Noose tightens around Ambassador Pressman, who does not deny any specifics

For many years, the US business interests of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov have been managed by Ellen Pinchuk, who used legal services provided by David Pressman, now US ambassador, during his time as a lawyer. These services may have involved assisting the oligarch, who also maintains close ties with Russian President Putin, in navigating Western sanctions. Our findings reveal that Ellen Pinchuk had given money to Mr Pressman even before the Ukraine war. So, let's see how the Pressman-Pinchuk-Prokhorov trio worked.

Vlagyimir Putyin gratulál Prohorovnak 2014-ben egy állami kitüntetési ünnepségen Moszkvában. forrás: New York Post

– We know for a fact that between 2020 and 2022 Ellen Pinchuk gave money to David Pressman, who at the time worked at the law firm Jenner & Block.

– It's a fact that Ellen Pinchuk and pro-Putin Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov maintained a close business relationship.

– It was an obvious choice for Mr Prokhorov to entrust Ellen Pinchuk, a discreet, trusted longtime friend and confidante proficient in both Western and Russian contexts, with helping him to avoid sanctions.

– The law firm had a strong focus on sanctions, national security and export ban cases.

– Various sources reveal that Mr Prokhorov has long been unaffected by Western sanctions, while Ukraine has been asking for Prokhorov to be added to the sanctions list.

– It appears logical that the oligarch would take steps against the expected sanctions, applying for Israeli citizenship and seeking (legal) help from professionals who are "close to the fire".

– Jenner & Block represented one of the passengers of the plane shot down over Donetsk in 2014, and the plaintiffs in the dispute were two Russian banking giants, Sberbank and VTB Bank.

While the US ambassador in Budapest continues to critique Hungary's interactions with Russia, recent revelations suggest that David Pressman may have played a role in assisting one of Russia's wealthiest oligarchs in evading Western sanctions in exchange for substantial compensation. Before his diplomatic assignment, Mr Pressman spent two years at the law firm Jenner & Block which, according to its own website, is well-versed in international sanctions and export regulations. Mr Pressman's assets declaration was published after the diplomat's ambassadorial assignment. In it, he revealed that he, as an employee of Jenner&Block, had provided legal services to a woman named Ellen Pinchuk, who is none other than the person in charge of managing Mikhail Prokhorov's US dealings.

Vladimir Putin congratulates Mr Prokhorov at a state honors ceremony in Moscow, in 2014. Source: New York Post

As we highlighted in a previous article, Mr Prokhorov is one of the richest Russian businessmen with a thousand ties to President Vladimir Putin and one of the forty-five Russian oligarchs who remain unaffected by Western sanctions.

Below we look at the secret behind Mr Prokhorov's success and how US Ambassador David Pressman in Budapest may have been instrumental in assisting the Russian billionaire in avoiding Western sanctions.

Amassing capital on the ruins of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Prokhorov is one of the richest men in Russia. In October 2023, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth to be around $11 billion, and he has significant stakes in Russia's energy, banking and insurance sectors. Mr Prokhorov graduated from the Moscow University of Economics in 1989 and became an employee of the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC). It was here that he met his future "comrade-in-arms", Vladimir Olegovich Potanin, who was already working for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Economic Affairs. Mr Potanin is now Russia's richest oligarch.

Palladium. Mr Prokhorov bought the 312-foot yacht a decade ago for $200 million and recently sold it for around $150 million. Source: Luxurylaunches.com

As IBEC became increasingly insolvent with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new institution - the United Export Import Bank (Unexim) - was created based on the deposits it had been able to withdraw. This bank was headed by Mr Prokhorov and Mr Potanin. Using Mr Potanyin's contacts, they started their now famous "loans for shares" program, in which private banks extended loans to the Russian state in exchange for shares in key strategic sectors. Since the loans for shares program was essentially run by Unexim, it was Mr Prokhorov and Mr Potanin who defined the group of businessmen deemed eligible to obtain shares in various former Soviet strategic sectors, essentially influencing control over the entire Russian economy. This cohort of individuals would later come to be known as the Russian "oligarchs."

A short-lived political career

Mr Prokhorov founded the Onexim Group in May 2007. Onexim Holdings Ltd. is a conglomerate investment fund with interests in mining, real estate, nanotechnology, media and financial services worldwide. In 2022, the group was worth $13 billion, making Mr Prokhorov the ninth richest man in Russia and the 138th richest man in the world, according to Bloomberg.

Listán az orosz milliárdosok. Prohorov a kilencedik. Forrás: Visualcapitalist.com

A thousand ties to Putin

In the early 2010s, Mr. Prokhorov even pursued political ambitions, assuming leadership of the Right Cause (Правое дело, PD) party. According to the Brussels-based Politico news portal, PD is a group with close ties to the Kremlin working to maintain political pluralism in Russia, while serving as the Putin regime's "pseudo-opposition". The oligarch even ran for president in 2012 under the banner of the pro-Putin party, securing nearly eight percent of the vote. As for his presidential 'ambitions,' some sources with ties to the Kremlin have suggested.

that Mr Prokhorov was in fact repaying a debt to the Russian president for Putin's help in solving a problem with a former business associate. According to some sources, the Russian president even offered the businessman the post of Moscow's mayor and a ministerial portfolio.

Later, Mr Prokhorov left the political arena and reentered the business world, where he became increasingly successful.

U.S. investment: the Nets deal

Mr Prokhorov was a longtime supporter of CSKA Moscow's hockey, football and basketball clubs. He is a member of the Supreme Council of Sport Russia and President of the Russian Biathlon Federation. In 2010, he bought the professional NBA team Brooklyn Nets, formerly known as New Jersey Nets, and acquired a 45 percent stake in the then under-construction Barclays Center. His best connection was former CSKA Moscow player Andrei Kirilenko, who played for the Utah Jazz. He eventually sold the team and the sports arena in 2019 for $3.5 billion, reportedly under pressure from Vladimir Putin.

Ellen Pinchuk, the Moscow liaison

In connection with the Nets deal, it was none other than Ellen Pinchuk, a fluent Russian speaker, who played a pivotal role in organizing Mr Prokhorov's US media appearances and image-building for this deal. Her efforts were so successful that the oligarch has garnered positive exposure, including a favorable spotlight on the renowned American '60 Minutes' program, and a positive profile piece in The New York Times.

Ellen Pinchuk, Deputy CEO of Mikhailov & Partners

It's worthy of mention that Ms Pinchuk is currently Deputy CEO of Mikhailov & Partners (MP). The Moscow-based MP is Russia's largest strategic communications firm, and Ellen Pinchuk's role is to develop and implement various programs that showcase Russian companies and their top executives abroad in a positive context.

From 2007 to 2009, Ms Pinchuk worked as a reporter for Bloomberg News TV in Moscow, during which time she interviewed leading Russian politicians such as Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin.

Inside sources have described her as Mr Prokhorov's most trusted aide, especially on US press affairs. She is known to be a very smart person who doesn't mince words and has a great sense of humor. later, she was referred to as Mr Prokhorov's spokesman in Moscow.

The oligarch evades sanctions

According to information in the international press, Mr Prokhorov has skillfully evaded international sanctions aimed at Russian billionaires, proactively preparing for the tightening and extension of punitive measures initiated in 2014. The tycoon's determination to avoid sanctions is evident, as he recently obtained Israeli citizenship, presumably with a view to eluding such punitive measures. Through her maternal grandmother Mr Prokhorov is of Jewish descent and, as such, he may have been eligible to receive Israeli citizenship in April 2022.

Consequently, it comes as no surprise that there are calls from Ukrainians for Mr Prokhorov to face sanctions from the international community. 

Enter Pressman 

Given the above, it can hardly be a coincidence that David Pressman, as an associate of a law firm specializing in sanctions law at a high level, had Mr Prokhorov's confidante as a client in the period before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

With Mr Pressman's appointment as US ambassador to Budapest, a public assets declaration was published, in which he had to indicate his financial resources for the years prior to his appointment. It includes a certain Ellen Pinchuk of Woodland Hills, California, a client of Jenner & Block, from whom he received over $5,000 in legal fees. And all this took place between 2020 and 2022.

It was in part this assignment that brought Mr Pressman, a US diplomat known for his consistent criticisms of Hungary, significant financial gains, allowing him to make nearly $2 million in less than two years during his tenure at Jenner&Block.

 

Mr Pressman joined Jenner & Block as a partner in June 2020. Here, his clients included Princeton University, First Republic Bank and Oshkosh Corp. He led J&B's legal team that handled the lawsuit between the two Russian banks over the downing of a Malaysian airliner. Quinn Schansman, an 18-year-old American citizen, died on the Malaysian flight that was shot down over Donetsk in 2014. And Schansman's parents accused Russia's Sberbank PJSC and VTB Bank PJSC of funneling millions of dollars to the Donetsk People's Republic, to fund the Russian separatist group ultimately responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. According to the documents submitted by the family, the New York court has full right to proceed in the case, since the two Russian banks regularly and deliberately provided large sums of money to the separatist groups through two American banks, the Bank of America and the Bank of New York Mellon. The representative of the Schansman family and the head lawyer of J&B was none other than David Pressman.

David Pressman. The ambassador has not denied any specifics. Source: Europress/AFP

Late night reaction

The Embassy headed by David Pressman only reacted to the case late last night, more specifically to a statement by Hungarian state secretary in charge of government communications, Zoltan Kovacs, who previously called Mr Pressman a hypocrite, stating that the diplomat received millions of dollars in exchange for assisting the Russian oligarch to circumvent EU sanctions. The Embassy described this as a falsehood, but at the same time they did not refute any of the specific statements contained in Magyar Nemzet's article published on Thursday.

Cover photo: Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Prokhorov in Moscow, in 2014 (Source: New York Post)