My colleague in Russian Thought Vl Zakhvatov did an investigation on the topic: why was he arrested in Courchevel in the winter of 2007 Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. Why was he never brought any charges by the French police...
I am posting this material on my blog out of gratitude to Mikh Prokhorov. If you only knew what a wonderful week of Russian art in France he gave to the French and Russians living in France!! . I got tickets for two concerts. There was already one - a cinema concert - with a choir from the Mariinsky Theater, with a screening of the brilliant film by S. Enzenstein "Alexander Nevsky". There were spectators in the hall who came from other cities/ like me/, there were no tickets, crowds at the box office, success, joy that your art is dear to the French.... They settled the artists in the best hotel Liona Radisson, I spoke with two singers from the choir, they said that the Prokhorov Foundation paid for everything.

Monte Cristo from the Arctic

Vladimir Zakhvatov

French police and Russian competitors made Mikhail Prokhorov one of richest people in the world.

Tatyana M., a banker and wife of a major official from the Kremlin administration, once told me about how an operation was carried out in Courchevel to identify the richest Russian “pimps” and “prostitutes” in the world. Crowds of masked police, barking dogs, searches and detention of two dozen guests put her husband in a state of deep shock, and they then hurriedly flew to Moscow.

Meanwhile, in Lyon, intensive interrogations of suspected “pimps” and “prostitutes” took place for several days. But the mountains of Courchevel gave birth to a mouse - everyone was freed. But the case was opened by the French police long before the events described, and the “mask shows” in the mountains were only its final stage. However, two years later, the “pimping case” is still not closed. Who benefited from this? French police or mysterious “well-wishers” who wanted to seize the assets of the Russian oligarch?

the head of the Novokom company, Alexey Trubetskoy, the “father” of the most sophisticated “black” and “gray” PR technologies, says: “Oligarchic wars have always been fought in Russia. The days spent in the French jail, of course, left the billionaire in shock. But, as it turned out, I was far from in awe. And, in fact, they eventually made him the richest man in Russia.”

The ordered nature of the scandal in Courchevel is confirmed by the analysis of the hype in Russian media, on “drain” Internet resources. The tone and presentation of the articles, and the participation of the notorious political strategist Stanislav Belkovsky, suggest that this information field was controlled from a single center.

The next wave of dirt poured out before Prokhorov was removed from office general director Norilsk Nickel and the start of negotiations on its stake in Norilsk Nickel. Everything was done to force them to give up their assets “to whoever needed them” and for next to nothing.

Alexey Arkhipov, former deputy general director of Norilsk Nickel (today he heads the consulting firm AZet Group) recalls: “The personal life and hobbies of the head of the company were never discussed with us, especially since he was free from marriage. But after Courchevel, the relationship between business partners Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin changed sharply and diametrically opposite.

Then, in March 2007, there followed the resignation of General Director Mikhail Prokhorov and a long story with the division of assets. In my opinion, the version that they tried to discredit Mikhail Prokhorov in order to block the path to his political activity and his possible occupation of one of the government positions.”

Let's pay attention to the last phrase. Discredit... And now - a little sensation. One of the tourists detained in Courchevel, on condition of anonymity, told me that during interrogation he was shown a photocopy of the newspaper “Hlopushka”, which published an article about how he allegedly had fun with prostitutes on Cote d'Azur the entire “Potanin” team. And there was a certain pimp, a Parisian named Roma. They asked if the detainee knew this “Roma”, and if so, did he see how this “Roma” communicated with Prokhorov and his friends? Apparently, the French police regarded this newspaper as one of the serious evidence of Prokhorov’s involvement in “orgies” at French resorts. But the police were simply fooled!

I managed to find that issue of Khlopushka (May 2004) - an example of the dirtiest Russian “black” PR. In this anonymous newspaper, which was then distributed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory with a huge circulation, Governor Alexander Khloponin threw mud at him - close friend and Prokhorov's companion. It is strange that the newspaper was published two years after the gubernatorial elections and thus did not pursue electoral goals. The secret is simple - at that time, speculation began to appear in the press that Khloponin was one of the likely contenders for the Russian presidential election in 2008!

In addition, he tried to pursue an independent economic policy in the region, not allowing corporations to divert taxes from Siberia. So “hello” came to Khloponin in the form of “Hlopushka”. As a hint - don’t get too carried away, brother, otherwise we’ll create problems!.. By the way, after that Khloponin stopped going to Courchevel altogether, although he had been there before, according to his press secretary Mikhail Razvozhaev, only with his wife and daughter.

As a result, Prokhorov’s office at Norilsk Nickel was occupied by Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former security officer, owner of the large travel agency Neva. Moreover, he moved to this chair, leaving the post of head of the Russian Federal agency on tourism. (Please do not draw any parallels related to the ill-fated Courchevel tourists! - note by V.Z.) The board of directors of Norilsk Nickel was headed by Alexander Voloshin, the former head of the Kremlin administration. And Prokhorov in 2007 sold his stake in Norilsk Nickel to Oleg Deripaska at the peak of prices, for more than 13 billion dollars.

The chief strategist of the Nord-Capital company, Alexander Baranov, believes that after the crisis this package is worth four times less, but this is no longer Mr. Prokhorov’s problem. And in this, as it turns out, the French police and certain “mysterious well-wishers” helped him a lot.

The “Courchevel sufferer” became much more important after the scandal. an open person, even started my own blog on LiveJournal. He created ONEXIM GROUP, a fund that allowed him to wisely manage colossal funds and invest them in gold mining and nanotechnology. Now he is invited to the boards of the largest companies with state capital. And if, in addition, he gets married and stops communicating with starlets, then the path to high government positions will be open.

Despite the efforts of lawyers, the girls detained in Courchevel along with Prokhorov were never able to restore their reputation. However, according to some reports, the three days spent behind bars in Lyon were compensated for each of them with luxurious gifts of approximately half a million euros. And it is no coincidence that Prokhorov is now called the Count of Monte Cristo in glamorous circles, and every Russian beauty dreams of dragging him down the aisle! After all, the real Monte Cristo finally finds his love in the finale of Alexandre Dumas' novel...

Several others were detained along with Prokhorov Russian businessmen, including his assistant Dmitry Shatov.

The traditional January holiday of our oligarchs in Courchevel ended in a big scandal. The co-owner of the Interros company, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, was detained on January 9, 2007 by French police during an anti-prostitution raid carried out at the Courchevel ski resort, popular among Russian millionaires, the Vedomosti newspaper writes.

Mikhail Prokhorov was detained in Courchevel early in the morning of January 9, several acquaintances of the Russian tycoon said. An Interros representative confirmed this information, but refused to talk about the circumstances of the incident.

Mikhail Prokhorov

Information about the arrest of Russian tourists was also confirmed by the manager of the Courchevel resort, Zenin Deniz. Their names and numbers are unknown to him, since the raid on the resort hotels was carried out by police from Lyon with the approval of a Lyon judge. “We were not warned about anything, and we do not know any details, as well as the number of those arrested,” says the resort’s police chief, Mr. Omercier.

A top manager of a large Russian holding, now vacationing in Courchevel, says that along with Prokhorov, the police detained his assistant Dmitry Shatov and several girls (according to another businessman, there were three girls). On Tuesday, French police carried out an anti-prostitution operation in Courchevel and some other resorts, a manager says. In Courchevel, according to his information, the police checked three hotels, and they searched mainly the rooms of Russians. A businessman who had just returned from this resort, who took part in the operation large squad police officers, about 40 people, who took the detainees to Lyon. Even the lawyers, who will meet with the detainees only on Thursday, have no contact with Prokhorov.

Oleg Baibakov

“It was special unit police, which operates in an extremely closed manner,” said a journalist from the Lyon publication Le Progres. - Several Russians were detained exact number“We don’t know, but we know for sure about two - one Duma deputy and one major industrialist.” The second detainee, according to media reports, was Prokhorov’s partner, the president of the City development company Oleg Baibakov. It is not known what the Russians are suspected of, but the versions of Lyon journalists relate to drugs, prostitution and money laundering.

According to Gazeta, our compatriots are suspected of using the services of elite prostitutes. At the same time, the police reports, according to the publication, mention the names of the vice-president of the Norilsk Nickel company, 39-year-old Oleg Baibakov, and the general director of the company, 41-year-old Mikhail Prokhorov.

As the newspaper notes, the arrest was carried out as part of a campaign to combat prostitution in luxury resorts. In total, according to the publication, more than 20 people were detained - both priestesses of love, whose citizenship was not disclosed, and their possible clients, mostly Russians. Among them there was indeed a man named Baibakov, as stated by law enforcement officers. But law enforcement officials did not say anything about Prokhorov.

Among Russian tourists A rumor has already spread in Courchevel that Prokhorov’s detention is connected with his passion for women. Several vacationers in Courchevel noted that they saw him the other day in the company of “too young” girls. True, another regular at this resort and a connoisseur of women claims that “with age everything was in order there.” He already knows that the French law enforcement agencies Now they are raiding prostitutes at resorts favored by Russians. And Prokhorov and his companions were detained as witnesses in the case of pimping, said another businessman currently vacationing in Courchevel.

Courchevel - one of the most expensive and fashionable Alpine resorts - fell in love with Russian oligarchs thanks to the light hand of the co-owners of Interros. Vladimir Potanin usually celebrates his birthday there on January 3, and Prokhorov arranges noisy parties with crowds of young girls. But the local police never had any complaints against the lavishly spending tycoon, notes one of his acquaintances. “It’s just that the French became jealous that Russian oligarchs are having such a luxurious holiday,” one of the regulars at the Russian party in France is indignant.

The Courchevel scandal is a favorite topic of Mikhail Prokhorov’s political opponents: at every opportunity Russian oligarch they recall how in January 2007 he was found in the company of 15 underage courtesans. However, Prokhorov himself prefers not to talk about the details of that incident. Novolitika managed to find one of the billionaire’s companions and find out unknown details of the Courchevel scandal.

- Hello, Nastya. How did you meet Prokhorov?

Mikhail Prokhorov and I have known each other for a long time. I came to Moscow to enroll at Moscow State University from a small town where my parents remained - as intelligent people as they were poor. It was the early 2000s.

I won’t bore you with my story about how Moscow completely broke my heart with its brightness, rhythm, abundance of opportunities and keen desire to get everything, if not immediately, then at least gradually. How I began to win my “place in the sun.” It seemed that I had lived half asleep for 17 years, and suddenly woke up.

Then we met Prokhorov. I didn’t even know who this tall, intelligent man was. He behaved completely calmly and naturally, speaking quietly. Just as quietly, he invited me to accompany him on a trip to Courchevel. Back then there was almost no talk about this resort. Mikhail offered to cover the costs entirely and pay me for the company, and I was given a separate room.

- And you, of course, agreed?

At first I tensed up, rushed about, almost like a true Turgenev girl. Then I thought - I don’t have a permanent boyfriend, so why go home for the holidays? Here came the opportunity to relax in pleasant company, and even earn money. There were no arguments against it. It is clear that in the middle of a European city they will definitely not rape and beat me.

In Courchevel, everything turned out to be very interesting. Already on the way to vacation, I met several more girls whom Mikhail invited to vacation with him. Some, like me, were traveling for the first time, others had already accompanied the oligarch on more than one occasion. ski resort. There were 13 of us in total, all beautiful, slender and with long hair.

We were accommodated in the luxurious Byblos Hotel. In the evening we had a joint dinner in honor of our arrival, we drank Petrus, danced and enjoyed life. When I found out that Petrus costs about 6 thousand euros per bottle, I almost fainted. My mother doesn’t earn that much in a year.

- What happened after dinner?

After dinner, Mikhail called me and another girl, Alena, to his room. I tensed up, I immediately thought - he seemed normal, but turned out to be a pervert. I was ready to pack my suitcase and look for the nearest Russian embassy.

But events developed in a completely unpredictable way. We came to the room, he closed the door behind us and suggested we lie down. At the same time, he himself did not undress, and he did not hint at anything like that to us. Alena was not afraid, and I thought that nothing bad should happen to me. When we lay down on his huge bed, Mikhail took Turgenev’s “The Thunderstorm” (two copies) from under the pillow and asked us to read it aloud by role.

We read. Mikhail listened. And I, watching Katerina’s torment, kept wondering what the oligarch was up to, since he decided to divert our attention in this way?

- So what?

It turned out that nothing. Mikhail simply fell asleep without making an indecent proposal to any of us. During the day we skied, in the evening the situation repeated itself. Five girls were already invited for the “role-playing” reading.

So every evening we read him something from Russian classics. And no intimacy at all. At the same time, you should not think that Mikhail is homosexual or impotent. He loves women very much, but with some special love. A company of beautiful, educated girls helps the oligarch take his mind off work. It was for the soul. And for the rest he found other women.

- What happened that evening when the police burst into the room?

That evening, when we were detained by the French police, there was also only joint reading. There can be no talk of any prostitution. We played the role of companions, not concubines or sex slaves. Yes, Mikhail could hug us and even kiss us on the cheek - but no more liberties.

In general, speculation about his penchant for orgies and bacchanalia is just speculation. Although for most men, such a billionaire’s vacation seems much stranger than the love of gangbangs and other sexual excesses.

The Courchevel scandal is a favorite topic of Mikhail Prokhorov’s political opponents: at every opportunity, the Russian oligarch is reminded of how in January 2007 he was found in the company of 15 underage courtesans. However, Prokhorov himself prefers not to talk about the details of that incident. Novolitika managed to find one of the billionaire’s companions and find out unknown details of the Courchevel scandal.

— Hello, Nastya. How did you meet Prokhorov?

Mikhail Prokhorov and I have known each other for a long time. I came to Moscow to enroll at Moscow State University from a small town where my parents remained - people who were as intelligent as they were poor. It was the early 2000s.

I won’t bore you with my story about how Moscow completely broke my heart with its brightness, rhythm, abundance of opportunities and keen desire to get everything, if not immediately, then at least gradually. How I began to win my “place in the sun.” It seemed that I had lived half asleep for 17 years, and suddenly woke up.

Then we met Prokhorov. I didn’t even know who this tall, intelligent man was. He behaved completely calmly and naturally, speaking quietly. Just as quietly, he invited me to accompany him on a trip to Courchevel. Back then there was almost no talk about this resort. Mikhail offered to cover the costs entirely and pay me for the company, and I was given a separate room.

- And you, of course, agreed?

At first I tensed up, rushed about, almost like a true Turgenev girl. Then I thought - I don’t have a permanent boyfriend, so why go home for the holidays? Here came the opportunity to relax in pleasant company, and even earn money. There were no arguments against it. It is clear that in the middle of a European city they will definitely not rape and beat me.

In Courchevel, everything turned out to be very interesting. Already on the way to vacation, I met several more girls whom Mikhail invited to vacation with him. Some, like me, were traveling for the first time, others had already accompanied the oligarch to the ski resort more than once. There were 13 of us in total, all beautiful, slender and with long hair.

We were accommodated in the luxurious Byblos Hotel. In the evening we had a joint dinner in honor of our arrival, we drank Petrus, danced and enjoyed life. When I found out that Petrus costs about 6 thousand euros per bottle, I almost fainted. My mother doesn’t earn that much in a year.

- What happened after dinner?

After dinner, Mikhail called me and another girl, Alena, to his room. I tensed up and immediately thought: he seemed normal, but he turned out to be a pervert. I was ready to pack my suitcase and look for the nearest Russian embassy.

But events developed in a completely unpredictable way. We came to the room, he closed the door behind us and suggested we lie down. At the same time, he himself did not undress, and he did not hint at anything like that to us. Alena was not afraid, and I thought that nothing bad should happen to me. When we lay down on his huge bed, Mikhail took Turgenev’s “The Thunderstorm” (two copies) from under the pillow and asked us to read it aloud by role.

We read. Mikhail listened. And I, watching Katerina’s torment, kept wondering what the oligarch was up to, since he decided to divert our attention in this way?

- So what?

It turned out that nothing. Mikhail simply fell asleep without making an indecent proposal to any of us. During the day we skied, in the evening the situation repeated itself. Five girls were already invited for the “role-playing” reading.

So every evening we read him something from Russian classics. And no intimacy at all. At the same time, you should not think that Mikhail is homosexual or impotent. He loves women very much, but with some special love. A company of beautiful, educated girls helps the oligarch take his mind off work. It was for the soul. And for the rest he found other women.

— What happened that evening when the police burst into the room?

That evening, when we were detained by the French police, there was also only a joint reading. There can be no talk of any prostitution. We played the role of companions, not concubines or sex slaves. Yes, Mikhail could hug us and even kiss us on the cheek - but no more liberties.

In general, speculation about his penchant for orgies and bacchanalia is just speculation. Although for most men, such a billionaire’s vacation seems much stranger than the love of gangbangs and other sexual excesses