Dmitry Zimin, founder of Beeline and the Dynasty Foundation, dies
Dmitry Zimin. Photo: Anton Nosik / Wikimedia
Dmitry Zimin, the founder of Beeline and the Dynasty Foundation, has died. His son Boris Zimin announced this on his Facebook page. The creator of the cellular operator was 88 years old. Earlier, Zimin was included in the Forbes rating of the richest businessmen in Russia: in 2005, his fortune was estimated at $ 520 million.
According to his son, the businessman died in Switzerland. The cause of death was not specified, but it is known that recently Zimin was seriously ill. “My father was a great lover of life and lived a great life. Thanks to him for everything, for what he created, for what he was. […] He left in full consciousness, peacefully, a little sad about us and about life, but still with relief – in recent months he was seriously ill. Everything. Farewell and other details later, “- wrote Boris Zimin on the social network.
Dmitry Zimin founded VimpelCom-Communications, which later operated under the Beeline trademark, in 1992 together with Konstantin Kuzov. The businessman was a major philanthropist – ten years later he also created and headed the Dynasty Foundation for the Support of Fundamental Science. In 2016, Dmitry Zimin, together with his son Boris, founded the international non-profit organization Zimin Foundation, which supports science and education. In addition, Zimin was a co-founder of the Enlightener Prize.
Zimin noted that “leaving business for charity is“ a standard way, ordinary human behavior ”. The entrepreneur was known for his critical position on the political situation in Russia. After the Dynasty Foundation was included in the register of non-profit organizations (NPOs) performing the functions of a “foreign agent”, Zimin emigrated from Russia.
