked one visitor. There was also a stuffed bear.
It was Friday 15 December 2017. Lebedev’s parties held in London and at his palazzo in Umbria, Italy, are a highlight of the social calendar. At this particular USSR–themed bash there was champagne, as much as you could drink, a caviar station, a dancefloor and a DJ, and a guest list including A-list actors, rock stars and members of the cabinet.
The most senior was Johnson, then foreign secretary. The prime minister is a regular attendee of parties hosted by Lebedev, which have a reputation for decadence. Prior to the December event, an email had told staff hired for their model looks to prepare for excess. “This party will be on the wilder side so PLEASE BEHAVE YOURSELF,” it said.
The question of how wild it was depends on who is asked. One attendee called it a “vodka assault course” – others say it was more restrained. » | Luke Harding and Dan Sabbagh | Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Evgeny Lebedev: 'Russia is not a homophobic country' »
Friday, July 26, 2019
Morning After: Boris Johnson Recovers from Lebedev’s Exotic Italian Party
A trip Boris Johnson made to Italy for a party held by a billionaire socialite ended with the then foreign secretary at an airport “looking like he had slept in his clothes”, struggling to walk in a straight line and telling other passengers he had had a heavy night, the Guardian has been told.
Pictures of the now prime minister along with an account from a fellow traveller shed further light on Johnson’s weekend away at the home of the media owner Evgeny Lebedev, who is known for hosting uproarious parties for the rich and famous at his converted castle near Perugia.
Johnson has refused to answer questions about the visit in April last year, including whether he flew to Italy against the advice of his officials and without the 24/7 security detail usually assigned to the foreign secretary.
The pictures, taken at San Francesco d’Assisi airport on Sunday 29 April 2018, suggest he did go to Italy without a police escort. According to another passenger on the flight back to the UK, Johnson was on his own, seemingly without any luggage and very much the worse for wear. » | Nick Hopkins | Friday, July 26, 2019
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