Lubov Chernukhin (née Golubeva) is a former

investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...

born in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Biography

Born Lubov Golubeva in November 1972, Chernukhin left the

for the USA as a teenager. She was educated on the US East Coast, receiving a master's degree from the

NYU Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts a ...

. Aside from her philanthropic work, Chernukhin acts as a VC Investor and is listed as a director of UK property firm Capital Construction And Development Ltd. Following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Chernukhin publicly condemned "all Russian military aggression in Ukraine" and urged for the "strongest possible sanctions against Putin's regime and its enablers". In September 2022, Chernukhin wrote an Op-ed on

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

regarding what avenue the

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

should take in relation to

, in order to fight the war fatigue and what the media's role should be to support Ukraine. In November 2022, Chernukhin together with entertainment entrepreneur Graham Owen opened a family entertainment centre, ''Owens Entertainment'' in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, which has been built in place of a former Debenhams store with the aim of repurposing the site.

British Conservative Party

Chernukhin is the largest female political donor in British history having donated over £2 million to the Conservative Party. Chernukhin writes columns for Reaction.life. Chernukhin is a member of the Conservative Party's

Advisory Board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

for significant donors. In a February 2022 investigation ''The Times'' alleged that Chernukhin had repeatedly lobbied government ministers "against raising the tax burden on high net-worth individuals" and sent ministers research from

Ernst and Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. The EY network is composed of member firms ...

"on the importance of the ultra-rich for the overall economy" while a member of the advisory board. Chernukhin's donations to the Conservative Party came under scrutiny after her husband was given a loan of $8 million by Russian billionaire

Suleyman Kerimov Suleyman Abusaidovich Kerimov (; ; born 12 March 1966) is a Russian billionaire, oligarch, philanthropist and politician of the Lezgin descent. Kerimov has close ties to Vladimir Putin's government in Russia, and used to have close ties to Ramza ...

through an offshore company in 2016. The transaction was first mentioned in FinCEN files leak which was reported by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. The loan amount from Kerimov was subsequently repaid in the same year. Records from the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, show Chernukhin did make two donations to the Conservative Party during this time (from the date of loan receipt to the date of repayment), one in the sum of £1,100 and another in the sum of £4,000. According to

, Chernukhin's lawyer stated that she "has never received money deriving from Mr Kerimov or any company related to him" and her "donations to the Conservative Party have never been tainted by Kremlin or any other influence".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chernukhin, Lubov Living people Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Russian bankers Russian businesspeople in the United Kingdom People named in the Pandora Papers Year of birth missing (living people)