Alexander Temerko

The AQUIND Interconnector was a proposed HVDC power link between the United Kingdom and France. On 20 January 2022, the UK Business Secretary refused consent for the proposal, citing concerns including the impact on the local community facilities at the location of the UK connection point, and the alternative possibilities at other sites.

Temerko is a member and advocate of the UK Conservative Party. He has donated more than £1.3 million to the party. He is also a member of the advisory council of right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs. In November 2019, he called for the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament′s report ("The Russia report") on Russian influence in British politics. In connection with the report, Temerko has denied he has ties with the Kremlin.

During the 2019 Conservative leadership campaign, Temerko supported Jeremy Hunt. The Daily Telegraph quoted Temerko as saying that the other leading candidate, and subsequent leader of the Conservative Party, Boris Johnson, remained a "friend", but he was being "held hostage" by the European Research Group of Brexiteer MPs. Temerko was also quoted by the Huffington Post as saying that the choice between Hunt and Johnson was one of "populism" against "professionalism".

In July 2019, Temerko was quoted by Reuters, based on a series of interviews with him conducted in the course of three years, as applauding Brexit, endorsing Boris Johnson's bid to lead Britain out of the EU, lauding senior Russian security officials (including the current and former heads of the Federal Security Service such as Nikolai Patrushev), and proudly recalling his past work with Russia's Defence Ministry during the Yeltsin era.

In 2016, Temerko was appointed as a director at Aquind, which mounted a bid that was later rejected to build a $1.4 billion power link between the United Kingdom and France, with power equivalent to 5% or 3% of British and French consumption respectively.

During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Temerko publicly supported the campaign for Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom. He has publicly voiced his support for Britain to remain in the European Union. After the Referendum, Temerko advocated for a soft Brexit or even a general election, rather than a "no-deal" Brexit. Le Monde quoted Temerko as stating that the most sensible solution for London would be to stop the Brexit process and support the French through reforming the European Union. In August 2019, Temerko suggested that an extension of Article 50 or a second referendum were the only options to avoid the "unfolding travesty" of a no-deal exit on 31 October.

From 1999, he held executive positions in the Russian oil company Yukos. In 2003, upon the arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Temerko became the company's vice president. He was in charge of interaction with state bodies. He resigned from the post on 15 March 2005.

Russia's bid to have Temerko extradited from the United Kingdom failed as Judge Timothy Workman in December 2005 ruled: "I have come to the conclusion that the motivation for the charges against Mr Temerko are inextricably entwined with the motivation for the prosecution of Mr Khodorkovsky. I therefore find that the prosecution of Mr Temerko is politically motivated and the request for his extradition is made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing him on account of his political opinions."

Temerko fled to London shortly after he was examined by criminal investigators in October 2004. In May 2005, Russian prosecutors charged Temerko with having stolen shares in the oil company Yeniseineftegaz, forgery, and perverting the course of justice.

Temerko's views on Russia's economy and the Yukos affair were cited by the Financial Times in the late 2000s. He himself contributed articles on the Russian oil industry developments to outlets such as The Observer and The Wall Street Journal.

Temerko has received Witte's gold medal "For Thoughts and Deeds", established by the Congress of Russian Business People. He received the medal of For Merit to the Fatherland of II degree and the Defender of Free Russia in 1993, and was also formally recognised and thanked by the president of the Russian Federation for his contribution towards ensuring the holding of the 100th conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1998.

From early 1992, he held a series of positions in Russian state agencies under the Defence Ministry in charge of supplies and armaments.

In 1987, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building (MIEM). He also graduated from the Institute of Public Administration in 1999. He began his career in the field of environmental science, initially as the chief engineer of capital construction at the State Committee of the USSR on Environmental Protection, and then as director of the Department of Environmental Protection under the Ministry of Forestry.

Alexander Viktorovich Temerko (born 9 September 1966) is a Ukrainian businessman in the energy sector, currently a director of the British company Aquind Limited. Previously, he was director and deputy chairman of the British company OGN Group. While in Russia, he held senior posts in the Russian Defence Ministry in the 1990s and, from 1999, was a senior executive and director at the Russian oil and gas company Yukos. He has resided in the United Kingdom since 2004. He became a British citizen in 2011.

Temerko was born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (present-day Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union) on 9 September 1966.