Gennady Timchenko has stakes in various Russian businesses, including gas company Novatek and petrochemical producer Sibur Holding. Timchenko ran a state-owned oil exporting company and became one of its largest shareholders when it was later privatized. One of Russia's most powerful people, he befriended Putin in the 1990s in Saint Petersburg when he and the Rotenberg brothers started a judo club called Yavara- Neva. Timchenko was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2014 and by the EU and U.K. in 2022. He remains chairman of the Russian national hockey league KHL and is president of the SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club.
