The Ezhednevnik website has compiled the tops of successful and influential Belarusian businessmen since 2007, and another one has been published today.
For the first time in the first place was an IT businessman - this is 39-year-old Viktor Kisly, founder of Wargaming.net. Last year, Yury Chyzh was in first place.
When compiling the rating, not only the share of Kisloye in the value of the business, which exceeded $3 billion, but also local nuances were taken into account. For example, the compilers of the rating separately indicated that one of the most devoted fans of Wargaming is the youngest son of the president. Together with Viktor Kisly, at the top of the list are his fellow students, owners of 17% of the gaming business, Nikolai Katselapov and Ivan Mikhnevich.
The compilers of the rating also pay attention: “The top-200 project at this stage does not set the task of assessing how much money this or that businessman has. In the conditions of the closed Belarusian economy, this is difficult, controversial and unsafe. The project primarily pursues an educational goal. On the one hand, it promotes recognition of the person, increasing the loyalty of the population to private business in general, on the other hand, it serves as a source of information for potential partners and investors who are going to implement projects in Belarus.”
A bit of envy: the youngest participant in the rating is 28 years old. This is Andrey Shimanovich, who became famous thanks to the mSpy mobile application (tracks telephone traffic). There are only six women in the top 200: Lyudmila Antonovskaya from Polimaster Instruments, Tatyana Krepchuk (Emir Motors, distribution and Toyota car service), Ksenia Shuravko (Onliner), Alma Jauntsemene (Tropinka, Neighbors ”, distribution of vegetables and fruits, Tempo and Vasilki establishments), Svetlana Siparova (“Mark Formel”) and Diana Kurilo-Shigalova (co-owner of the Zhdanovichi trading house).
We will list only the top 30 businessmen, if they do not have a photo, it means that there really are no photos with these people on the Internet. Not everyone has time to update instagram, someone should get into the lists of the most influential entrepreneurs! The entire rating can be viewed in the "Ezhednevnik" - believe me, this is one of the best materials of the year in Belarusian journalism: some interesting facts are reported about each businessman, family ties are indicated and quotes from interviews are written.
1. Victor Sour
Founder and CEO of Wargaming net
2. Vitaly Arbuzov
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fenox Global Group
3. Alexander Moshensky
General Director of JV LLC "Santa Bremor"
4. Pavel Topuzidis
Chairman of the Board of Tabak-Invest LLC
5. Alexander Shakutin
Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Amkodor Holding Management Company, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CJSC Absolutbank
6. Evgeny Baskin
General Director of SZAO Servolux
7. Sergey Litvin
8. Vladimir Vasilko
Member of the Supervisory Board of Eurotorg LLC
9. Alexey Oleksin
Director of CJSC Energo oil, member of the Supervisory Board of CJSC MTBank
10. Alexey Zhukov
CEO of Alutech Group of Companies
11. Vladimir Peftiev
In the past - the majority shareholder of CJSC "Management Company of the Holding "Beltech Holding", ex-chairman of the general meeting of shareholders of CJSC "Beltechexport"
12. Yuri Chizh
General Director of Triple LLC, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of FC Dinamo-Minsk
13. Viktor Petrovich
Director of OOO Tabak-invest
14. Arkady Dobkin
Co-owner, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EPAM Systems Inc.
15. Nikolai Katselapov
16. Ivan Mikhnevich
Co-owner of Wargaming Group Ltd.
17. Nikolai Vorobyov
Co-owner of Interservice LLC, member of the Supervisory Board of CJSC Absolutbank
18. Nikolai Martynov
General Director of LLC Holding Management Company Belarusian Leather and Footwear Company Marko, Member of the Supervisory Board of OJSC Belinvestbank
19. Valentin Baiko
Chairman of the general meeting of participants JLLC Conte Spa
20. Dmitry Baiko
Deputy General Director JLLC Conte Spa
21. Valery Shumsky
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yukola Group of Companies
22. Sergey Savitsky
General Director of LLC International Automobile Holding Atlant-M
23. Oleg Khusaenov
General Director of LLC Zubr Capital, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LLC International Automobile Holding Atlant-M
24. Sergey Levteev
Chairman of the Board of the IBA Group
25. Alexey Vaganov
Co-owner of the Lada OMS Group of Companies, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JV CJSC Unison, Member of the General Meeting of Shareholders of the TDF Ecotech Consortium, Chairman of the Board of CJSC Eight Channel
26. Andrey Pavlovsky
Chairman of the general meeting of participants of LLC Biocom, director of LLC Biocom Invest, member of the supervisory board of OJSC Belinvestbank
27. Sergey Borok
Co-owner of SOOO Zavod Bulbash
28. Anatoly Ternavsky
President of CJSC Transnational Corporation Russian-Ukrainian Oil Society, General Representative of the Univest group of companies in the CIS
29. Andrey Balabin
Chairman of the General Meeting of Shareholders of CJSC Patio
30. Alexander Center
Chairman of the Board of A-100 Group of Companies
Photo: pixabay.com, news.tut.by, by.tribuna.com, peoples.ru, ej.by, bel.biz, tech.onliner.by, newspeak.by, zautra.by
The richest people in Belarus until they reach inclusion by experts in the ratings of the world's rich. The incomes of wealthy Belarusians are significantly lower than their "colleagues" in neighboring countries, but this does not make them less visible figures. Initially, the rich as a class were disliked in this country, so it is not customary to advertise high profits here. Many influential people born in Belarus had to leave the republic and change their citizenship.
Fifth place - Vyacheslav Zarenkov - 0.5 billion dollars
A native of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus. Successfully graduated from the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute:
- candidate of technical sciences;
- Doctor of Economic Sciences;
- PhD in Architecture;
- Professor of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering;
- full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences;
- Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
- author of several patented inventions and monographs;
- author of more than 100 scientific articles;
- honored builder.
From 1973 to 1986, he worked at Glavzapstroy, working his way up from a fitter to the head of department.
Takes part in the construction of more than 100 residential and industrial facilities.
In 1987 he founded and headed CJSC "LenSpetsSMU" (currently a large construction association, which accounts for up to 20% of the total housing construction).
Fourth place - Mikhail Abyzov - 1 billion dollars
M. Abyzov's field - the city of Minsk. He has a reputation as a successful crisis manager, thanks to the settlement of the non-payment crisis in the energy industry. Currently, he holds the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the E4 Group, a leading engineering company that includes 13 holdings. Image is a tough manager.
Previously, he worked as a top manager of RAO UES, responsible for reforming the energy sector.
After leaving RAO, he heads the Kuzbassrazrezugol company, and then starts his own business. The first job is a slinger in a construction team.
- Abyzov is the owner of a controlling stake in Novosibirskenergo, the British Power Fuel, the SibirEnergo holding and several coal mines.
- He is a member of the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a laureate of an award in the field of science and technology.
- He spends his free time in extreme rallies in mountains and deserts (Gobi, Sahara, Karakum, Kyzylkum).
- Married, has a daughter and two sons.
Third place - Dmitry Mazepin - 1.4 billion dollars
Dmitry Mazepin (Minsk, Belarus) is one of the richest people, and at the same time he is completely non-public, so little is known about his personality.
Mazepin received his first leadership position at the age of 28, becoming vice president of the Tyumen Oil Company.
It is in TNCs that the qualities that subsequently led to the formation of their successful business are manifested.
The constantly growing fortune of Mazepin is provided by his holding "Uralchem", specializing in the production of mineral fertilizers. The holding company in the "chemical" sector was formed among the last ones, therefore it has well pressed its competitors.
At some time, it seemed that Mazepin's enterprise would not survive, but today all the difficulties are behind us - the company has excellent results.
The brainchild of the oligarch has excellent prospects, and 12 thousand employees feel great.
Today, Uralchem is the world's second largest producer of ammonium nitrate and carbamide.
From this article you learned about the fortunes of Belarusians, from the link above about Russians, but how many billionaires does Ukraine have? The editors of the site uBiznes.ru found this out and stated in the material
Second place - Andrey Klyamko - 1.9 billion dollars
Co-owner of the Smart Holding group and a private investor. In the mid-90s, together with a partner V. Novinsky, he acquired the Inguletsky GOK, and in March 2011 Smart Holding buys a controlling stake from Regal Petroleum (an English oil and gas company with assets in Ukraine).
A native of Novogrudok (Belarus) is:
- President of the Sambo Federation of St. Petersburg;
- First Vice-President of the International Amateur Sambo Federation (FIAS);
- He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the All-Russian Sambo Federation.
An interesting fact is that Klyamko's assets are concentrated in Ukraine, and his business partner Novinsky is closely connected with the Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. In turn, the Belarusian also runs an agricultural business (Veres and Harwest), has a stake in the port of Ochakovo and a number of shipyards on the Black Sea. In the Crimea, the Klyamko company owns the Balaklava mine administration, the Saki and Evpatoria building materials plants.
First place - Andrey Melnichenko - 11.4 billion dollars
Today is one of the richest people in Belarus. In the early 1990s, a native of Gomel, being a student, decided to open a travel company together with friends. The resulting profit was invested in a new business area at that time - currency exchange. Then it was a profitable occupation, but in 1992 a law was passed prohibiting this type of activity.
To continue the business, Melnichenko decides to open MDM Bank, where he becomes its co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors. Over time, he buys all the shares from partners and takes the post of President of the MDM group.
Unexpectedly, in 2004, the oligarch sells the shares of the bank and is fond of another business (industry), which brings a good income.
The lion's share of profits today comes from OAO SUEK and OAO Eurochem.
In his personal life, Melnichenko is happily married to a former Yugoslav singer who supports him even in the most difficult moments of his life.
Video: Belarus through the eyes of a Russian
After analyzing the data of the first thirty Top-200 businessmen, the journalists drew up a portrait of the average Belarusian rich man.
in the photo (from left to right): Pavel Topuzidis, Alexander Center, Arkady Dobkin
Recall that the editors of the portal have been preparing a list of wealthy people in the country since 2007.
The leader of the fresh rating was 47-year-old Alexander Moshensky - the "dairy king" from Brest, the owner of "Savushkin Product" and "Santa Impex Brest". He moved the country's main "tankman" Viktor Kisly, who had topped the rating for the past two years, from the first place. Now Viktor Kisly is only fourth.
It is not known whether there are dollar billionaires in Belarus like Bill Gates or, at worst, Roman Abramovich. In 2010, the Ukrainian economic magazine Delo named Vladimir Peftiev the richest man in Belarus - according to the magazine, he had a billion dollars.
The current ranking of the "weapon king" is no longer there, but there is Viktor Kisly - in 2016, the authoritative Bloomberg agency called the 39-year-old IT specialist a dollar millionaire - it is he who is at the helm of Wargaming, the very one that created computer "tanchiki". In this year's ranking, Sour takes the fourth place.
After analyzing the data of the first thirty Top 200 businessmen, Komsomolskaya Pravda calculated what a typical Belarusian billionaire looks like. This is a 51-year-old resident of Minsk, who is mainly engaged in real estate, retail or IT, is married, has two children.
Gender: male
Age: 51
We calculated the average age of a Belarusian top entrepreneur simply: we added up the years of life of all businessmen, and divided by their number, by 30.
The youngest participant in the top 30 is 34-year-old IT specialist Viktor Prokopenya (12th place). His company is developing artificial intelligence technologies, augmented reality, and together with Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev, he is engaged in venture investments.
The oldest participant in the top thirty was 62-year-old IT specialist Sergey Levteev (23rd place) - he runs the IBA company, which develops and promotes IT services and products.
Marital status: married, two children
20 of the 30 richest businessmen are married, there is no exact information on ten more. The average number of children per businessman is 2.4. The record holder is Oleg Khusaenov (19th place), who has four sons and a daughter. Alexander Center (8th place), Alexei Zhukov (20th place) and Sergey Gvardeytsev (29th place) have four children.
Place of birth: Minsk
Not all businessmen have data on the place of birth. But in cases where this is known, the majority turned out to be from Minsk, and many from the regions. Although in general the geography is quite wide. For example, Pavel Topuzidis (3rd place) was born in Abkhazia, Alexey Zhukov (20th place) and Sergey Levteev (23rd place) - in Russia, Nikolai Vorobey (17th place) in Ukraine. Oleg Khusaenov (19th place) is a native of Kazakhstan.
Current place of residence: Minsk
The vast majority of businessmen from the top thirty live in the Belarusian capital. Three live and work in Cyprus, two more each in Grodno and Monaco, one businessman each in Luxembourg, Brest, Mogilev, Novopolotsk, Moscow, Prague and Riga.
Education: higher technical
It is known that four of the top thirty businessmen graduated from the Minsk Polytechnic University, now - the Belarusian National Technical University. Six graduated from Belarusian State University - as a rule, physics or mathematics. The education of four more is related to aviation, they studied in Leningrad, Riga and Moscow.
Thus, the education of the majority of the Belarusian rich is higher technical. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, Alexander Shakutin (15th place) is a medical doctor by profession, he graduated from the Minsk Medical Institute. Nikolai Martynov (21st place) majoring in political science - studied at the Institute of Political Science and Social Administration of the Communist Party of the BSSR.
Nikolai Vorobey (17th place) is a historian by profession, and the owner of the Conte Spa plant, Valentin Baiko, is a teacher of elementary grades.
Business start date: 1993
Most of the Belarusian top businessmen began their careers during the collapse of the USSR and in the “dashing nineties”. Sergey Levteev (23rd place) was the first to get his bearings from the top thirty. The 30-year-old electronics engineer started his business at that time in 1985, that is, back in the days of the USSR. In two decades, his company IBA has become one of the most successful software development and distribution businesses in the world.
Business has been actively developing in the Republic of Belarus for the last quarter of a century. Many managed to make a good fortune thanks to entrepreneurial activity. The richest people in Belarus do not try to advertise their own profits, but despite this, it is not difficult to rank people who have a high level of income.
The main profit is brought to him by the tobacco factory Tabak-Invest LLC. In addition to the tobacco factory, Topuzidis is interested in the construction industry and real estate. Pavel Georgievich owns several shopping centers in the country, a network of pharmacies and health centers. There is an elite country club near Minsk, which is also owned by a businessman. Topuzidis' fortune is estimated to be $100 million.
Viktor Shevtsov is the chairman of ZAO Belzarubezhstroy. He also chairs the Supervisory Board of CJSC Trustbank.
Shevtsov started his entrepreneurial activity in 1991. During this time, he managed to earn a decent fortune, which is estimated at $ 100 million. By the way, Shevtsov does not spare money for the construction of churches.
In 1993, Moshensky founded his own business for the supply of frozen fish from European countries. The activity turned out to be very successful, thanks to which the businessman quickly expanded the list of offers for his clients. Today, a small fish trading company has evolved into a food production business. Among other things, Moshensky has a transport company and a chain of restaurants in the country.
The general condition of Alexander Moshensky is equal to 100 million dollars.
Arbuzov founded his business back in 1989 - this is LenSpetsSMU CJSC. Today he holds the position of Chairman of the Board of the Fenox Global Group holding, which manufactures and sells automotive components. Arbuzov also has a construction business, a company that offers international transportation services, and a company that is engaged in innovative medical developments.
Estimation of the businessman's fortune - 200 million USD. Arbuzov is known as a big connoisseur of expensive cars.
Heads the board of directors of the Etalon group of companies. The businessman opened his first company in 1987. Until that time, he worked at Glavzapstroy, where in 13 years he had come a long way from a fitter and completed it as a head of department. Now Zarenkov's field of activity is the construction of industrial and commercial complexes, residential buildings. The businessman has academic degrees, he even patented several of his own inventions.
According to the latest data, the businessman has about $0.5 billion in his accounts. At the same time, Vyacheslav Adamovich transfers significant amounts as assistance to orphanages.
This person is called the youngest millionaire in Belarus. His name is familiar to many network users, since it was Sour who founded the Wargaming company, which introduced World of Tanks to the attention of the players. The company's office is located in Cyprus. In addition to the well-known game, the company is engaged in the production of many other products.
Victor's fortune is more than 1.5 billion dollars.
Katselapov Nikolay
One of the co-founders of Wargaming. It was he who promoted the game on the world market. The general condition of the businessman is more than a billion dollars. Katselapov, like other founders of the company, spends a lot of time in Cyprus, where the office of the creators of World of Tanks is located. But a few years ago, a businessman bought an apartment in the center of Minsk. Housing worth 675 thousand dollars was included in the list of the largest real estate transactions in the Belarusian market. And if we take into account only transactions executed by citizens of the country, then Katselapov was the first to make such an expensive purchase on the real estate market.
At the dawn of the existence of the Republic of Belarus as an independent state, Peftiev also organized his business. In 1993, he was engaged in the sale of weapons that remained on the territory of the country after the collapse of the Union. The business has grown into larger projects. Today Peftiev owns a lottery company and also owns an aircraft factory. In addition, he actively invests in the development of mobile communications and actively supports the development of Internet technologies.
The businessman's fortune is 1 billion dollars.
Melnichenko began working in the field of banking. But soon he sells a quite successful business and reorients himself into the industrial sector. His assets are an electric power company, a coal company. He also owns Elektrokhim OJSC, a plant that is recognized as the largest producer of mineral fertilizers in Europe.
Despite the Russian citizenship, Melnichenko is classified as a Belarusian millionaire in the ratings. His fortune is 11.4 billion dollars. Melnichenko often transfers funds to support sports and education. However, lately the businessman has somewhat lost his position. In the world rankings, he moved from 137th to 139th place.
Minsker Abyzov has a reputation as an excellent anti-crisis manager. He was able to successfully manage default crises in the energy industry. At the moment, Abyzov holds the position of head of the board of directors of the engineering company E4 Group. The company includes 13 holdings and is currently the leading company in this industry.
Mazepin is called one of the richest people in the country. But there is very little information about his personality, since the businessman is a completely non-public person.
The first significant position he is offered at the Tyumen Oil Company. He becomes vice president, and at the time of taking office, Mazepin is only 28 years old. After that, he becomes the general director of Kuzbassugol, then the president of AK Sibur. And after he left the post of president of Sibur, Mazepin refocuses on business in the chemical industry.
Klyamko Andrey
Another completely non-public person among Belarusian millionaires. Klyamko in the mid-90s organized the business group "Smart-Holding". Moreover, even the lack of higher education did not prevent him from successfully doing business.
Today Klimko has Ukrainian citizenship. Its assets are located on the territory of different CIS countries.
Entrepreneurial activity of Yuri Mikhailovich began with the sale of cows. This he began to do immediately after graduation. A little later, in 1992, Chizh refocused and launched the production of building materials.
In 2012, the businessman falls under EU sanctions, the reason being “support for the Lukashenka regime.” Now Chizh is suspected of fraud.
The state of the businessman according to the latest data is 90 million dollars.
In Belarus, it is not uncommon for successful businessmen from the chairs of directors of companies and enterprises to find themselves in a prison cell.
Nasha Niva has collected the most high-profile cases of recent years:
Evgeny Shigalov
The owner of the Zhdanovichi market, Yevgeny Shigalov, was detained in April 2008. He was held under the criminal article 424 part 3 "Abuse of power or official authority."
Shigalov at that time had health problems, so the family actively lobbied for the release of the businessman with a request to let him go for an operation in London. As a result, Shigalov was released on bail in the amount of $4.5 million. Later, Shigalov also paid another $40 million as compensation for damage to the state. In October 2009, Lukashenka released Shigalov from criminal responsibility. Two years ago, Yevgeny Shigalov passed away at the age of 61.
Victor Shevtsov
This "oligarch" was taken into custody in October 2011. Shevtsov implemented projects related to Venezuela. He owned the Belzarubezhstroy company, as well as Trustbank. The company was engaged in construction projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Korea. He was personally acquainted with Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Hugo Chavez.
Lukashenka reacted to the initiation of the case in the following way: “If he doesn’t pay money, he will be in prison.” Moreover, the head of state said that Shevtsov should pay two or three times the amount. Shevtsov was accused of embezzling $10 million. In December 2012, the businessman was amnestied.
Yuri Dankov
The owner of the Dankov Club entertainment facility was arrested right at his workplace in September 2012. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison by the Moscow District Court of Minsk, which he is still serving. A number of charges were brought against Dankov, from tax evasion to involvement in prostitution.
Dankov tried to run for the presidency of Belarus in 2001, but did not collect the required 100,000 signatures.
Vitaly Kostogorov
A member of the Council of the Republic, businessman Kostogorov had Russian citizenship, and also owned luxury real estate in Moscow. His apartment in the Russian capital was valued at $1.5 million.
Kostogorov headed Politex CJSC in Mogilev, which was engaged in the manufacture of "environmentally friendly modern non-woven materials for the textile, light, furniture, and automotive industries."
In the summer of 2014, Vitaly Kostogorov was detained by the Belarusian special services. He was accused of tax evasion. The businessman was released on December 30, 2014, after he paid 340 thousand euros. After that, they stopped talking about the criminal case.
Anna Shareiko
Shareiko, like Vitaly Kostogorov, was a member of the upper house of parliament. She headed the Vitebsk Broiler Poultry Farm.
She was stripped of her parliamentary immunity. Right now there is a trial in the Supreme Court. Anna Shareiko and Valdemaras Norkusu, the supplier of feed for her enterprise, are being tried at the same time. On March 15, it turned out that the defendants had filed an application with the registry office. Shareiko strongly denies allegations of corruption.
Vladimir Yaprintsev
The right hand of Yuri Chizh, the head of the Judo and Sambo Federation, Vladimir Yaprintsev was considered one of the richest people in the country. He ended up behind bars in August 2015. Together with him, his son Kazbek was arrested. The head of the KGB, Valery Vakulchik, said that Yaprintsev was accused of fraud. According to the unofficial version, Yaprintsev tried to withdraw capital from Belarus. He continues to be in jail under investigation.
Andrey Pavlovsky
One of the most successful businessmen in the Grodno region, the owner of the Biokom company, Andrey Pavlovsky, is accused of tax evasion in the amount of about $8 million. Pavlovsky spent less than a month in the pre-trial detention center, and is currently under house arrest.
Yuri Chizh
The most famous businessman in Belarus is not the first time in jail. Chyzh was already detained in May 2007 in the case of the general director of Belneftekhim, Borovsky. However, everyone learned about that case after the fact.
Now everyone knew about Chyzh's arrest on the same day. Chyzh built a powerful Triple business empire, which was engaged in oil products and construction. They say that recently the businessman experienced financial difficulties. Chizh was closely acquainted with Alexander Lukashenko. Since March 11, he has been held in the KGB pre-trial detention center.
Evgeny Baskin
Baskin is in the top 10 richest people in Belarus. In the Mogilev region, there was no one at all who could compare with Baskin. He built his business on chicken and feed. Everyone in the country knows his brands Grill Brothers and Petrukha. Baskin was detained on March 14. So far, the security forces have not given information about what exactly Yevgeny Baskin is accused of.
