Pre-Arrest (1990s – 2007)

Note: Much of the content found on this page has come from the people directly involved in the case, recorded by the Viktor Bout Dot Net team. All other information can be found in the public domain, and the Viktor Bout Dot Net team would like to thank its predecessors for their informative work.

Before his initial arrest in Bangkok, Thailand, Mr. Viktor Bout led a very interesting life. While many of the public domain sources (newspapers,Wikipedia, etc…) shroud these early years in mystery, Mr. Bout´s life was defined by a few, easy-to-understand things:

• Family. Viktor met his wife, Alla, while they were both working in Africa. Later, they lived in the Soviet Union, and the United Arab Emirates, primarily the emirate of Sharjah. Viktor and Alla´s only child, Elizabeth (or Liza), was born in the U.A.E. and attended school here for a time. The family unit stayed together through these moves, and the Bout family remains close. Mrs. Bout spends almost all of her time in Thailand, staying close to her husband and the case. Elizabeth has visited Thailand many times and remains close to the family.

• Linguistic Skills. Viktor had shown an excellence in mastering languages in his early days, and was proficient in languages used in parts of Africa at the time, some African, and others European. Today, Mr. Bout claims fluency in 7 languages. Due to this exceptional skill, Mr. Bout was valued in a variety of places.
• All conversations between Viktor Bout Dot Net and Mr. Bout were carried out in English; he holds a high ability in both listening and speaking, with expressive diction not commonly found in non-native speakers.

• Fall of the Soviet Union. As described by the Bout family, the family had wanted to return to live in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but found that there was a significant absence of work and economic activity in general. Instead of sitting in Russia struggling, the Bout family decided to go to the United Arab Emirates, an emerging economy at the time.

After having held various posts in Africa, Mr. Bout felt comfortable in his ability to do business on the continent. During the 1980s and 1990s, the increasing violence in Africa caused most European and American companies to scale back operations and lower their risk. No one wanted to do business there because of the high level of risk involved in operating in Africa. As happens throughout modern history, during times of instability, investment decreases. Even now, in the country where Mr. Bout is imprisoned (Thailand), the 2010 political instability seriously curbed foreign direct investment and operations there.

Mr. Bout, however, having already spent significant time in Africa, felt confident there. Faced with a terrible economy in Russia and decreasing competition in Africa, Mr. Bout set up a logistics company there. After securing financing for his venture, Mr. Bout purchased cargo planes for use in his transportation operation.

By his own account, Mr. Bout worked long hours establishing his transport business. He saw that if he were to run a successful operation for around 10 years, he would be able  to secure his financial future for his family. Also, Mr. Bout has described to Viktor Bout Dot Net his desire to work in other fields outside business.

Business was not always successful, with some operations generating losses instead of profits. Mr. Bout has mentioned being involved in transport and construction companies. The popular media account of Mr. Bout is that of a privileged mafia-like elite, but Viktor Bout Dot Net has found his story to be quite different. Long hours and postponement of instant gratification seem more likely to characterize Mr. Bout´s past, causing his eventual success.

After moving to the U.A.E. and expanding the transport business, Mr. Bout found that Africa was becoming a ´safer´ place for businesses to operate in, and competition for transport services increased. In turn, Mr. Bout descreased the presence of his operations in Africa, and started concentrating on things in the U.A.E.

In the emirate of Sharjah, where Mr. Bout set up much of his operations, business was moderately successful. However, according to his family,not everything Mr. Bout touched turned to gold. Business was moderately successful, and Mr. Bout´s family enjoyed an upper-middle class lifestyle in Sharjah.

When the time came to move back to Russia, the Bout family had moderate wealth on account of the businesses, and Viktor was ready to move out of full-full time business and into investment and financing operations in Russia. He had spent over a decade working nonstop to build up transport operations and was now ready to spend time with his wife and daughter.

After 2001, there was increased interest in Mr. Bout as the United States´ War on Terror began. Mr. Bout led a quiet life in and around Moscow and St. Petersburg with his family for much of the 2000s and rarely made public statements or appearances. He and his associate Richard Chichakli (who runs the www.victorbout.com website) were blacklisted by the George W. Bush administration because the Bush administration claimed Mr. Bout once had dealings with Charles Taylor of Liberia. No evidence has been produced in support of this claim.

In 2005, the American film ¨Lord of War¨ starring Nicolas Cage, was marketed by the film industry to have been partially based on the life of Mr. Bout.

In 2007, the book ¨Merchant of Death¨ was published by Wiley, supposedly about the exploits of Mr. Bout as a high level arms dealer.

While both the book and the movie have received moderate to intense media attention, no evidence has been shown to support the extreme claims therein. In 2007, Mr Bout´s world was about to change drastically.

. . . Read more in the next section covering the months leading up to the arrest of Mr. Bout.