Shortly after his birth, the family moved to the city of Kyzyl in the Tuva Region, which is situated in the far south of Siberia.

From 1993 to 1998, he was Head of the Presidential Property Management Department of the Russian Federation.

According to the investigative journalist Jake Bernstein (2019),[clarification needed] in that role Borodin signed a contract with a Swiss to renovate the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Other contracts followed, as well as around $30 million on kickbacks that Borodin distributed to friends and fellow officials, including to then-president Boris Yeltsin (p. 92).

In 2002, his case was closed and the bond was returned while further details are not disclosed.