Marat Kabaev told Forbes about business and relations with his daughter

The father of the Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva heads the International Association of Islamic Business, but does not conduct business.
22.02.2018
Forbes
Origin source
To get to the office of the International Islamic Business Association in the metro area "Leninsky Prospekt", you need to go downstairs to the basement of a residential multi-storey building. It's almost noon, but the office is not crowded. The head of the association does not have a receptionist and secretary. His cabinet - with fresh, but no-frills repairs - is decorated with awards, congratulatory diplomas and discreet souvenirs. On the desktop, a computer and several papers, among which a letter from the governor of the Perm region Maxim Reshetnikov with gratitude for the offer of cooperation.

The owner of this small cabinet (in the past, the football player of the Tashkent "Pakhtakor", the team of the highest league of the USSR) is still a sports figure. He is trimmed with a hedgehog, looks younger than his fifty-six years. Marat Kabaev meets me without a tie, in a dark jumper and in a white shirt. On his hand is a stylish watch, a patterned ring on his finger. He speaks simply, quietly and cautiously. If I did not know who was in front of me, I would have decided that this is a successful middle-class businessman, coming from the bottom. But despite the status of the head of the International Association of Islamic Business, he does not deal with business: "I'm not a businessman. I have no personal business. "

A couple of weeks ago, Dozhd television reported that Marat Kabaev, the father of the Olympic champion and former State Duma deputy and now chairman of the board of directors of the National Media Group holding Alina Kabaeva, is part of the inner circle of President Vladimir Putin and has had a significant impact on the construction business Moscow.

Living in Kazan, according to "Rain", Kabaev created from scratch the Association of Russian Muslim businessmen and headed the state repair and construction company "Kemesh-Chishme" - it operated under the Ministry of Construction headed by Marat Khusnullin and registered at the same address, and the International Association of Islamic Business. And then it was allegedly Kabaev who contributed to the move from Kazan to the capital of Khusnullin, which manages the Moscow construction complex. And now, according to the sources of the channel, it is the natives of Tatarstan who will be the main actors of the renovation program in Moscow: the main executors of the renovation program will be KP UGS and KP UEZ headed by Damir Gazizov and Albert Souniev, former colleagues of Khusnullin for work in Kazan.

Kabaev begins the conversation right from the refutation of this information. "I want to say right away that there were no speculation: I would be glad to get acquainted (with Khusnullin and his team - Forbes), but then he did not have time, then I was busy. Think about it: if I only moved to Kazan from Tashkent in 2011, and he already became Sobyanin's assistant in town planning in 2010, how could I lobby for his appointment? From Uzbekistan, or what, where I worked as a children's coach? This is utter nonsense. " With Gazizov and Souniev, he said, he is also not familiar: "If I'm not familiar with Khusnullin, their boss, how can I know them?"

He also refutes relations with the enterprise "Kemesh-Chishme": "I, for example, is credited with a firm that was registered at this address in 1993. And I played in Kazakhstan for the Pavlodar team that year. I repeat, if I had known these people, I would have said so straightforward. What's wrong with that? Khusnullin, in my opinion, a hard worker who showed the beauty of Moscow. " Kemesh-Chishmeh is headed by someone F.F. Zaripov, co-owners - five Russian citizens and one foreigner, their names are not indicated, but there are no traces of Kabaev in Kemesh-Chishma, according to SPARC. Since May 2017, Kabaev is the owner of 20% of OOO "Construction Company" (the remaining shares of Elena Rakhimova and Azat Yusupov), but this company in 2016, the revenue was only 3.8 million rubles.

The mufti of Tatarstan, Kamil Samigullin, was the head of the association of Russian Muslim entrepreneurs in Kazan Kabaev. "I then worked in Rubin as a breeder trainer," Kabayev recalls. - Many people were offered leadership of the association, but they did not agree, refused, and I did not want at first, not understanding how I would combine public activities with sports. We were personally acquainted with the Mufti, we had a trusting relationship, so he later asked me personally, not through helpers. By that time, my friend Kurban Berdyev (head coach of the team - Forbes) had left the Rubin, I was left alone, thought, looked, and public work lured me. "

It soon became clear that the association had more global goals, and in May 2016 its headquarters were transferred to Moscow. "Our like-minded people gave a room, made repairs here, so no rent is required," Kabaev said. - We initially refused membership fees, but since by law we can not but charge them, we made them purely symbolic: 200 rubles per entry and 100 rubles monthly. If it is necessary to leave somewhere, the receiving side provides us with transportation, locates and so on. "

Now the association has an international status, and Kabayev is proud that the first representative offices abroad have already been opened: in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan. The Russian network is expanding - there are representative offices in 31 regions of Russia. Among the foreign participants of the IABC, he mentions LOOTAH Group from the UAE, says that "there are many businessmen from Turkey", but their names do not disclose. In the near future, the association plans to hold a forum with the Islamic Development Bank to discuss the principles of Islamic banking.

Marat Kabaev denies his "appearance" in the highest circles of the country's leadership or, for example, the assistance of the former president of Tatarstan, Mintimer Shaimiev. Asked whether he is using the lobbist potential of Alina's daughter, he answers the already familiar word "no": "No, in no case. At first, some people thought: "We will come to our father, and he will decide everything." I, when I was still organizing an association, immediately said flatly "no" to the proposals to connect my daughter. I want to maintain normal relations between father and daughter, this is for me the most important thing. "

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