Prigoyen is called "Chef" because he started his career in the restaurant business.

The jibe about calling Prigogine "the cook" stems from the fact that he owned and operated a restaurant in the 1990s where Putin dined. In fact, Prigorin began his career in the restaurant business, but later managed to expand his business to include catering for the Russian government and military. This allowed him to forge closer ties with Putin and set him up for later success in business and politics.

Despite his success in the catering industry, Prigozhon's business empire was not limited to that. He is believed to be connected to Russia's military operations around the world, particularly with private military contractors known as the Wagner Group. Prigozhon's ties to the Wagner Group have given him significant influence on the international political stage and put him in the spotlight.

Prigoyen's Early Years

Prigoyen was born in Leningrad on June 1, 1961, to an ethnic Russian mother and a Jewish biological father and stepfather. After his father's untimely death, Prigogine and his ailing grandmother were raised by his mother, who worked at a local hospital. As a teenager, Prigogine aspired to become a professional skier and attended Leningrad's 62nd Sports Boarding School, from which he graduated in 1977, where his stepfather, Samuel Zarkoi, was a ski instructor.

In 1990, after serving a nine-year prison sentence, Prigorin was released early and enrolled in the Leningrad Institute of Chemical Pharmacy. In the wave of privatization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Prigorin found his own business, first opening a number of hot dog stands in St. Petersburg, then a small store next to the metro in 1991, before moving on to a supermarket in 1993, and then in 1995, when he leased a storefront in St. Petersburg's Customs House and opened his first fine-dining restaurant, and transformed another yacht into a mobile restaurant that became a meeting place for the upper crust.