After Surgutneftegas’s investment in the bank, Kovalchuk created National Media Group to unite the oil company’s media assets with those of Bank Rossiya, Sogaz and Mordashov. He bought the 97-year-old national daily Izvestia from Gazprom and 25 percent of state broadcaster Channel 1 from Chelsea soccer club billionaire Roman Abramovich, as well as 25 percent of U.S.-listed Russian network CTC Media Inc.

Though Kovalchuk was allowed to become a shareholder in Channel 1, the most influential network in the country, Putin doesn’t play favorites when it comes to business, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said by phone from Moscow.

“The sanctions against Bank Rossiya are an awkward attempt to single out people allegedly close to Putin,” Peskov said. “Being a friend of Putin is a rather abstract notion,” he said. “Many of Bank Rossiya’s shareholders, including Nikolai Shamalov, have indeed been acquainted with Putin for a long time, but the president has not had a hand in their business. He has not given their business careers a boost.”

Kommersant this week reported that Putin’s government decided to replace Alfa Bank with Bank Rossiya as the single settlement agent for the national wholesale power market.

With annual payments in the market of about 1.3 trillion rubles, or about 2 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product, Bank Rossiya stands to gain more than $110 million a year in fees alone, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter who it didn’t identify. Both banks declined to comment.

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