Lev Dengov


Lev Dengov is a Russian political figure, businessman. chairman of the board of the Russian-Libyan Trading, assistant to the deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of VI, VII convocations. Advisor to the President of MedcoEnergi Energy Corporation for Libya.
At the instruction of the leadership of the Russian Federation, he participated and was engaged in liberation of the Russian and Belarusian citizens in Libya. He established and developed Russian-Libyan relations in the socio-political and economic spheres. At the time of the revolution and the civil war in Libya, he repeatedly visited the country to maintain contact with the new authorities.

Biography

Early years, education

He was born in Minsk, Belarussian SSR. He spent his childhood in the village Kraisk, where he studied at the village school till 1999. His father was engaged in entrepreneurial activities, his mother worked as a drawing teacher at school. He graduated from secondary school in a gymnasium with focus on German № 73 of the city of Minsk.
He graduated from Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property with the specialty – Law.
He studied in Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with the specialty of an economist. He broke up his studies in Germany due to beginning of active business in Libya.

Business

The first major business-project of Dengov was creation of a musical band "Arbat", which was successfully implemented and sold to producer center of Maxim Fadeev "Monolit".
In 2008–2011 he founded the Libyan-Belarusian joint venture "Almamar-Almetali", which was engaged in construction and design of sports buildings and facilities for the state Libyan corporation LIDCO. In 2011, he participated in construction of the infrastructure for the Africa Cup of Nations in Libya, which in the end was canceled due to the events of the Arab Spring.
In 2017, he established Russian-Libyan Trading House, which sells various products in Libya. chairman of the board RLTH.
He currently does business in several countries in the Middle East, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
He is Advisor to the President of Indonesia's largest energy corporation MedcoEnergi for Libya. At the same time, he is Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of the Philippines on cooperation with the CIS countries.

Activities on settlement in Libya

In March 2015, on the initiative of Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East M. L. Bogdanov, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation A. S. Delimkhanov, a Contact Group was established Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for Libya. The purpose of the structure is to facilitate the implementation of the Russian foreign policy through making contacts with various socio-political groups in Libya, analysis of the situation in the country, implementation of some initiatives, and identification of trends and solutions to the Libyan crisis. Lev Dengov was appointed as Head of the Contact Group.
A prerequisite for creation of this structure was the appeal of the leader of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar on establishing cooperation with the Russian authorities. From the beginning of his working as the Head of the Contact Group, Dengov managed to establish a dialogue with representatives of all parties to the conflict in Libya: with representatives of the Government of the National Accord in Tripoli, with representatives of the authorities of the eastern part of the country. In addition, he negotiated with the representatives of Misurata, Tobruk, Benghazi, southern Libya, also the Barca region.
Contact Group under leadership of Dengov prepared recommendations for the State Duma, the Federation Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the head of the Chechen Republic, contributed to the conduct of the foreign policy, definition of practical policies in the field of counterterrorism, illegal migration, as well as development of bilateral cooperation.
The main objective of the work of Contact Group was to create conditions for an inclusive dialogue with the participation of all political forces, regions, as well as the tribes of Libya to ensure the possibilities of settlement through the political process. Contact Group has been actively working with the media with the purpose of informing about the Russian policy in Libya, as well as resisting attempts to distort the actions of the Russian Federation in relation to Libya.
The Group also contributed to safeguarding the interests of all parties to the conflict. As a result, equal representation of Libya in Russia was ensured. Since August 2017, the interests of Libya in the Russian Federation have been represented by Mustafa Abu Sayd, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Libya, Chargé d'Affaires of Libya.
Contact Group was also involved in the liberation of Russian citizens detained in Libya. To achieve the goals in the period from 2015 to 2017 with the assistance of Contact Group, a number of visits of the opposing parties of Russia were carried out, as well as visits of Russian representatives to Libya.
In 2015, Khalifa Haftar addressed Dengov with a request for assistance in negotiating with the representatives of the Russian Federation to build relations. As a result, the first visit of representatives of Khalifa Haftar to Grozny was organized, which took place on the May 14 and 15, 2015. The members of the delegation were Bassima Boashi, the first adviser to the general, and Khalid Haftar, the son of the general, as well as other official representatives.
In May of the same year, the representatives of Barki addressed Contact Group, and a visit to the leadership of the Obeida tribe from Cyrenaica to Moscow was organized, who were seeking support from Russia in finding options for resolving the internal structure of Libya.
In October 2016, at the instruction of the Russian Foreign Minister, Dengov was sent to Tripoli as a special envoy of the Government of the Russian Federation for the first official negotiations with the representatives of the Government of the National Accord that came to power to establish first contacts between the Russian Federation and Libya, as well as to free the remaining citizens. Starting from October 3, Dengov conducted negotiations with the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, Fayez Sarraj, the Chairman of the Supreme State Council, Abdurahman Sewehli, the First Deputy Prime Minister Musa al-Koni, the Head of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor-General's Office, As- Sadiq As-Sur, and members of the government. As a result of negotiations, in the same month it was possible to return the remaining citizens detained on the tanker "Mechanic Chebotarev", as well as to meet with Russian sailors from the tanker "Temeteron".
In December 2016, a visit of Agila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives of Libya, elected and sitting in Tobruk-based Parliament took place. Within the framework of this visit, meetings were held with S.V. Lavrov, Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation V.V. Volodin, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs L.V. Slutsky, and also deputy A.S. Delimkhanov. By that time, it was possible to agree on the resumption of inter-parliamentary contacts, also to exchange viewpoints on the dynamics of the Libyan conflict.
In January 2017, Dengov visited Misrata, where his meetings with the representatives of Al-Bunyan Al-Marsus were held, also the heads of militant groups under control of the Government of National Accord and conducting military operations against IS forces. At the meeting, special attention was paid to the issue of fighting IS in the city of Sirte.
In April 2017, representatives of Al-Bunyan Al-Marsus, who are subordinated to the Government of the National Accord, visited Moscow. The delegation was led by Field Commander Mohamed Khalil Abubaker Issa. Within the framework of the visit, meetings were held with M. L. Bogdanov, with the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs L. E. Slutsky, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council I. M. Umakhanov, and representatives of the Federal National Guard Troops Service. An exchange of views on the development of the situation in Libya was held with a focus on efforts under the aegis of the United Nations to help advancement of the process of national reconciliation in this country. The Libyan side acknowledged a gratitude to Russia for a balanced line in the context of the settlement in Libya, aimed at rapprochement of the positions of various Libyan parties on key issues of the intra-Libyan agenda.
On August 2, with the assistance of Contact Group, the Charge d'Affaires of Libya to the Russian Federation began his work at the Embassy in Moscow.
In September 2017, Dengov, in charge of Contact Group, arranged a visit of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the National Accord Ahmed Maytyg to Russia. His visit began with a trip to Grozny and continued in Moscow. Among the issues discussed, the topic of the release of the remaining captured Russian sailors was included. Based on the results of the meetings, an agreement was reached on organizing a working visit of representatives of the Government of the National Consent and continuing the course on development of Russian-Libyan relations. As part of the visit, Ahmed Maytyg held a press conference on the site of the Valdai Discussion Club.
On September 14, 2017, a meeting was held with Brigadier General of the Libyan Army Ahmed Al-Mismari in Moscow; during the meeting, Russia's position on the need to maintain contacts with all parties to the conflict was emphasized. In mid-October of the same year, a visit was held by the Libyan delegation led by Deputy Minister of Transport Hisham Abdullah Abu Shkevat. Meetings were held with the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation; roadmap timeline for development of Russian-Libyan economic relations were signed. This visit was organized by a representative of Contact Group from Russian-Libyan Trade House.
On September 23, 2017, Money was delegated by the leadership of the Russian Federation for conduct of negotiations in Tripoli. He arrived in Libya on September 24 and within two months met with key officials, including Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq, Libyan Defense Minister El Mahdi Al Barghathi, Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdulwahid Abdulhamid, and the Head of Security of the Prime Minister Hashim Beshir, representative of the Investigative Committee Rashid Al-Rugbani, Attorney General of Libya, public lawyer Mohamed Abdulwahab, as well as representatives of the tribes of southern Libya and the leadership of the cities of Ubari, Ghat, Murzuk, Sabha, Gdamez and others. The strategy and prospects for the development of Russian-Libyan relations, the fate of the Russian prisoners, as well as the course and results of the Tunis process were discussed. It was concluded that Tripoli and the south of Libya are disposed to cooperation with Russian and are ready for contacts and exchanges of delegations.
As a result of Dengov's mediation, the heads of large tribes, Tubu and Tuareg, who inhabit the southern Libyan city of Ubari, met on November 5 with the Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj to resolve political difficulties arising as a result of the non-recognition of the results of the previously held elections in the Libyan city of Ubari.
Tense political situation developed in connection with non-recognition by Tripoli of the results of the election of Governor in the Libyan city of Ubari. Under tense relations between the tribes, the non-recognition of the legitimately elected leader of the city-enclave – Ahmed Al-Murtada Abu Seyf – could have serious domestic political consequences for the region, where many Libyan tribes live, including large Tubu and Tuareg tribes. The participation of the Russian representative in the political process was highly appreciated by both representatives of the south and representatives of the NTC. The first made an appeal to the Libyan media, highly mentioning the role of Russia in the process of internal settlement.
As a result of the meetings, a conclusion has been made that the south of Libya is extremely inclined to the idea of cooperation in matters of migration, security, combating terrorism, humanitarian cooperation, as well as conflict resolution. On December 1–3, 2017, Dengov took part in the Mediterranean Dialogues Conference, on the sidelines of which a number of meetings were held with officials from Italy, Libya, as well as with the UN Special Representative for Libya Gassan Salamé.
On December 11–13, he participated in organizing the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Libya, Mohammed Taher Siala, who paid an official visit to Moscow by invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Dengov participated in the negotiations of the Ministers, and also spoke in the framework of the session organized at the site of the "Valdai Club" – "Libyan Settlement: Russian Diplomacy 2.0.”.
In 2018, he organized the panel session “Libya’s Reintegration into the International Economy: Opportunities for Cooperation” at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Besides Dengov, the Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and Libyan Foreign Minister Taher Siyala took part in it. The session was moderated by State Duma deputy, foreign affairs columnist Yevgeny Primakov.

Liberation of Russian and Belarusian citizens in Libya

In September 2015, on behalf of the Special Presidential Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister M. L. Bogdanov, a process was organized of release of Russian sailors detained at the coasts of Libya on the ship "Mechanic Chebotarev" on charges in oil smuggling.
As a result of negotiations organized with the Prime Minister of the New General National Congress of Libya Khalifa Al-Ghawil, two citizens and the crew members of the detained tanker Mikhail Chebotarev were returned to Russia.
In January 2016, they succeeded to release the remaining seven sailors, who, flew to Moscow with Khalifa Al-Ghawil. Within the framework of the visit of the Prime Minister, meetings were organized with S.V. Lavrov and M. L. Bogdanov.
However, in March 2016, the negotiation process for release of the remaining detained citizens was interrupted as a result of the formation of the UN-supported Government of National Accord led by Fayez Sarraj.
In October 2016, Dengov held negotiations with Sarraj, Chairman of the Supreme State Council Abdurahman Sewehli, First Deputy Prime Minister Musa al-Koni, head of the Investigative Committee under the Attorney General, As-Sadyk As-Sur, members of the government. As a result of negotiations, in the same month it was possible to return the remaining citizens detained on the tanker "Mechanic Chebotarev", as well as to meet with Russian sailors from the tanker "Temeteron".
In March 2017, the Russian cargo ship "Merle" with seven Russian citizens on board was detained in the coastal waters of Libya. The issue of their release rested on Contact Group. In April, it was discussed with the delegation of the Government of National Accord, who arrived in Moscow on a visit. It was led by field commander Mohamed Khalil Abubaker Issa.
As a result of the meetings and negotiations held in April 2017, thanks to the work of the Contact Group and the Head of the Chechen Republic, the visit of the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East and African countries to Tripoli M.L. Bogdanov to Tripoli was organized, in the framework of which it was managed to release five citizens from the ship "Merle". Later, in May 2017, the two remaining citizens were released.
Since September 2017, Dengov has also been engaged in the release of citizens of Belarus.
In February 2018, after long negotiations with the participation of Dengov, it was possible to achieve the release of Belarusian citizen Vyacheslav Kachura in Libya, who had been detained there for six and a half years. Kachura arrived in Libya in June 2011 within a group of international experts from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In August 2011, they were detained by the revolutionaries, they were charged with cooperation with the regime of ex-President of Libya Muammar Gaddafi. Later, some of the detainees were released, but until the last moment nothing was known about Kachura.
In 2018, with the participation of Dengov, two citizens of Belarus, Inna Babush and Sergei Zdota, were released in Libya. They worked there as doctors, but at the end of the contracts, the Libyan authorities did not let them leave the country. Upon completion of the operation to free the Belarusian doctors, Dengov was awarded the Certificate of Honor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.

Personal life

Divorced. Raises two kids from the first marriage: son Leonid and daughter Shoshana.
At the moment he is in civil marriage with the lead vocalist fir the group "A-Studio" Keti Topuria.