Daghestani oligarch Kerimov reportedly pledges over $1 billion to Putin for Ukraine war effort
Daghestani billionaire senator Suleiman Kerimov has reportedly pledged to contribute ₽100 billion ($1.2 billion) to Russia’s state budget following a private meeting in Moscow where Russian President Vladimir Putin urged major businesses to provide financial support for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Financial Times reported that on 26 March, after the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) in Moscow, Putin held a private meeting and appealed to the major businesspeople to support the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to The Bell’s sources, the idea to ‘shake the businesses’ came from the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, who apparently presented a letter to Putin a day before.
Putin reportedly also stated in the meeting that Russia will continue to fight until it secures the remaining areas of Ukraine’s Donbas region that are not currently under its occupation. Kerimov was reportedly among the first to pledge funds to the war.
Aleksandr Shochin, head of the RSPP, confirmed that the closed meeting lasted about two hours and that discussions were focused on issues of regulating AI, platform economy, and the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs. Putin also commented on the situation related to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the war in Iran.
Kerimov is a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Governance.
He is one of Russia’s wealthiest businesspeople, ranking 5th in wealth in Russia and 99th globally with a network of almost $26 billion in 2026, according to Forbes.
Kerimov has been associated with major investments in banking, energy, and gold. Forbes links much of his family wealth to Polyus, which describes itself as the largest gold producer in Russia and among the top five in the world.
Kerimov has been under US sanctions since April 2018. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine he was also sanctioned by the EU and UK.
Gunef Yedic
