title: Ballistics

text: A sling has a small cradle or "pouch" in the middle of two lengths of cord. The "sling stone" is placed in the pouch. The middle finger or thumb is placed through a loop on the end of one cord, and a tab at the end of the other cord is placed between the thumb and forefinger. The sling is swung in an arc, and the tab released at a precise moment. This frees the projectile to fly to the target.


title: Ballistics

text: A bow is a flexible piece of material which shoots aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins the two ends and when the string is drawn back, the ends of the stick are flexed. When the string is released, the potential energy of the flexed stick is transformed into the velocity of the arrow. Archery is the art or sport of shooting arrows from bows.


title: Ballistics

text: A catapult is a device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. The catapult has been used since ancient times, because it was proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare. The word "catapult" comes from the Latin , which in turn comes from the Greek (), itself from (), "against” and (), "to toss, to hurl". Catapults were invented by the ancient Greeks.


title: Ballistics

text: A gun is a normally tubular weapon or other device designed to discharge projectiles or other material. The projectile may be solid, liquid, gas, or energy and may be free, as with bullets and artillery shells, or captive as with Taser probes and whaling harpoons. The means of projection varies according to design but is usually effected by the action of gas pressure, either produced through the rapid combustion of a propellant or compressed and stored by mechanical means, operating on the projectile inside an open-ended tube in the fashion of a piston. The confined gas accelerates the movable projectile down the length of the tube imparting sufficient velocity to sustain the projectile's travel once the action of the gas ceases at the end of the tube or muzzle. Alternatively, acceleration via electromagnetic field generation may be employed in which case the tube may be dispensed with and a guide rail substituted.


title: Ballistics

text: A weapons engineer or armourer who applies the scientific principles of ballistics to design cartridges are often called a ballistician.


title: Ballistics

text: A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle that obtains thrust from a rocket engine. Rocket engine exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction. Rocket engines push rockets forward simply by throwing their exhaust backwards extremely fast.


title: Ballistics

text: While comparatively inefficient for low speed use, rockets are relatively lightweight and powerful, capable of generating large accelerations and of attaining extremely high speeds with reasonable efficiency. Rockets are not reliant on the atmosphere and work very well in space.


title: Ballistics

text: Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th century China. Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age, including setting foot on the Moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight, and space exploration.


title: Ballistics

text: Chemical rockets are the most common type of high performance rocket and they typically create their exhaust by the combustion of rocket propellant. Chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks.


title: Ballistics

text: Internal ballistics (also interior ballistics), a sub-field of ballistics, is the study of the propulsion of a projectile.


title: Ballistics

text: In guns internal ballistics covers the time from the propellant's ignition until the projectile exits the gun barrel. The study of internal ballistics is important to designers and users of firearms of all types, from small-bore rifles and pistols, to high-tech artillery.


title: Ballistics

text: For rocket propelled projectiles, internal ballistics covers the period during which a rocket engine is providing thrust.


title: Ballistics

text: Transitional ballistics, also known as intermediate ballistics, is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time it leaves the muzzle until the pressure behind the projectile is equalized, so it lies between internal ballistics and external ballistics.


title: Ballistics

text: External ballistics is the part of the science of ballistics that deals with the behaviour of a non-powered projectile in flight.


title: Ballistics

text: External ballistics is frequently associated with firearms, and deals with the unpowered free-flight phase of the bullet after it exits the gun barrel and before it hits the target, so it lies between transitional ballistics and terminal ballistics.


title: Ballistics

text: However, external ballistics is also concerned with the free-flight of rockets and other projectiles, such as balls, arrows etc.


title: Ballistics

text: Terminal ballistics is the study of the behavior and effects of a projectile when it hits its target.


title: Ballistics

text: Terminal ballistics is relevant both for small caliber projectiles as well as for large caliber projectiles (fired from artillery). The study of extremely high velocity impacts is still very new and is as yet mostly applied to spacecraft design.


title: Ballistics

text: Forensic ballistics involves analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine information of use to a court or other part of a legal system. Separately from ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations ("ballistic fingerprinting") involve analyzing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.


title: Ballistics

text: Astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and Newton's law of universal gravitation. It is a core discipline within space mission design and control.


title: K. Annamalai

text: K. Annamalai is an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly. He is part of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and won the 2001 Tamil Nadu state assembly election with 62,454 votes in the Tenkasi constituency


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Former vice president Joe Biden began his presidential campaign on April 25, 2019 by releasing a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The campaign concluded with him and his running mate Kamala Harris defeating incumbent president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence in the general election. Biden, the vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and a former U.S. senator from Delaware, had been the subject of widespread speculation as a potential 2020 candidate after declining to be a candidate in the 2016 election, which saw Donald Trump winning over Hillary Clinton, who was supported by Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden is generally described as a moderate, although he has recently described himself as progressive. His positions include codifying "Roe v. Wade" into statute, a public option for health insurance, decriminalization of recreational cannabis, passing the Equality Act, free community college, and a $1.7 trillion climate plan embracing the framework of the Green New Deal. He supports regulation, as opposed to a complete ban, on fracking.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: As a former vice president and longtime United States senator, Biden entered the race with very high name recognition. From his campaign announcement up to the start of the elections, he was generally regarded as the Democratic front-runner. He led most national polls through 2019, but did not rank as one of the top three candidates in either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary. After underperfoming expectations in those contests, he suffered a decline in his polling and lost his frontrunner status to Bernie Sanders. Biden started regaining ground after winning second place in the Nevada cauccuses and, on February 29, 2020, he won a landslide victory in the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary which reinvigorated his campaign. In March 2020, ten of his former competitors endorsed Biden, bringing the total number of such endorsements to 12. Biden earned enough delegates on Super Tuesday 2020 to pull ahead of Sanders. On April 8, after Sanders suspended his campaign, Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In June, Biden reached the required number of delegates to become the nominee. On August 11, Biden announced that Senator Kamala Harris would be his vice presidential running mate. On August 18 and 19, Biden and Harris were officially nominated at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, making Harris the first Asian American and the first female African American to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket. National opinion polls conducted in 2020 generally showed Biden leading Trump in favorability. On November 7, four days after Election Day, Biden was projected to have defeated Trump, becoming president-elect of the United States, however, this was disputed by the incumbent president, Donald Trump. Biden was the first vice president to be elected president since George H. W. Bush in 1988, and the second non-incumbent vice president to be elected president after Richard Nixon in 1968. Biden and Harris were sworn in on January 20, 2021.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden's 2020 presidential campaign was his third attempt to seek election for president of the United States. His first campaign was made in the 1988 Democratic Party primaries where he was initially considered one of the potentially strongest candidates. However, newspapers revealed plagiarism by Biden in law school records and in speeches, a scandal which led to his withdrawal from the race in September 1987.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: He made the second attempt during the 2008 Democratic Party primaries, where he focused on his plan to achieve political success in the Iraq War through a system of federalization. Like his first presidential bid, Biden failed to garner endorsements and support. He withdrew from the race after his poor performance in the Iowa caucus on January 3, 2008. He was eventually chosen by Barack Obama as his running mate and won the general election as vice president of the United States, being sworn in on January 20, 2009.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Vice President Joe Biden was seen as a potential candidate to succeed President Barack Obama in the 2016 presidential election. On October 21, 2015, following the death of his son Beau, Biden announced that he would not seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: During a tour of the U.S. Senate with reporters on December 5, 2016, Biden refused to rule out a potential bid for the presidency in the 2020 presidential election. He reasserted his ambivalence about running on an appearance of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on December 7, in which he stated "never say never" about running for president in 2020, while also admitting he did not see a scenario in which he would run for office again. He seemingly announced on January 13, 2017, exactly one week prior to the expiration of his vice presidential term, that he would not run. However, four days later, he seemed to backtrack, stating "I'll run if I can walk." In September 2017, Biden's daughter Ashley indicated her belief that he was thinking about running in 2020.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Time for Biden, a political action committee, was formed in January 2018, seeking Biden's entry into the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The organization was criticized by some, who felt it was created too early and that Democratic effort should be spent on the 2018 midterm elections. The <nowiki>"Time for Biden"</nowiki> was also criticized as many thought that Biden was too old, and wanted more young progressive candidates going into the primary cycle.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In February 2018, Biden informed a group of longtime foreign policy aides that he was "keeping his 2020 options open".


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In March 2018, "Politico" reported that Biden's team was considering a number of options to distinguish their campaign, such as announcing at the outset a younger vice presidential candidate from outside of politics, and also reported that Biden had rejected a proposition to commit to serving only one term as president. On July 17, 2018, he told a forum held in Bogota, Colombia, that he would decide if he would formally declare as a candidate by January 2019. On February 4, with no decision having been forthcoming from Biden, Edward-Isaac Dovere of "The Atlantic" wrote that Biden was "very close to saying yes" but that some close to him are worried he will have a last-minute change of heart, as he did in 2016. Dovere reported that Biden was concerned about the effect another presidential run could have on his family and reputation, as well as fundraising struggles and perceptions about his age and relative centrism compared to other declared and potential candidates. Conversely, his "sense of duty", offense at the Trump presidency, the lack of foreign policy experience among other Democratic hopefuls and his desire to foster "bridge-building progressivism" in the party were said to be factors prompting him to run.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On March 12, 2019, he told a gathering of his supporters he may need their energy "in a few weeks". Five days later, Biden accidentally revealed that he would be a candidate at a dinner in Dover, Delaware.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On April 19, 2019, "The Atlantic" reported that Biden planned to officially announce his campaign five days later via a video announcement, followed by a launch rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville was the subject of Biden's kick-off campaign video due to its white supremacist riot in 2017. In the days before his expected launch, several major Democratic donors received requests to donate to his campaign committee, to be named "Biden for President". Subsequent reports indicated that Biden's plans remained uncertain, with no known launch date, locations for campaign rallies, or permits for an event in Philadelphia; associates continued to plan a fundraiser on April 25 in Philadelphia hosted by Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen, but it was unclear whether the fundraiser would be held as planned, though his associates had continued to solicit donations in the days leading up to his announcement. On April 23, it was reported that Biden would formally enter the race two days later, so as to avoid overshadowing a forum focusing on women of color held the day before. The campaign reserved the Teamsters Local 249 union hall in Pittsburgh for April 29.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On May 22, the magazine "Ebony" reported that Biden had begun assembling his 2020 presidential campaign team, to be headquartered in Philadelphia. His team included campaign manager Greg Schultz and director of strategic communications Kamau Mandela Marshall, who both previously worked in the Obama administration, as well as other senior advisors from the Obama administration. Additionally, on May 31, the Biden campaign announced that Congressman Cedric Richmond would join the campaign as the national co-chairman.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On April 26, 2019, Biden's campaign announced that they had raised $6.3 million in the first 24 hours, surpassing all other candidates' first 24-hour fundraising totals for the Democratic presidential nomination at that time. Biden's fundraising came from 128,000 unique contributors, equivalent to that of Beto O'Rourke's campaign, but about 40% lower than that of Bernie Sanders, who had 223,000 unique contributors in the first 24 hours of his campaign.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: According to a "Politico" article, the Biden campaign was operating on the premise that the Democratic base is not nearly as liberal or youthful as perceived. Privately, several Biden advisers acknowledged that their theory was based on polling data and voting trends, contending that the media is pushing the idea of a hyper-progressive Democratic electorate being propagated by a Twitter bubble and being out of touch with the average rank-and-file Democrat. In April 2019, Biden told reporters, "The fact of the matter is the vast majority of the members of the Democratic Party are still basically liberal to moderate Democrats in the traditional sense." Biden also described himself as an "Obama-Biden Democrat". An unspecified Biden adviser said, "There's a big disconnect between the media narrative and what the primary electorate looks like and thinks, versus the media narrative and the Twitter narrative [and] the Democratic primary universe is far less liberal. It's older than you think it is." From April 25 to May 25, 2019, Biden's campaign spent 83% of his total $1.2 million Facebook ad funding on targeting voters 45 years and older. No other top 2020 Democratic candidate has pursued a similar strategy in the primary.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden, along with Bernie Sanders, was often perceived as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Donald Trump in the general election. According to "The Washington Post", this may be because of his more moderate policies, or it may be because voters or party leaders believe a white male candidate is more "electable". Joe Biden said that his late son Beau should be running instead of him if he were alive. Biden led most national polls through 2019. The Biden campaign came to rely on volunteer groups such as the Biden Digital Coalition for their social media presence and for tracking disinformation.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The campaign raised $70 million during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The campaign and DNC combined raised a record $365 million in August 2020, compared to $154 million by Trump and the RNC. Biden raised another $383 million in September 2020, breaking his own record from the previous month.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: During the Iowa caucuses held on February 3, 2020, Biden came in fourth place, earning six pledged delegates. In the New Hampshire primary held on February 11, Biden came in fifth place and did not earn any delegates due to his failure to meet the required 15% eligibility threshold. After poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, some media outlets questioned whether Biden's status as the most electable candidate was accurate. Biden subsequently finished a distant second in the Nevada caucuses held on February 22, but his campaign viewed his large support among black voters in the state as a sign of strength heading into the South Carolina primary.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden won the South Carolina primary election held on February 29. Biden won all 46 counties in the state, winning 48.7% of the popular vote and earning 39 delegates. The win was largely attributed to his support from 61% of African-American voters (African-American voters make up approximately 60% of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina). Before the primary on February 26, Jim Clyburn endorsed Biden. Many cited Clyburn's endorsement as a reason for Biden's wide margin of victory, as Clyburn's endorsement is a deciding factor for many African American voters in South Carolina. Thirty-six percent of all primary voters said that they made their decision after Clyburn's endorsement; of that total, 70% voted for Biden. According to "FiveThirtyEight", the outcome significantly boosted Biden's chance of winning multiple Super Tuesday states (especially southern states like North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia).


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In early March, shortly before Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden, widely perceived as attempts to slow down Sanders' momentum in the primaries. Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, who had all suspended their campaign months before, also endorsed Biden at around the same time. On the Super Tuesday primary elections on March 3, Biden won Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, earning a total of 458 delegates, and pulling ahead of Bernie Sanders in the race. According to an exit poll, Biden received a substantial amount of support from voters who made up their minds in the last few days before the election. Late voters also preferred a candidate who they believed could defeat Trump more than one who agreed with them on issues.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On March 9, CNN reported that Biden had a double-digit lead over Sanders in a nationwide poll. On March 12, with the coronavirus pandemic looming, Biden changed campaign managers, replacing Greg Schultz with Jen O'Malley Dillon. In mid-March, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the scheduled primaries were postponed. Aides to both Biden's and Sanders's campaigns were in contact regarding the pandemic and its effects.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Leading up to the 11th Democratic presidential debate, Biden announced two new progressive policies: making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students of families whose income is less than $125,000, and allowing for student loan debts to default during bankruptcy. The debate was held on March 15, 2020, and was the first to feature only the race's two lead finalists. Biden announced that if he secured the nomination, he would choose a female running mate, having previously hinted as much by naming several contenders. On April 3, Biden announced that his campaign would unveil a committee to vet prospective vice presidential candidates later in the month.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On March 25, when asked whether he would debate Sanders again, Biden said, "My focus is just dealing with this crisis right now. I haven't thought about any more debates. I think we've had enough debates. I think we should get on with this." On April 8, after Sanders suspended his campaign, Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Biden became the second candidate in history to lose both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary and still become the Democratic nominee, the first being former President Bill Clinton in his 1992 campaign. The next day, a former Senate staffer made a sexual assault allegation against Biden, which his campaign denied. On May 1, Biden stated that the allegation was false and requested that the secretary of the Senate work with the National Archives and Records Administration to identify and release any relevant documents. The Senate denied this request, saying personnel files are "strictly confidential". Two weeks later, Biden stated that he does not remember his accuser at all.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Sanders eventually dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden for president on April 13, and the two formed a series of task forces. These task forces aim to bridge the divide between the moderate wing of the Democratic party, represented by Biden, and the left wing of the party, represented by Sanders.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On May 13, Biden and Sanders announced that the six task forces would be co-chaired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Secretary of State John Kerry, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, NILC director Marielena Hincapié, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, AFA president Sara Nelson, Rep. Karen Bass, civil rights attorney Chiraag Bains, Rep. Bobby Scott, Dr. Heather Gautney, and Rep. Marcia Fudge.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Six task forces were formed, each with members representing each candidate, covering climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care, and immigration. The final report was released on July 8, 2020, and is expected to form the basis of the 2020 Democratic presidential platform. The six groups were coordinated by Analilia Mejia, political director to the Sanders primary campaign, and Carmel Martin, an advisor to Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: By June 9, Biden had enough delegates to secure his nomination as the Democratic candidate. On July 8, Biden's campaign released a set of policy recommendations adopted by the Unity Task Forces appointed by him and Bernie Sanders. The recommendations focus on climate change, criminal justice, the economy, education, health care, and immigration.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On August 5, it was reported that Biden would accept the Democratic nomination from his home state of Delaware due to the pandemic. On August 11, he announced that Kamala Harris would be his running mate. The next day, the two made their first public appearance together promoting their mutual campaigns. On August 18, the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, the party officially nominated Biden, making him the first non-incumbent vice president to be nominated for president since Walter Mondale in 1984. Biden accepted the nomination two nights later. Chris Wallace of "Fox News Sunday" called Biden's acceptance speech "enormously effective" and said he "blew a big hole" in Trump's characterization of the candidate as being "mentally shot." During the convention, delegates adopted the party platform, which was drafted by a committee of many of the same people from the unity task forces and based on the recommendations issued by those task forces.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Since Biden's successful nomination in the Democratic primaries Trump attempted to cast doubt over Biden's abilities, claiming that he was suffering from dementia and that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs in the primaries. Trump called for Biden to be drug tested before the presidential debate; Biden declined. Trump also claimed that Biden would use a hidden electronic earpiece for the debate, demanding that Biden's ears be searched. Again, Biden declined.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The first debate took place at Cleveland Clinic on September 29. It was moderated by Chris Wallace. Debate topics included Trump's and Biden's records, the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, race relations, and the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Each speaker was to have two minutes to state their positions followed with a period of discussion. The debate quickly devolved into cross talk and interruptions and was widely criticized as being a low point in U.S. presidential politics. Although Wallace pleaded multiple times with Trump to follow the agreed-upon debate rules, Trump frequently interrupted and spoke over Biden and at times with Wallace as well. Following the debate Wallace stated that while his own family and the Biden family wore masks as had been required for those in attendance, the Trump family did not and refused the masks offered to them by Cleveland Clinic staffers.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The vice presidential debate between Harris and Pence took place as scheduled on October 7 with Susan Page serving as moderator. The debate was generally seen as civil although there were frequent instances of both candidates interrupting while the other was speaking, with Harris interrupting only about half as often as Pence. Pence also repeatedly spoke beyond his allotted time, ignoring Page's attempts of asking him to mind the two-minute time limits. A CNN poll of registered voters found that 59% felt Harris had won, while 38% felt Pence to be the winner.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The second debate was scheduled to take place on October 15, but was cancelled in light of the White House COVID-19 outbreak and Trump's declared intention not to participate in a virtual debate. In response to Trump's refusal to debate Biden scheduled a town hall on ABC for October 15; Trump then scheduled a town hall as well, on the same date and at the same time, to be broadcast on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. According to Nielsen ratings, nearly 700,000 more viewers watched Biden's town hall than those who watched Trump's, even though Trump appeared on three outlets.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The final debate took place on Thursday, October 22, 2020, from 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT, at the Curb Event Center in Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, with Kristen Welker of NBC moderating. While it was originally planned to be the third debate, it was the second due to the cancellation of the October 15 debate. The topics covered included: fighting the current COVID-19 pandemic, American families, racial issues, climate change, national security, and leadership. The debate rules were similar to the first, but due to President Trump's repeated interruptions in the prior debate, each candidate's microphones would be muted when it was not their turn to speak. This debate was considered to be drastically less hostile and much more informative, but both candidates still made several false or misleading claims. A post-debate CNN/SSRS poll found that 53% of debate-viewers thought that Biden had won and 39% thought Trump had won, with a margin of error of 5.7 points.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On October 6, Biden made a campaign speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, called "the best of his campaign" by CNN's John Avlon.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On October 15, both Biden and Trump held separate town hall speeches, replacing the cancelled second debate.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On October 22, Biden and Trump participated in a second and final debate in Nashville, Tennessee. In contrast to the first debate, the microphones of both candidates were muted at select times. Trump pressed Biden on renewed allegations that during his time as vice president, members of his family had personally profited from his position in Ukraine and China; Biden denied any misconduct and pointed out controversies involving Trump and those countries. Trump repeatedly asked why Biden had not delivered on his 2020 campaign promises during his eight years in the White House, to which Biden responded, "we had a Republican Congress."


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On Friday, October 30, 2020, a Joe Biden campaign bus was ambushed by a "Trump Train" convoy of Trump supporters while traveling from San Antonio to Austin, Texas along Interstate 35. The bus, which carried former State Senator Wendy Davis and several campaign staffers, was followed along the interstate by several cars, including many flying Donald Trump flags. After the incident, the Biden campaign cancelled two planned events in Austin, Texas.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation into the incident. Trump subsequently criticized the FBI's decision at a rally. He later tweeted, "In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!"


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Protect Democracy, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP later filed two lawsuits in response to the attack on the Biden campaign bus. Cervini v. Cisneros, was filed against the drivers, and Cervini v. Stapp was filed against local law enforcement, who the suit claims refused to help escort the Biden bus. 911 transcripts of the incident included in the suit claims that San Marcos police refused to escort the bus and laughed and joked about the attack. This lawsuit alleges that the refusal to help by law enforcement officers violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The election was held on November 3. On November 6, election-calling organization Decision Desk HQ forecast that Biden had won the election based on its forecast that Biden had won Pennsylvania; this result coupled with Biden's other projected state wins would grant him over 270 electoral college votes.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: By November 7, news organizations ABC News, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, Reuters, and the New York Times all forecast that Biden had won the election.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: As of December 27, Joe Biden has received 81,283,098 votes to Donald Trump's 74,222,958 votes, or 51.3% to 46.8%. In addition, Biden has won 306 electoral college votes to Trump's 232, exactly the same margins as the 2016 election, which Donald Trump had repeatedly called a "landslide victory". Biden broke the record for most votes cast during an election in the history of the United States, while Trump received the most votes ever for a sitting president.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On December 9, every state had certified their election results, with West Virginia being the last state to do so. On Monday December 14, the Electoral College voted to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris President and Vice President-Elect, affirming what was projected to happen on November 6 and 7. After a chaotic attack on the Capitol, lawmakers met on January 6 and counted the electoral votes submitted by the states, finally ensuring that Joe Biden would take office on January 20.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: During and after the election, Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed that there was significant fraud in this election, often with little or no evidence. Because of this, Trump and his lawyers have called for swing state officials to overturn the results, frequently drawing criticism for their inflammatory and violent remarks. He has filed more than 50 lawsuits challenging the results in several different swing states, but almost all have been lost. Notably, a major lawsuit challenging the vote in 6 different swing states was unanimously rejected by the conservative majority Supreme Court. In a last ditch attempt at overturning the election, several Republican members of the House and Senate objected to the January 6 certification of the Electoral College, but after a long night of deliberation, Mike Pence certified the results for Joe Biden, much to the ire of Donald Trump. That same day, a violent group of Trump supporters broke into the United States Capitol while Congress was counting the votes in an attempt to halt or slow the proceedings. They were not successful in stopping the count, though they did manage to delay the certification by a few hours.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Opinion polls conducted in 2020 generally showed Biden leading Trump nationally in general election matchups, with the former vice president's advantage often extending beyond that of the survey's margin of sampling error.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On July 4, "Politico" reported that Biden was leading Trump "by double digits in recent polls". In late July, a Washington Post–ABC News poll showed Biden's double-digit lead holding. A national poll conducted in early August showed Biden leading by three percent. An Iowa poll showed Trump leading Biden by 48% to 45%, which is six percentage points less than Trump won the state with in 2016.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Three national polls released August 13–17 show Biden polling ahead of Trump: Fox News has him leading Trump 49%–42%, NBC/Wall Street Journal has him leading 50%–41%, and Washington Post/ABC News has him 53%–41%. A Pew Research Center showed similar results, but found that a majority of participants believed that Trump would win. A Washington Post/ABC News poll taken in late September showed Biden and Harris's lead to be 53%–43%.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted September 30 – October 1 (after the presidential debate, but before Trump's announcement of his COVID-19 diagnosis) has Biden leading 53%–39%. On October 7, a CNN poll showed Biden leading 57%–41%, and a week later, Opinium Research/The Guardian showed him leading 57%–40%. As of October 13, Biden consistently led in poll averages by several or more points for over 100 days, as compared to the last four presidential elections. Biden led 54%–42% in a CNN poll of October 28; its polling director pointed out that:Although the election will ultimately be decided by the statewide results, which drive the Electoral College, Biden's lead nationally is wider than any presidential candidate has held in more than two decades in the final days of the campaign.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In late September, "FiveThirtyEight" put Biden's odds of winning at nearly 77% and specifically predicted that he would win 352 electoral votes. His popularity rose in early October and, by October 13, "FiveThirtyEight" had increased its odds of Biden winning the election to 87%. This calculation remained the same through October 26, when it began to rise again, reaching 90% on October 30.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden has been accused several times of inappropriate non-sexual contact, such as embracing, kissing, and other forms of physical contact. He has described himself as a "tactile politician" and admitted this behavior has caused trouble for him in the past. By 2015, a series of swearings-in and other events at which Biden had placed his hands on people and talked closely to them, attracted attention both in the press and on social media. Various people defended Biden, including a senator who issued a statement, as well as Stephanie Carter, a woman whose photograph with Biden had gone viral, who described the photo as "misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends".


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In March 2019, former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores alleged that Biden had touched her without her consent at a 2014 campaign rally in Las Vegas. In an op-ed, Flores wrote that Biden had walked up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders, smelled her hair, and kissed the back of her head, adding that the way he touched her was "an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners—and I felt powerless to do anything about it." Biden's spokesman said Biden did not recall the behavior described. Two days later, Amy Lappos, a former congressional aide to Jim Himes, said Biden touched her in a non-sexual but inappropriate way by holding her head to rub noses with her at a political fundraiser in Greenwich in 2009. The next day, two more women came forward with allegations of unwanted touching claiming that he touched a woman's leg during a meeting, and that he placed his hand on a woman's back during a photo.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In early April 2019, three women told "The Washington Post" Biden had touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. Also in April 2019, former Biden staffer Tara Reade said she had felt uncomfortable on several occasions when Biden touched her on her shoulder and neck during her employment in his Senate office in 1993. In March 2020, Reade accused him of a 1993 sexual assault. There were inconsistences between Reade's 2019 and 2020 allegations. Biden and his campaign vehemently denied the allegation. "The New York Times" investigated and "found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden".


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden apologized for not understanding how people would react to his actions, but said his intentions were honorable and that he would be more "mindful of people's personal space". He went on to say he was not sorry for anything he had ever done, which led critics to accuse him of sending a mixed message. Arwa Mahdawi of "The Guardian" said it was "frustrating to see conservatives... weaponize the accusations against Biden", but that it was "also frustrating to see so many liberals turn a blind eye".


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: As tracked by "FiveThirtyEight", Biden received the most support from prominent members of the Democratic Party out of all Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential election after many settled for Biden, Sanders' popularity was dropping in the polls, and many wanted Joe Biden rather than Bernie Sanders. Biden received endorsements from 12 former candidates in the 2020 race, including Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Beto O'Rourke, Andrew Yang, and others. On April 14, 2020, after Biden was the only remaining major candidate for the Democratic nomination, former president Barack Obama (under whom Biden served as vice president) endorsed him. On April 27, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi endorsed him. On April 28, Biden received the endorsement of former 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, whose election loss had inspired his 2020 candidacy.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden increasingly attracted Republican support away from their party's incumbent leader, Donald Trump. On August 17, an ad from Republican Voters Against Trump aired featuring Miles Taylor, former chief of staff to former homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Taylor concludes in the ad, "Given what I experienced in the [Trump] administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president." In late August, a movement called Republicans for Biden was launched with sponsorship by 25 former Republican congresspeople, and "Politico" reported that "Several dozen former staffers from Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) presidential campaign, the George W. Bush administration and the campaign and Senate staff of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have signed on to an effort to elect Joe Biden." By early September, over 175 current and former law enforcement officials had endorsed Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In September 2020, "Scientific American" announced its endorsement of Biden for president. This was the first time the magazine had endorsed a presidential candidate in the almost 200 years that it has been in print. The magazine's endorsement read:


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people—because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September. He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges. That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In October, the "New England Journal of Medicine", the oldest and considered to be the world's most prestigious medical journal, published an editorial which condemned the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic saying that "they have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy." This is the first time in the journal's history that they have supported or condemned a political candidate. A week later, the science journal "Nature" also endorsed Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In October, 780 retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors and senior national security officials signed a letter endorsing Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On October 25, the conservative-leaning "New Hampshire Union Leader" endorsed Biden, the first Democratic presidential candidate the paper had endorsed in over 100 years.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Although generally referred to as a moderate, Biden has declared himself as the candidate with the most progressive record.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On May 21, 2019, a Biden campaign aide told the Associated Press that Biden would support immediate federal legislation codifying "Roe v. Wade" into statute. On June 5, 2019, the Biden campaign confirmed to NBC News that Biden still supports the Hyde Amendment, something no other Democratic presidential candidate came out in support of. Biden's campaign also told NBC News that Biden would be open to repealing the Hyde Amendment if abortion access protections currently under "Roe v. Wade" were threatened. On June 6, 2019, Biden, at the Democratic National Committee's African American Leadership Council Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, said he now supports repealing the Hyde Amendment, crediting his change in position, in part, to recent efforts by Republicans passing anti-abortion state laws, which he called "extreme laws". Also at the summit, he focused on economic inequality for African Americans, education access, criminal justice reform, healthcare, and voter suppression in the south.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden supports the decriminalization, but not legalization, of recreational cannabis usage. Biden said he believes no one should be in jail because of cannabis use. As president, he would decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions. He supports the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, and recategorizing cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its impacts. Every other Democratic presidential candidate supported the full federal legalization of cannabis, with the exception of Michael Bloomberg, Steve Bullock and Joe Sestak.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On June 20, 2019, following the first federal death sentence since 2003, Biden came out against capital punishment, supporting the repeal of both federal- and state-level death sentence statutes. He argued that with the death penalty, there is a risk of executing a wrongfully convicted person. Biden had previously supported capital punishment.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In 2018, Biden said he supported a universal pre-kindergarten program. He unveiled a higher education plan in October 2019, which includes two years of guaranteed free community college or other training, and cuts to student loan obligations. Unlike some of his rivals, he initially did not support four years of free college tuition, but later reversed this for students of families whose income is less than $125,000, as well as allowing student loan debts to default during bankruptcy.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Although the Obama administration promoted charter schools, Biden criticized some charter schools for funneling money away from public schools in a May 2019 speech, and said that he opposes federal funds for-profit charter schools.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On June 4, 2019, the Biden campaign released a $1.7 trillion climate plan that embraced the framework of the Green New Deal. The plan called for the US to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, and help coal workers to transition into jobs created from a clean-energy economy. Biden supports the development of carbon capture and storage and small modular reactors to reduce emissions. On September 4, 2019, during a CNN climate change town hall, Biden said he does not support banning fracking for natural gas, distancing himself from some of his Democratic presidential rivals, but said he would ban new fracking permits and evaluate existing ones to determine their safety.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On July 16, 2019, Biden called for additional funding to construct rural hospitals, increase telehealth services in rural communities, and provide incentives for doctors to practice in rural areas, also known as medical deserts in the United States.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On April 29, 2019, Biden came out in favor of a public option for health insurance and outlawing non-compete clauses for low-wage workers.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On July 5, 2019, Biden told CNN he did not support decriminalizing illegal entry into the United States, a position that puts him at odds with many of his 2020 Democratic rivals. He released a plan to reform the immigration system in December 2019, which includes a reversal of the Trump administration's deportation policies, a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and expansions in work visas and refugee admissions.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: Biden released his infrastructure plan on November 14, 2019, calling for investments of $1.3 trillion on infrastructure overhaul. The plan involves investments in the restoration of roads, bridges and highways, encouraging greater adoption of rail transport and electric vehicles. It also includes water pipe replacements, increases in broadband coverage, and updates to schools.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On June 1, 2019, Biden gave a keynote address to hundreds of activists and donors at the Human Rights Campaign's annual Ohio gala. He declared his top legislative priority was passing the Equality Act. He attacked Donald Trump for banning transgender troops in the U.S. military, allowing individuals in the medical field to deny treating LGBTQ individuals, and allowing homeless shelters to deny transgender occupants. On May 6, 2020, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: While at a fundraiser on June 18, 2019, Biden said one of his greatest strengths was "bringing people together" and pointed to his relationships with senators James Eastland and Herman Talmadge, two segregationists, as examples. While imitating a Southern drawl, Biden remarked "I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland. He never called me 'boy', he always called me 'son'." Biden's Democratic opponents criticized the remarks, specifically the use of the word "boy". In response, Biden said that he was not meaning to use the term "boy" in its derogatory racial context.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: During the first Democratic presidential debate, Kamala Harris criticized Biden for his comments regarding his past work with segregationist senators and his past opposition to desegregation busing, which had allowed black children like her to attend integrated schools. Biden was widely criticized for his debate performance and support for him dropped 10 points. President Trump defended Biden, saying Harris was given "too much credit" for her debate with Biden.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In May 2020, during an interview on "The Breakfast Club" radio show that CBS News described as "contentious", Biden remarked "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." He later apologized for his remarks.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On June 17, 2019, Biden appeared at the "Poor People's Campaign Presidential Forum" in Washington, D.C., to discuss proposals for the funding of poverty alleviation programs. At a fundraiser in New York the next day, while on the topic of raising wealthy donors' taxes to get his legislative goals passed, he reassured wealthy donors that he would not "demonize" the rich and said, "no one's standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change."


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In 2019, Trump allegedly attempted to coerce Ukraine and other foreign countries to investigate Joe Biden's son Hunter. Trump enlisted surrogates within and outside his official administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other foreign governments to cooperate in supporting conspiracy theories concerning American politics. Trump blocked but later released payment of a congressionally mandated $391 million military aid package to allegedly obtain "quid pro quo" cooperation from Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. A number of contacts were established between the White House and the government of Ukraine, culminating in a phone call between Trump and Zelensky on July 25, 2019.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: The scandal resulted in Trump's impeachment on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, and his ultimate acquittal by the Senate. At the time, no evidence had been produced of any wrongdoing by the Bidens.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: In October 2019, CNN refused to run an ad for the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign, saying it includes false claims against Biden. "Fox News" refused to stop airing a Trump campaign ad that allegedly lied about Biden after his campaign asked them to stop running the ad.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: On October 14, 2020, the "New York Post" ran a story showing a screenshot of an alleged email from a top adviser to Ukrainian energy company Burisma to Biden's son Hunter, thanking him for the supposed opportunity to meet his father. The article alleges that this supports claims that Biden used his political power to benefit his son Hunter in business dealings with Ukraine. The "Post"'s source was Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who says he got the data from the hard drive of a laptop allegedly dropped off at a repair shop in April 2019. The shop owner, John Mac Isaac, said he initially turned the laptop over to the FBI and later shared a copy of the data with Giuliani. CBS reported that they held a lengthy interview with Mac Isaac in which he frequently contradicted himself, "raising questions about [his] truthfulness." Social media platforms swiftly responded by controlling how the article could be shared—Facebook by including a fact-checking statement and Twitter by preventing links to the story on the basis of its containing hacked material. Republican politicians accused these platforms of censorship, renewing calls for reform of Section 230. Trump suggested that disclosures in the emails should disqualify Biden from the presidency. Biden's campaign and those associated with him portrayed the article's allegations as false, saying that no such meeting ever happened. Former U.S. intelligence officials warned the White House in 2019 that Giuliani could be the target of a Russian intelligence operation.


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: United States intelligence community analysis released in March 2021 stated that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about the Bidens "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."


title: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

text: A June 2021 PolitiFact fact-check stated that "over time, there has been less doubt that the laptop did in fact belong to Hunter Biden", although concluded that "[n]othing from the laptop has revealed illegal or unethical behavior by Joe Biden as vice president with regard to his son’s tenure as a director for Burisma". In an opinion article, Holman W. Jenkins Jr. of "The Wall Street Journal" criticized other journalists regarding the laptop, for "ignoring a story you know to be true in hopes your readers will believe it's not true" Glenn Kessler of "The Washington Post" analyzed a claim, purportedly from emails of the laptop, that Joe Biden met with Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi at a dinner in April 2015. Kessler concluded that Joe Biden had briefly dropped by the dinner to speak to his longtime Greek friend, Alexander Karloutsos, without participating in the dinner; additionally, while the attendees list included the name "Vadym", no last name was specified.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Sergei Viktorovich Pugachev, also spelled Sergey Pugachyov, (, ; born 4 February 1963) is a Russian-born French business magnate. He is a doctor of technical sciences and a member of the International Engineering Academy as well as the author of three monographs and 40 research papers.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev moved to the United States in 1994. Before that, he lived primarily in France and the United Kingdom. He has major real estate development projects in the United States, France, Luxembourg, Russia and the United Kingdom.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the start of the 2000s, Pugachev gained a reputation in the Russian mass media for allegedly having introduced Russia's new president Vladimir Putin to the governor of the Sretensky Monastery in central Moscow, Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, with whom Pugachev had been in close relationship as a major sponsor of the monastery.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev was born in Russian family, into a military family. His father, Viktor Fyodorovich Pugachev (29 May 1930 – 2010), was a student in the first class of the Kiev Suvorov Military School. He was awarded Commander of the order of Red Star and held command positions in airborne troops. He was the first commander of 21st Paratrooper brigade. He retired as Deputy Chief of the department of general tactics and operational art of the Military Academy. He died in 2010.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: His paternal grandfather was Fyodor Kuzmich Pugachev (1892 – 25 June 1942), an officer of the Tsarist army who fought in the First World War as staff Officer of the 4th Nesvizhsky Grenadier Regiment of Field Marshal Prince Barclay de Tolly. In the Soviet era, he held command positions in the Red Army. In July 1918, as the Commander of the 1st Don Soviet Infantry Division, he led the fighting against the troops of General Krasnovo on the northern side of the Tsaritsyn Front. He was awarded Cavalier of the order of the Red banner. He was not involved in the Communist party. He later held positions of command in the Red Army. In his 30s, he was arrested. On 19 November 1941, he was appointed as commander of 22nd Separate Infantry Brigade as part of the second Shock Army of the Volkhov Front. He died near Myasnoi Bor.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev's maternal grandfather was Konstantin Timofeevich Klochkov (1906 – 9 September 1942). He held command positions in the Red Army. He was Commissar of 60 guards 20 guards in the rifle division.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev claimed to have defended 2 dissertations, including "Methods and investment policy of the management model of the bank" at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In October 2000, he defended the dissertation "Development of information technology for management of financial resources of credit organizations". According to official data, he was awarded Doctor of Technical Sciences. Pugachev wrote three monographs and authored more than forty research papers. Other sources found Pugachev's three diplomas and other facts of his biography to be fraudulent.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev is a member of the Russian Academy of Engineering (successor to the USSR Academy of Engineering) and engaged in "active work on the connection between science and production". From 1993, he repeatedly attracted Academy staff with expertise among the various projects.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev was an entrepreneur in the late 1980s. On 26 May 1986, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for fraud with confiscation of property and compulsory labor. He served his sentence at the construction sites of the Yaroslavl region. Between 1983 and 1991, Pugachev did not work in the Krasnogvardeysky branch of Stroibank of the USSR, as stated in his employment record book, since at the time he was imprisoned in Kresty Prison.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev borrowed 5500 roubles from his colleague Egorov, promising to buy a new car. According to Pugachev, his father had the opportunity to buy the car. Egorov saw neither the car, nor the money. The day after the sentence was pronounced, Egorov was attacked by unidentified persons.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 1991, Pugachev established one of the first cooperative banks in the USSR, the Northern Commercial Bank. In 1993, he sold his share. In 1992, he and Sergey Veremeenko organised the International Industrial Bank. At the end of the 1990s, he acquired Yenisei Industrial Company, holding an exploration licence for the region of the Ulug-Khemsky District in Southern Siberia. In the process of exploration and experimental production, the largest coking coal deposit in the world was developed. In 2000, Yenisei obtained a licence for exploration and production of coal at the Elegest deposit. The investment commission of the Russian Federation financed infrastructure for this project in the amount of 1.5 billion dollars, a record investment in the development of a private company.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the end of the 1990s, he invested in the largest shipbuilding complex in Europe at the St. Petersburg shipbuilding base of Baltiyskiy Zavod and Severnaya Verf and in 60 engineering companies.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the start of the 2000s, he consolidated under the management of the United Industrial Corporation. According to independent estimates for 2008–2010, the total value was more than US$12 billion.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2004, his company signed an investment agreement for an ambitious project for reconstruction and development of the Middle Trading Rows in Red Square.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: From 2010 to 2014, Pugachev's Russian assets were successively expropriated, after which he was subject to political persecution. In 2011, at his request, criminal proceedings were instituted in France concerning extortion and threats from the senior staff of DIA. In 2012, he notified Russian authorities about the preparation of the claim in the International tribunal in The Hague. In December 2013, the Russian government filed a claim about Pugachev's accountability for subsidiary responsibility in the Moscow Court of Arbitration.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In June 2014, the Russian Federation appealed in the London High Court concerning interim measures in support of a subsidiary civil suit in the Moscow arbitration court.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 11 July 2014, Mr. Justice Henderson froze Pugachev's assets on English territory and forced him to disclose his private assets, owned directly or indirectly, in support of the claim concerning subsidiary responsibility, as requested by the Russian government. According to UK law enforcement bodies, the Russian government illegally surveilled Pugachev and his family in England via private detectives. At the end of 2014, the Russian Interpol bureau announced that Pugachev was wanted.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 2 March 2015, Mr. Justice Peter Smith prohibited Pugachev from travelling outside England and Wales and ordered his passports and travel documents transferred to the firm Hogan Lovells (representing the interests of the Russian government). Pugachev violated the order and returned to France. In May, Scotland Yard personnel found explosive devices under Pugachev's car. Investigation was taken on by the Counter Terrorism Command, SO15, and Pugachev and his family were provided with government protection. French authorities later investigated attempted murder within the framework of international orders. Pugachev was repeatedly targeted by attacks, both in Russia and abroad. By 2010, multiple attempts had been made on his life, injuring several security personnel.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 21 September 2015, a Hague International tribunal logged Pugachev's claim (as a French citizen) against the Russian Federation concerning the expropriation of his assets for a sum of US$12 billion. Pugachev engaged the New York legal firm King & Spalding to contest the claim. After dealing with the complaint of his French lawyers at Interpol Central Bureau, in October the Interpol commission found the request of the Russian Federation to be untenable due to political motivation, after which Pugachev was no longer wanted by Interpol.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 22 December, Mrs. Justice Rose sentenced him to two years imprisonment for contempt of court. In the judgement, the Judge mentioned that Pugachev had good reason to believe that his life was under threat from Russian agents.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Returning to France, Pugachev filed a claim against the Russian Federation within the framework of the Franco-Russia agreement on protection of investments concerning the expropriation of his assets, which became a subject of general interest and irritation for the Russian authorities.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In April 2016, Pugachev's lawyer Karinna Moskalenko filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights concerning the facts of violations committed with consideration in Russia of a civil claim for subsidiary responsibility. Pugachev then switched to French legal firm Lazareff Le Bars.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 17 June 2016, his lawyers appointed Professor Thomas Clay as arbitrator at The Hague International Tribunal for consideration of his arbitration proceedings against the Russian Federation. On 5 July, the European Court of Human Rights registered the complaint and reported that the court would proceed to consider this complaint as soon as technically possible. On 15 July, the Russian Federation informed the president of the Tribunal and Pugachev's lawyers that it accepted this jurisdiction and would take part in this process. On 24 July, the Russian side missed the procedural deadlines for selecting one of the international arbitrators.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 8 August 2016, the general secretary of the tribunal took on the responsibility to appoint a second arbitrator, after the Russian Federation missed the procedural deadline. On 19 August, the general secretary appointed Bernardo M. Cremades as the second arbitrator.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev was a source for Catherine Belton's 2020 book "Putin's People". A Russian entity and numerous Russian oligarchs, including Rosneft, Mikhail Fridman, Peter Aven, Shalva Chigirinsky, and Roman Abramovich filed lawsuits in the United Kingdom during March and April 2021 against HarperCollins and Belton, who is a Reuters reporter based in London, over material contained in her 2020 book.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the start of the 1990s, Pugachev became an adviser to Russian leaders. He was acquainted with Viktor Chernomyrdin, Oleg Soskovets, Alexander Korzhakov, Andrey Vavilov, Valentin Yumashev, Alexander Livshits and Viktor Gerashchenko. He became a member of the inner circle of Boris Yeltsin, and was one of the leaders of his campaign staff in 1996. American director Roger Spottiswoode made a film based on these events in 2003, "Spinning Boris". The character based on Pugachev was played by Gregory Hlady.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 1995, a scandal broke out concerning the IIB established by Pugachev, which had issued Eurocards for Yeltsin and members of his family.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In December 1995, he was a candidate for deputy of the Duma on the Federal list of the electoral union of the Party of Russian Unity and Accord with approval of Sergey Shakhray.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: According to Pugachev, his connections with America played a crucial role in Yeltsin's 1996 re-election, which was opposed by the communists. Pugachev engaged a team of American political consultants and PR managers headed by George Gorton. He ran Yeltsin's re-election campaign during what Pugachev calls "Russia's last free election". In June 1996, Yeltsin awarded him a Commendation, "For a major contribution to the development of Russian democracy, participation in preparation and carrying out of a campaign for the national elections of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996".


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In October 1998, Mikhail Zadornov included Pugachev in the Russian delegation to the annual session of the IMF and the World Bank. Pugachev was represented as leader of a "successful" and "working" bank. Pugachev presented a memorandum about the recovery of the Russian banking system.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In the 1990s, Pugachev suggested making Putin the successor to the Yeltsin family. The "Financial Times" claimed that Pugachev was not only a friend of Tatyana Dyachenko and her husband Valentin Yumashev, who at that time headed Yeltsin's administration, but also Pugachev and his family is a close friend to Vladimir Putin and Putin's family. Pugachev stated that he, Yeltsin's daughter Tatiana Dyachenko and her future husband, Valentin Yumashev Pugachev, were part of a tiny group that decided upon Vladimir Putin as the successor to Yeltsin which Pugachev stated was a "tragedy for Russia". He helped Putin to climb the ladder of power, presenting him to Yeltsin. In 1999 and 2000, he was one of Putin's campaign staff leaders. Pugachev said that Putin only wanted to be in power 3 or 4 years and said, "Putin wanted to get rich, too. He was a pragmatic person. We talked about this. He didn't want to leave office poor."


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In November 2000, he was elected to the board of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). From November 2000 to January 2003, he was vice president of the RSPP.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: He became a member of the Franco-Russian government commission. On 24 December 2001, he was elected Senator of the Russian Federation.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 26 December 2001, he was approved as the representative of the Tuvan government in the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. His candidacy was supported by 80% of Tuvan deputies. Pugachev served until 4 January 2011.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: He was the initiator of the acquisition by the Russian Federation of a licence for production of the French Mistral helicopter carrier.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: After a detailed inspection by the French Ministry of Defence, Pugachev's Baltiyskiy Zavod, part of the Pugachev-controlled United Industrial Corporation (OPK) was selected to construct Mistral-class helicopter carriers for use in the Russian Navy, The agreement was signed on 25 January 2011.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: However, on 4 January 2011, under pressure from Putin, Pugachev was forced to resign as a senator, ostensibly because of his having obtained French citizenship.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 1991, S.V. Pugachev established one of the first cooperative banks in the USSR, the Northern Commercial Bank. In 1993, he sold his share. In 1992, he and Sergey Veremeenko founded JSC "International Industrial Bank" (Pugachev owned 25%), which was one of the first to licensed to perform foreign exchange operations.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: IIB was originally formed as a "venture investment fund". The bank sought out troubled long-term assets. It invested in them and then resold them. The bank became one of Russia's 10 largest banks and was the largest credit institution in terms of capital (175 billion rubles). It became a principal member of Visa International and MasterCard Worldwide, operating its own processing centre. In December 1998, the IIB increased its authorised capital to 10 billion rubles. A year later, shareholders invested another 15 billion rubles, raising its authorised capital to 25 billion rubles, just under $1 billion. Most other credit organisations rarely reached that level. The IIB almost caught up with Sberbank on the scale of its own funds and became the country's largest private bank. In January 2002, Pugachev resigned from IIB's board of directors. After the election, Pugachev held from 0–5 percent of assets). According to the Jones Day report, from 2002 the owner of the bank was D. Henderson-Stewart.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2003, it was reported that Pugachev's income was averaging more than 7 million rubles. According to data released in 2010, he earned 3 billion rubles, significantly more than other Russian Senators. As a senator, Pugachev transferred his assets to the control of the JSC United Industrial Corporation. Under OPK control, assets were held in various sectors of the Russian economy. Their value amounted to more than US$15 billion.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev singled out the development of 1160 hectares of land on Rublevky, 70 hectares on Vasilevsky Island in St. Petersburg, the project "Red Square, 5" for construction of hotels and apartments, construction of a hotel in Sochi for the 2014 Olympics, the company Russia Coal, the oil companies Aki-Atyr and the "White Nights", and also the "Yenisei Industrial Company" (EPC), which owned the licence for development of the coal deposit in Tuva, the shipbuilding businesses Severnaya Verf, Baltiyskiy Zavod, the Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" and others.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the end of the 1990s, Pugachev started to acquire shares in shipbuilding and engineering businesses in St. Petersburg, including Severnaya Verf Shipbuilding plant JSC, the Baltiyskiy Zavod JSC and the Iceberg Central Design Bureau. Pugachev was a major shareholder in Baltiyskiy Zavod. Baltiyskiy Zavod was part of the Pugachev-controlled United Industrial Corporation (OPK). Pugachev transferred the main capacity to the Severnaya Verf site and started implementation of the largest development project in St. Petersburg with development of 70 hectares in the centre of the city on Vasilevsky Island.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Baltiyskiy Zavod and Severnaya Verf built 9 Corvettes, 5 Frigates, 8 Supply Ships and "the largest icebreaker in the world". Pugachev invented and began construction of the first floating nuclear power plant (PATES).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Baltiyskiy Zavod built the Mistral-class ships, with the value of the deal amounting to 1.5 billion euros. After a 35-year hiatus, construction was resumed on a series of diesel-electric icebreakers—"St. Petersburg" and "Moscow" and nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 years of Victory".


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The complex produced more than 70% of the surface combat ships for the Russian fleet built during that time. One of its projects was the construction of the "Russia" yachts for President Putin. In 2008, the Russian Federation Federal Service for Defence Orders made the plant the sole supplier of ships in the classes of "corvette", "frigate" and "Comms Boat".


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In civil shipbuilding, orders were made for vessels for oil platform supply. Between 2006 and 2009, the shipyards built 2 saturated ship hulls for project VS 470 PSV for Norwegian company Skipper II AS and highly saturated ship hulls for supply off offshore oil platforms of project VS 485 PSV for Norwegian Solvic Hull Supplies AS.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In September 2008, the JSC "Baltiyskiy Zavod" completed tests of uninhabited deep-water equipment. The unique underwater vessel built for a customer in Russia, was capable of diving to depths of up to 10 km. The ship is intended for research purposes.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In November 2008, the Baltiyskiy Zavod JSC concluded an agreement with the "Atomenergoprom" JSC for production of two sets of devices for detection of core melt, intended for the first and second blocks forming the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (LAES-2).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In December 2008, the country's first domestic diesel-electric icebreaker—Moscow—was transferred to FGUP "Rosmorport".


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In February 2009, a contract was signed with Concern Energoatom JSC, which involved construction at Baltiyskiy Zavod, launching, completion, testing and transfer into operation of the lead floating power unit of project 20870, the world's first low-capacity nuclear power plant. In June 2010, the lead power unit was launched. In 2009, Baltiyskiy Zavod cast 42 bells with a mass from 10 kg to 5.5 tonnes.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2009, the boat "Serafim Sarovsky" was built, as a continuation of the series of communications boats. Construction engaged the C3 JSC Severnaya Verf from 2001. The lead boat "Buverestnik" served as part of LenVMB. The boat "Albatross" was transferred to the hydrographic service of the Caspian flotilla. The "KSV-57" was part of the group of boats for provision of the Northern fleet. In 2009, work was started on the frigate "Fleet Admiral Kasatonov" for project 22350. In spring of 2010, Severnaya Verf launched the first of a series of Corvettes of project 20380 "Soobrazitelniy".


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2010, the shipyard produced new masts for British military cruiser "HMS Belfast", which participated in delivery of goods to the USSR during the Second World War and performed a thorough reconstruction of the ship. The repair was implemented with Pugachev's personal funds, a budget amounting to 3 million pounds. The Belfast is owned personally by the Queen, whose nephew, David Linley, was Pugachev's business partner.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In October 2010, the lead frigate whose construction started in 2006 for project 22350 "Soviet Union Fleet-Admiral Gorshkov" was launched. This is the first of a series of similar ships to be put into service of the navy after the collapse of the USSR.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In November 2010, Baltiyskiy Zavod signed a contract for construction of four tankers. In April 2011, at Severnaya Verf, the third of the "Boikiy" Corvettes was launched, as part of the series of Russian Corvettes of project 20380.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In September 2011, at Baltiyskiy Zavod, the lead ship of the series of four self-propelled oil tankers was launched, for project 2734, constructed for the "Baltic Fuel Company" (BTK).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev invested significant resources in the acquisition of additional participation in Severnaya Verf, Baltiyskiy Zavod and acquired the "Iceberg" design bureau, engaged in the design of ships for construction in shipyards. Pugachev then owned 75.82% of Severnaya Verf, 88.32% in Baltiyskiy Zavod and 64.82% in the "Iceberg" Design Bureau.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Pugachev's shipbuilding companies became the largest surface shipbuilding centre in Europe. Russian authorities expropriate the shipyard. In 2007, the Russian government created United Shipbuilding Corporation (OSK) to consolidate its equity participation in the shipyards. OSK is 100% owned by the state.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In November 2009, Putin invited Pugachev for a personal meeting. During the meeting, Putin told him that the RF wished to acquire Pugachev's share in the shipyards. He made it clear that Pugachev should agree to the sale. Minister for Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin made a proposal to allocate US$5 billion for this deal.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At this time, parts of the shipyards were restructured. Part of the restructuring strategy was to move certain production units of Baltiyskiy Zavod to Severnaya Verf and redevelopment of the unused space at the shipyard as a residential and shopping complex by OPK-Development. T shipyards received a loan of about 500 million US dollars from VTB. After a meeting with Putin, Pugachev understood that the restructuring would have to be interrupted.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At OSK's request, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade prepared a report on the shipyards. It concluded that the acquisition of these assets was appropriate.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The government developed a plan for acquisition by the RF of the shipyard shares. A key figure in this process was Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, known to many as the organiser of Yukos' destruction. In May 2008, in an interview, in "The Sunday Times", Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused "former KGB officer" Sechin of organising both the first and second criminal cases against him: the first for "greed" and the second for "cowardice". Former Yukos leaders were confident that, mainly under Sechin's authority in June 2003, an ideological justification was produced for the Yukos affair – in response to the supposed seizure of state power by the Khodorkovsky group.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The Russian government was not interested in whether the sale had a transparent structure, which would entail financing the acquisition with funds from the Federal budget, which would require approval by the Russian Parliament. Russian government officials discussed several acquisition options – through the RF budget (Federal property agency Rosmuschestvo), or VEB (state corporation Vneshekonombank).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In the end Putin, in agreement with Medvedev, instructed Central Bank head Ignatiev to acquire shares in Pugachev's shipbuilding assets, with first Kudrin specified as curator. From the correspondence between Ulyukaev and the Government, it appears that the Sechin was actually curator, who attempted to put pressure on the Central Bank with the aim of ensuring that the assets would be under-valued.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: According to the estimate by international auditing company BDO, the value of the share in the shipyards amounted to 101.36 billion Russian rubles (3.5 billion US dollars). The estimate was produced under pressure. The Government's assessment of contracts for future periods was not included.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: BDO estimated these assets at $3.5 billion, while Nomura investment bank valued them at up to 4.2 billion rubles. In 2011, a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak, which led Kozak to instruct the parties to work out proposals for a settlement agreement between the RF Central Bank and Pugachev and to reach an agreement by 13 October 2011. The Central Bank issued a mandate to Nomura to negotiate a settlement agreement. Nomura's source reported that the Central Bank used them as a cover to expropriate the assets. According to information from Central Bank Vice-president Shevtsov, at the time of the expropriation the head of Nomura visited the Kremlin and met with President Medvedev regarding the issue of the placement of Central Bank foreign reserves with Nomura.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the start of 2011, the President expressed his impatience regarding the completion of the transfer of the shipyards, blaming Pugachev for the failure to transfer ownership and threatened to intervene, if Pugachev's holding company, OPK, did not show "good sense". Under increasing pressure from President Putin, the Central Bank applied to the Moscow arbitration court for transfer of the shipyards into a trust. The court delivered an unprecedented decision allowing the transfer of the shares into Central Bank trust management without the owner's consent.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 6 October 2011, Sechin's successor Vladimir Lisin was appointed chairman of OSK's board of directors. According to media information, Pugachev traveled to London to discuss the shipyards with Lesin, but the meeting never took place. Trade in expropriated assets was closed to the public (in violation of the legislation).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: RF Rosimuschestvo concluded an agreement on organisation of trade with sale of shipbuilding assets to "Camelot" LLC. According to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, "Camelot" LLC is registered at a mass registration address in Ivanov. The managing company and sole owner of "Camelot" LLC was LLC "Management and Business", the directors and the sole holder of the LLC "Management and Business" was Oleg Viktorovich Borobyev, who was head of 390 other Russian companies. In May 2013, "Camelot" LLC made the decision on accession to the Krug LLC and on 17 September 2013 joined this company. On 30 October 2013, Krug LLC liquidated. On 18 March 2014, The court found Krug LLC bankrupt. On 23 September 2014, Krug LLC was liquidated. "Camelot" LLC released its shipbuilding company assets to a value of 12,978,603 thousand rubles. Consequently, trading was carried out by one-day firms, registered to a natural person registered in the Ivanovo region, by analogy with the sale of Yukos assets by the Baikal Finance Group.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The Yenisei Industrial Company (EPC), acquired the licence (up to 31 May 2020) for the development of the Elegest highlands in Ulug-Khem coal basin in Tuva, a remote region in the south-central part of Russia on the Mongolian border. The Russian Government later gave permission for construction of a railway, needed for movement of coking coal from the deposit.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: At the time of acquisition of the deposit, it was impossible to calculate whether the investment in EPC was profitable: geological surveys were needed that established that the coal deposit contained about a billion tonnes of high quality coking coal (the world's largest).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2008, EPC signed an agreement for the acquisition of 25% of shares at the market price and the option of up to 49% with Japanese conglomerate Mitsui. Mitsui then financed the geological exploratory work, on an irrevocable basis.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Expropriation of Russian shares started in 2010, leading Pugachev to decide to sell EPC. In August 2010, OPK-Mining hired Credit Suisse to establish a list of potential buyers. According to a 2011 KPMG assessment, the value of EPC amounted to 5 billion US dollars. After the signing the mandate, Credit Suisse conducted а global road show and presented a list of 40 potential buyers, including the Mitsui group, and Arcelor Mittal.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Putin warned Pugachev not to sell to foreign firms. Pugachev was thereby forced to stop negotiations with all foreign applicants. Putin suggested, as potential buyers, EvrazHoldings, Abramova and Abramovich and Severstal (belonging to Yuri Kovalchuk). Later, it was decided that the only possible Russian EPC buyer was Russkaya Mednaya Company, controlled by Igor Altushkin. This deal was agreed with Putin.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2011, an agreement was signed for the sale of EPC to Russian Mednay Company between Basterre Business Corp. (for the seller) and Devecom Ventures Ltd. (for the buyer). Under this deal, Pugachev received 2.4 billion US dollars and part of the profits from the company's development over the next 6 years. Altushkin confirmed to Pugachev that Putin agreed the deal. Under pressure from the government, Pugachev consented to the sale.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: American company Gerald Metals, representing Altushkin's interests, valued the company at more than 5 billion dollars. In order to remove the company from the market, Altushkin was given the first payment for the deal in the amount of US$150 million. Under the deal, before the payment of the purchase price, Altushkin's business partner had to be appointed chairman of the board of EPC. The business partner turned out to be a well-known friend of Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2011, the government intervened in the deal. Altushkin used these events as an excuse for violating his obligation to pay for EPC shares. Given its positions on the board and senior management positions, the company was already under the control of Baisarov and Altushkin. In 2012, in a letter from Putin's inauguration.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Putin instructed first Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov to remove the licence and transfer it to Baisarov's organization. On 4 September 2012, Baisarov asked to find a way to cancel the licence of the EPC JSC. It is noteworthy that those present at this meeting included Miroshnikov, the Deputy Leader of the Deposit Insurance Agency and one of the main authors of the attack on Pugachev.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 28 December 2012, the Government withdrew the EPC licence that was valid until 2020. The basis for withdrawal was the failure of EPC to fulfil its obligations, although EPC at that time was controlled by Altushkin and Baisarov.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The licence for development of the Tuvan Elegest deposit was transferred to the Tuvan Energy Industrial Corporation, registered to Baisarov.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Altushkin refused to make payments for the agreement he signed with Pugachev due to the Russian Federation's expropriation. The EPC licence was expropriated without compensation to its owner. 1.5 billion dollars from the EPC budget, allocated for the infrastructure project, was transferred to Russian Railways (Yakunin).


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2000, the Government announced a project for restructuring certain historical buildings, adjacent to Red Square in Moscow. For this purpose, a state enterprise was created under the name "Kremlevsky", with the rights to manage these buildings.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2004, Putin asked Pugachev to provide the Ministry of Defence with 1.5 billion rubles for construction of housing for military service personnel. Money was allocated, and as compensation an investment agreement was signed covering Pugachev's reconstruction and development of the Middle Trading Rows. Upon completion of the reconstruction, the five-star "Kremlyevsky" hotel complex was to open.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The project was presented by managers to Kozhin. At the presentation, he said that the main difficulty in choosing the investor for "Kremlevsky" was the strict conditions involving compensation to the former owner (the Ministry of Defence) of about $60 million. Another problem was registering the property (more than half the total area of the complex of buildings). Kozhin also said that these conditions were accepted only by United Industrial Corporation (OPK), and became 100% owned by the project investor. According to him, the Ministry of Defence had compensated Pugachev from its own funds. Architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte was invited to participate as a specialist in interior design of architectural monuments. Nightly room rates began at US$10 thousand.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: As Putin insisted in 2007, Al-Waleed bin Talal was approved for management of the hotel complex by Raffles. Pugachev obtained the right to ownership of the residential part (about 40 thousand square metres) on Red Square after completion of construction, and 2 hectares of land, as well as a concession for the "Kremlin" hotel management operation in the perimeter building at the same address. In addition to its financing obligations, Pugachev's company transferred 1.5 billion rubles to the Ministry of Defence.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: According to data from the Accounting Chamber, the money allocated by Pugachev for construction to the military services of the Ministry of Defence for the most part was taken. At the date of the evaluation, according to an Ernst and Young assessment, an investment agreement during the economic crisis was estimated at US$950 million. After the Decree of President Putin, approving the terms on 14 February 2005, Pugachev's company OPK Development initiated reconstruction with completion scheduled for 2009–2010.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In August 2008, Finance Minister Kudrin informed Pugachev that Putin wanted to take on the project to build a five-star hotel and residential complex on 5 Red Square. Pugachev agreed to concede the project, at market price. Initially, the Government compensated Pugachev for the Middle Trading Rows, and included it in the amendments to the Law "On the Federal Budget for 2009" of 28 April 2009. The remainder was for inclusion in the 2010 budget. In accordance with Putin's instructions, the responsibility for compensation was given to first vice-premier V. Zubkov.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2009, the Administration terminated the contract and transferred the matter to the Federal Guard Service. Construction was frozen without compensation. In March 2011, Pugachev's company the "Middle Trading Rows" LLC tried, through the court, to withdraw 41 billion, but the attempt was unsuccessful, filing a claim against the Ministry of Finance and demanding compensation for the abandonment of the project, and for expenditure on this development project.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In October 2013, the Moscow Court of Arbitration the company STR into bankruptcy. Pugachev fulfilled all the STR obligations from his own resources. Nevertheless, the DIA challenged these payments in court, and did not include this liability in the register of creditors.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: On 14 September 2016, the Moscow Court of Arbitration considered the application for liquidation of the Trade and Development Board.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The Gribanov project involved the development of 1162 hectares of land in the Krasnogorsk region and the Odintsovo regions.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The project intended to develop land for elite properties, The development involved French architect Jean-Michelle Wilmotte, and the construction of the golf courses involved Arnold Palmer.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2009, in consultation with Putin and Medvedev, the VTB Chairman Kostin proposed early payment of the loan for the land, under mortgage to VTB, with the market value of the 1162 hectares estimated at more than US$4 billion.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: To implement the project, Pugachev's organizations borrowed US$1 billion from VTB. Pugachev-controlled company OPK-Development managed the construction. According to media information, one of the sites located in the region of the Presidential residence Novo-Ogarevo, acquired by Pugachev (1162 hectares), turned out to be in the ownership of the Federal Protective Service. The media reported that this was the payment for implementation of this project by Pugachev.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2009, individual members of the Leninsky Luch collective farm filed a petition in the Krasnogorsk court for cancellation of the original deal with the Dmitrov State Farm in 2003. This petition was rejected by the court due to the expiry of the validity period.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2012, another challenge was made to the original deal with the State Farm. At that time the Leninsky Luch collective farm as a legal entity brought proceedings in the Moscow Court of Arbitration against the state farm and company Optic-Trade (land owner) with a request for recognition of the ownership rights of the collective farm for 167 plots.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: Optic-Trade claimed that it had not been informed about the court proceedings and was unable to state its defence of the expiry of the limitation period. The Moscow Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of the collective farm, declaring them the legal owner of the land that had been purchased from Optic-Trade. The company only learned of the court proceedings after receiving the notice of appeal. Optic-Trade filed its own appeal claiming that it was not given the opportunity to take part in the proceedings, but the appeal was dismissed.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: The Federal Court of Arbitration of Moscow district upheld the legality of the decision of the Tenth Arbitration Appeal Court, denying the Optic-Trade the right to appeal.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: As a result of the anti-corruption fund of Aleksei Navalny, the owners of the land became entities controlled by the family of the General Prosecutor of the RF Chaika.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: From the start of the 2000s, Pugachev began acquiring assets outside of Russia. He started the Luxe TV channel project, broadcasting in various languages in 20 countries. (but see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxe.tv )


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2007, he acquired French grocery business Hediard (the oldest and largest chain of stores in the most expensive segment), owning 320 stores in 30 countries. The analysts called this deal the "breakthrough of Russian capital into the world market" and compared it with the purchase of the Chelsea football club by Roman Abramovich in 2003.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In 2008, he bought half of the company David Linley Holdings Limited, from the nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, Lord David Linley. The company specialised in the design of yachts, interiors and furniture. Linley's company became famous for designing the ninth largest yacht in the world, Lady Moura (for Saudi Prince Araviy Al-Rashid), and the interiors of the hotel Claridges in London. Pugachev wanted to involve the Linley company in the development of the Kremlevsky hotel.


title: Sergei Pugachev

text: In August 2009, it became public that Pugachev had purchased an American pharmaceutical company, the Biopure Corporation, the stock exchange value of which reached 3.5 billion US dollars.