Vladimir Anatolyevich Chernukhin (Russian: Владимир Анатольевич Чернухин; born 31 December 1968 in Moscow) was the deputy minister of finance of the Russian Federation and Chairman of Vnesheconombank. Chernukhin has spent most of his life as a banker and businessman. Between 2000 and 2002, he served as a Deputy Minister of Finance in Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's government. Chernukhin fled to the UK after Vladimir Putin dismissed him in 2004^[1] and he is known to be a loyalist to former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who in 2005 became an opponent of Putin.^[2][3][4] He received British citizenship in 2011.^[5]

Chernukhin was born in Moscow on 31 December 1968 in Moscow. From 1986 to 1996, he worked at Tekhnopromimport, a trade house of the USSR and the Russian Federation devoted to the import of industrial machinery. During that period, he also obtained undergraduate degrees in Diplomacy and Economics from the Moscow Institute of International Economic Relations. From 1996 to 1999, Chernukhin worked as Deputy Head and the Head of the Credit Department of Vneshekonombank, a state owned commercial bank in the Russian Federation.^[6] On 1999, Chernukhin was appointed to the position of Deputy Chairman of Vneshekonombank.^[7][8][9] In 2000, then Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov appointed Chernukhin as a Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.^[10][11]

As a Deputy Minister of Finance, Chernukhin reported to Kasyanov. He was responsible for the Department of Foreign Financial Assets and the Department of State Loans and Guarantees. He was also responsible for the cooperation of the Russian Federation with the Paris Club of creditors, an informal group of creditors whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by the world's poorest debtor countries.^[12][13] In the year 2002, Chernukhin was appointed as Vneshekonombank's Chairman. During his tenure in that role he negotiated and signed several cooperation agreements, the purpose of which was to secure credit and guarantee support for the export and investment undertakings of Russian companies carried out in cooperation with foreign companies.^{[citation needed]}

Chernukhin earned a Candidate of Science (PhD equivalent) degree in economics from the Moscow Finance Academy and, in 2003, he was ranked among the 100 top managers of the Russian Federation.^[10] The same year, he was named as one of the “Global Leaders for Tomorrow”, at the Davos World Economic Forum. On 15 April 2004, Chernukhin was awarded the Order of Honour in Russia for his achievements in finance and economics.^[14] Shortly after, in May 2004, Chernukhin was dismissed as Chairman of Vneshekonombank due to his close association with Mikhail Kasyanov. Kasyanov and his entire government had been dismissed by President Putin three months earlier (in February 2004) due to fundamental differences in policy.^[15]

Chernukhin fled Russia in November 2004 when it became known that Mikhail Kasyanov was forming organised opposition to President Putin so that he could oppose him at the 2008 Presidential election.It was reported that as an associate of Kasyanov, Chernukhin feared for his personal safety and feared unjustified political persecution. He has never returned since.^[16][17] In 2007, Chernukhin married Lubov Chernukhin. Mikhail Kasyanov, who at the time was campaigning against President Putin in respect of the upcoming presidential election in Russia,^[18][19] was one of the two witnesses at the civil ceremony of the wedding.

The Electoral Commission register shows that Lubov Chernukhin has donated in excess of £2 million to the party.^[20] In the UK media, the Conservative party has been heavily criticised for accepting donations from the Chernukhins.^{[21][22][23][24]} The UK press has frequently accused her for allegedly using her husband's wealth for these donations.^[25] However, in 2022 Lubov Chernukhin's representative confirmed that all of her political donations have derived from her own funds.^[26]

Chernukhin fled to the UK after Vladimir Putin dismissed him in 2004.^[1] As per the media reports, Chernukhin is known to be a loyalist to former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who in 2005 became an opponent of Putin.^[2][3][4] When Chernukhin fled to the UK, Nathaniel Rothschild gave him a job at JNR, a company in which Rothschild was chairman. Chernukhin worked in London, where he was paid a salary of £275,000 per annum to work on a liquified natural gas project located in New York. When Rothschild was subsequently in severe financial difficulty after the financial crisis, Chernukhin claimed to have returned the salary he had earnt at JNR to Rothschild. In 2019, The Times reported that Rothschild allegedly provided Chernukhin the job post in such a way that it "did not require him to do any work". However, Chernukhin denied such allegations.^[27]