Nikolay Verner Former deputy governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Country: Russia

Biography of Nikolai Werner

Nikolai Werner, a former deputy governor of the Krasnoyarsk Region, was born in 1969 in a large family. He has two brothers and two sisters. According to him, his maternal grandfather is the brother of Isaac Asimov. Werner considers himself to be an Orthodox Christian.

He completed his education at a medical school, a university in the United States, and the Moscow Institute of Economics and Finance through distance learning. After finishing medical school, he worked in an ambulance service. He served in the Air Force in Kazakhstan during his military service.

In 1989, he left the USSR and claimed that he went to the United States for studies. Since he traveled through Israel, he obtained Israeli citizenship and changed his surname to Werner. Another version states that he changed his mother's surname, Novikov, to his father's surname, Werner, in the autumn of 1998 due to the loss of his passport. In 1992, he returned to Tiraspol, where he established a private commercial firm. It was during this time that he met A. Lebed, although he repeatedly denied providing any financial assistance to the commander of the 14th Army.

Since September 1998, Werner has been the leader of the All-Russian Youth Movement "Lebed". In January 1999, he was appointed as the acting deputy head of the administration for social issues of the Krasnoyarsk Region by Lebed. Werner was also entrusted with the responsibility of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Press and Information Management and the Krasnoyarsk State Television and Radio Company.

When Werner was appointed, Anatoly Bykov, a deputy of the Krasnoyarsk Region Legislative Assembly, stated that Werner's real surname was Novikov and that he was known for his banking schemes in Transnistria at the time when General Lebed served there. According to Kommersant, Werner was indeed one of the organizers of the so-called National Bank of Transnistria, when Lieutenant General Lebed commanded the 14th Army. The bank collapsed shortly after its creation and left depositors owed $5 million.

Later, Werner was appointed as the deputy governor of the Krasnoyarsk Region for operational issues. On February 3, 1999, the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs published a report revealing that Werner held dual citizenship (Israeli). An anonymous letter from a political assassin was published in the Literary Newspaper (January 19-25, 2000, No. 3), claiming that he had allegedly been ordered by Werner to assassinate the chairman of the regional electoral commission, Georgy Kostrykin, in order to frame Anatoly Bykov.

In September 2000, Werner resigned from his position as deputy head of the administration. The resignation was accepted. On August 7, 2001, the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnoyarsk Region announced the initiation of criminal cases against the mayor of Kansk, Sergey Gurov, and the head of the Main Food Resources Management of the regional administration, Alexander Boychenko. The prosecutor's investigation revealed that Gurov and Boychenko illegally transferred over $1 million abroad. The recipient of these funds was Werner.

On December 21, 2001, the ORT channel aired a program dedicated to the illegal activities of Gurov, Boychenko, and Werner. Werner is fluent in Ukrainian, English, and German. His hobbies include sports (he has a first-class swimming certificate and a candidate for master of sports in boxing), collecting, and music. He is married and has two sons.