Alexander Shokhin is the president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) – a lobby group, which promotes the interests of business in Russia. He also chairs the Coordinating Council on Import Substitution and Technological Independence of RSPP. He is former Deputy Chairman of Mechel PAO’s Board of Directors – one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, which generates a source of revenue for the Government of the Russian Federation.
It also shows that he is one of the leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of Russia, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine.
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Shokhin publicly expressed a need to direct more Russian investment to Crimea in order to override a possible economic blockade by the West. On 24 February 2022, Shokhin attended a meeting of leading businesspersons at the Kremlin with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to discuss the impact of the course of action in the wake of Western sanctions. The fact that he was invited to attend that meeting shows that he is a member of the inner circle of leading businesspersons close to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine.