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Sergey Kislov Forbes. Success story of Sergei Kislov: business as usual for the creator of the Golden Seed brand

Sergey Kislov comes from a family of teachers and graduated from the Faculty of Physics of the Russian State University. He started a business from scratch by processing grain into flour and exporting sunflower seeds abroad. In 1992 he registered the company “Yug Rusi”, and in 1998 he launched the first oil extraction enterprise in the Russian Federation. In 2003, the corporation owned 45% of the Russian vegetable oil market. In 2005, the businessman launched an oil refining plant, and by 2010 he organized 20 profitable farms in the countryside. He is the author of the Golden Seed brand, which by 2017 was ranked 153rd in the ranking of the richest entrepreneurs in Russia according to Forbes.

FULL NAME: Kislov Sergey Vasilievich
Date of Birth: December 7, 1960
Education: Faculty of Physics, Rostov State University
Date of start of business activity/age: 1992, 32 years old
Type of activity at start: subsidiary agriculture
Current activity: food production
Current Status (2017, Forbes):$650 million

Is it possible to go from a simple worker to the chairman of the Agro-Industrial Union of Russia? How to start with buying 2 tons of grain and in a couple of decades get into the Forbes rating? Is it possible to create a huge business empire without money and connections?

Sergey Vasilievich Kislov is a Russian entrepreneur who created a business based on oil and turned it into a powerful diversified corporation. He successfully realized his entrepreneurial talent in those industries that others seemed to be obviously failures. In 2017, his fortune was estimated by Forbes at $650 million.

Figure 1. Dynamics of S. Kislov’s fortune in 2011-2017, million dollars.
Source: Forbes

The businessman’s success story is unique: coming from a family of Rostov teachers, a physicist by first education, Sergei Kislov consistently, patiently and purposefully created “products for people.” Through hard work, he strengthened his entrepreneurial spirit and developed his leadership talent.

“The head of an economy is a person who can manage everything - an oil refinery, a port, and a transport enterprise... He personifies central power.”

In 1992, together with his secretary, he organized a small company “Yug Rusi” for processing grain into flour. By 2016, it had grown into a large corporation, with a turnover exceeding $60 billion a year and a workforce of 14 thousand people.

In 2016 alone, he increased his fortune by $50 million. His huge business empire includes a variety of assets: agricultural farms, an elevator, a cannery, a press-forging plant, production of corrugated cardboard for boxes and corks, a printing house for printing labels, a port, a bakery, an oil refinery, a boutique wine restaurant and even its own racetrack.

Figure 2. At the awarding of the Order “For Merit to the Rostov Region”, 2014.
Source: AiF

The core of his business is the production of vegetable oil of the Zolotaya Semechka, Avedov, Zlato, and Milora brands.

In 2014, Sergey Kislov was awarded the Order of Merit for the Rostov Region, which confirmed his work aimed at developing production, creating jobs and supporting rural areas in this region of Russia.

Was the path to success for an oilseed millionaire easy? Brief biography of agro-industrial tycoon Sergei Kislov and the stages of creating his business empire:

Education, career and first steps of Sergei Kislov in business

The story of the Russian billionaire, “oil tycoon” Sergei Kislov began in an ordinary way: he was born on December 7, 1960 in Rostov-on-Don into a family of Soviet teachers. Behind his calm demeanor was hidden a strong masculine character, which was destined to play a role in the development of an outstanding businessman.

After graduating from mathematical school No. 5, he chooses the profession of physicist and enters Rostov State University. While still a student, Sergei began working part-time as a worker at the Rostov improvement plant, and later received a position as a foreman. The diligent specialist was noticed:

1985 - he is appointed deputy director of the Soyuzenergoavtomatika pilot plant;
1988 - he receives the position of head of the subsidiary farm of the Rostov port.

Figure 3. As head of the subsidiary farm of the Rostov port, 1989.
Source: Publishing House "Peasant"

Leadership positions show the insufficiency of higher education in the field of physics: in 1986 he entered the Higher Economic Courses at the University of Natural Sciences (Rostov-on-Don).

“Managing a horse is a lot like managing a team. I loosened the reins - the horse was playing around, made a sudden movement - the horse did not understand, it bolted. In a team, in the same way, you can’t make any sudden movements: people work there with their own moods, life principles, foundations. The horse should not be pinched, and at the same time it should not be left without constant attention.”

In 1992, he embarked on the path of creating his own business. In these difficult times, the chance of organizing a serious business for a person without solid start-up capital and connections was close to zero. Kislov understood this, but did not back down and registered the company “Yug Rusi” for the production of flour.

Having bought 2 tons of grain and paid for its grinding, Sergey and his secretary sold the finished product for $400. With the proceeds, they managed to buy and process 3 tons of grain... This was the beginning of a progression that steadily led to significant financial results.

Figure 4. At the elevator.
Source: DonNews

“Then, in 1992, a company was organized that purchased grain from peasants, processed it into flour in foreign mills and supplied it to many regions of Russia and the republics of the former USSR. This is where the activities of the Yug Rusi group of companies began.

In parallel with the flour milling business, opportunities opened up in another agricultural sector - sunflower processing. Initially, the seeds were bought from peasants and exported through two of their own port terminals - in Rostov and in the Caucasus.

In 1997, the Yug Rusi company took first place in the export of sunflower seeds. However, the price of the product fluctuated significantly (up to 50-70%), there were export quotas, and shipment could be arranged in only three Russian ports. The time has come for decisive action...

“South of Russia” - millions in oil

In 1998, Sergei Kislov, using investor funds and bank loans, collected a record amount of $45 million to purchase a sunflower oil production line from the Belgian company De Smet Engineers & Contractors. This was a risky step - after the collapse of the USSR, there was not a single enterprise for processing sunflower seeds in the country.

The plant was launched in 1999. It was Sergei Kislov who came up with the idea of the brand name “Golden Seed”.

Figure 5. Best product of 2017.
Source: Agro-TV

“A brand is an emotion. The buyer needs specific information: a large sunflower and an unambiguous phrase - golden seed.”

In just 3 years, Yug Rusi captured up to 45% of the Russian bottled vegetable oil market. What is the reason for such an accelerated pace of development?

Its cost turned out to be 2 times less than imported analogues.
The peroxide number, the maximum limit value of which is 10, was brought to 1 in the South of Rus' oil.

“You always need to monitor quality. Quality at any cost. The product must be for people. We make oil for the people - high-quality and affordable.”

Purchases of raw materials began to be carried out not only from small peasant farms, but also from large agricultural enterprises, such as, for example, Yuri Roshkovan’s Agro World.

Figure 6. President of the company "South of Russia".
Source: Kommersant

In 2005, Sergey Kislov undertook the expansion of his business: next to the old plant, he began to build a new enterprise for the production of sunflower oil. The Yug Rusi plant complex was recognized as one of the largest in Europe.

In 2006, the entrepreneur decided to purchase 5 oil factories in the Voronezh region and Krasnodar region "Rusagro". The assets of the “South of Russia” included such oilseed brands as “Avedov”, “Zlato”, “Milora”.

Today, the agricultural union “South of Rus'” of Kislov is the undisputed leader in the Russian vegetable oil market, processing up to 2.5 million sunflower seeds per year.

Kislov Sergey Vasilievich - President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of APG "Yug Rusi". Chairman of the Agro-Industrial Union of Russia, Chairman of the All-Russian Agro-Industrial Association of Employers, Chairman of the Union of Vegetable Oil Producers, Honorary Consul of France in the south of Russia. Representative of Rostov-on-Don in the legislative branch (in the upper house of parliament). Member of the working group of the State Council of the Russian Federation on problems of development of the agro-industrial complex under the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Vice-President of the Association of Soap and Oil and Fat Products Manufacturers of the Russian Federation. Member of the presidium of the all-Russian public organization “Russian Agrarian Movement - RAD”.

Assets

Sergei Kislov's main assets are concentrated:

in the agro-industrial complex (APG "Yug Rusi").

State

Takes 99th place in the ranking of the Russian-language version of Forbes “Russia’s Richest Businessmen - 2012”. Sergei Kislov's fortune is estimated at 1 billion 290 million dollars, becoming the only dollar billionaire in the Don. He took 154th place in the ranking of the Russian-language version of Forbes “Russia’s Richest Businessmen - 2011”. Sergei Kislov's fortune is estimated at $600 million.

Biography

Education

1978 - graduated from secondary mathematical school No. 5 in Rostov-on-Don.

1983 - graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Rostov State University with a degree in Physics.

1986 - graduated from the Higher Economic Courses at the University of Natural Sciences (Rostov-on-Don) with a degree in Economist.

Science degree

1998 - Candidate of Economic Sciences.

Career

1983-1985 - worker, foreman of the regional improvement plant (Rostov-on-Don).

1985-1988 – Deputy Director of the Soyuzenergoavtomatika pilot plant (Rostov-on-Don).

1988-1991 - Head of auxiliary agriculture of the Rostov port.

1992 - began working in companies that later became the basis of the Yug Rusi APG.

1992 - founded the APG "Yug Rusi".

1992-1993 – Deputy Chairman of the cooperative “Universal” (Rostov-on-Don).

1993 - manager of the experimental agriculture "Ornamental Crops".

1993-1995 - Director of the industrial and commercial company "Salut" (Rostov-on-Don).

1995-1997 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the interregional consumer union "South of Russia".

1998 - General Director of APG “Yug Rusi”, member of the boards of directors of companies that are part of APG “Yug Rusi”.

2007 – elected head of the Agro-Industrial Union of Russia.

Social and political activities

March 2006 - elected senator from the Rostov region, but the speaker of the Federation Council did not confirm his powers.

June 2007 - elected Honorary Consul of France in the Southern Federal District.

Member of the presidium of the all-Russian public organization “Russian Agrarian Movement - RAD”.

Sergey Kislov has implemented a number of investment projects totaling more than 30 billion rubles, including one of the largest investment projects in the south of Russia, implemented in 2009, the Novoshakhtinsky Oil Products Plant.

Awards

Order of Honor;

medals of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, I and II degrees;

silver medal named after Vavilov “For contribution to the development of biology and agriculture”;

gold medal “For contribution to the development of the agro-industrial complex of Russia”;

French orders Chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite Agricole and Officier de l'Ordre du Merite Agricole.

Laureate of the National Prize named after. Peter Stolypin.

Knight of the Order of the French Government "For Merit in the Field of Agriculture". .

Hobbies

Yoga, horse riding.

Family status

Married, three children.

Notes

1.0 1.1 The Don has its own Khodorkovsky
2.0 2.1 Richest businessmen in Russia - 2011
3.0 3.1 Sergey Kislov – South of Rus' and Golden Seed – a success story
Sergey Kislov, president of the Yug Rusi company: “According to the rules of the Russian language, the oil should have been called “Golden Seed”, but people found the slang name for sunflower seeds closer - “seed”
Sergey Kislov was elected as the new chairman of the Agro-Industrial Union of Russia
Sergey Kislov

RISKS&CLAIMS-2017. Insurance risk assessment and loss settlement

The conference is organized by the National Association of Insurance Adjusters (NASA). Thematic section: “Loss settlement: modern challenges and future solutions.” Partner Sergey Kislov, speaker of the section. Moscow, Metropol, 09/20/2017.

RISKS&CLAIMS-2017. Insurance risk assessment and loss settlement

"Companies"

"South of Rus'", Rosagroleasing

"Ratings"

"News"

"Solar Products" and "Yug Rusi" suspended the merger of holdings

The companies "Solar Products" and "Yug Rusi" stopped negotiations on the creation of a united company. This is stated in a joint statement of the holdings received by RBC.

“Solar Products” is part of the Buket Group of Companies owned by Vladislav Burov, “Yug Rusi” belongs to businessman Sergei Kislov. According to the Vedomosti newspaper, both companies are leaders in the fat and oil market: Yug Rusi produced 27% of all sunflower oil in Russia in 2016, Solnechnye Produkty - 2.3%.

SPIEF-2017 participants continue to arrive in Pulkovo

SPIEF: Omskneftekhimproekt wants to enter Sakhalin Energy with the Koreans

Also, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, ONHP intends to conclude a major agreement with the Yug Energo group of billionaire Sergei Kislov.
Today, June 2, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, General Director of ONHP PJSC Igor Zuga signs two agreements with new partners.

THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA HAS REACHED KHERSON

Description of the transaction: In June, the AMCU agreed on a transaction for the purchase of Yug Agroleasing LLC (RF) of the assets of the WJ Group agricultural group - the Valuysky and Chernyansky vegetable oil plants in the Belgorod region (the total capacity of this production is 15 million liters of oil per month), as well as the brand "Milora" and other assets in other CIS countries, including Ukraine. The transaction amount is not disclosed. The turnover of the entire WJ Group in 2007 (there are no later data) was about $700 million. The main owner of the WJ Group is entrepreneur Yuri Drukker. "Yug Agroleasing" is part of "Yug Rusi", whose owner is Sergey Kislov. In Ukraine, WJ Group owns a grain trading business, and also owns OJSC Kherson Bread Products Plant (in 2010, turnover was 150 million UAH).
link: http://pr-z.com.ua/krupneyshie-sdelki-nedeli-yaytsa

“The freebie will end soon”

The President inquired about the state of affairs in agriculture. The governors suggested that he develop the agricultural industry using “resource-saving technologies”, reduce taxes and support “technical re-equipment” projects. Agricultural producers, however, are more concerned about high interest rates on loans and the high cost of imported agricultural machinery.

The farmers, however, prepared other recipes for the president. At a meeting before the State Council meeting, the head of the Orbita rural production cooperative, Vadim Schneider, complained to Putin that “previously, the farmer was given a loan at 5-6% per annum, but now the rates have increased to 16%,” and “30% import duties on agricultural machinery are not they allow us to buy high-quality imported cars.” The head of the Kazminsky cooperative, Alexander Shumsky, proposed providing “free subsidies” to regions with “difficult natural and climatic conditions.” And the president of the Yug Rusi agricultural holding, Sergei Kislov, complained that Brazil had “closed the import of Russian wheat” and asked for support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
link: http://kompromat.flb.ru/material1.phtml?id=6867

Sergey Kislov became the richest businessman in the Don

In mid-February, Finance magazine published a list of the 500 richest people in Russia, whose wealth exceeds 3.3 billion rubles. As always, there were few businessmen from the Rostov region - this time only five. The highest position of all Don entrepreneurs in this ranking is occupied by the owner of the Yug Rusi agricultural holding SERGEY KISLOV, who is placed on line 213 with a fortune of 11.5 billion rubles. He is followed, in 282nd place, by State Duma deputy, founder of the Agrocom group IVAN SAVVIDI, whose capital was estimated by Finance magazine at 8.2 billion rubles. At 294 positions with 7.6 billion rubles, the founder and main owner of Gloria Jeans is VLADIMIR MELNIKOV. The owner of the Aston holding, VADIM VIKULOV, is ranked 306th with a fortune of 7 billion rubles. The last (and youngest) among the Don businessmen included in this list was the main shareholder of the Valars agricultural trading group, Taganrog resident KIRILL PODOLSKY. Finance analysts estimated his fortune at 6.4 billion rubles. It is worth noting that only two Rostovites were present in the 2008 ranking - Ivan Savvidi and Vadim Vikulov. According to Finance, their wealth almost tripled in 2009.

On February 3, the Novoshakhtinsky plant, owned by the diversified company Yug Rusi, suspended its production activities. Rostechnadzor canceled the license previously issued to OJSC NZNP for the operation of explosive production facilities. The plant's management challenged this decision in Moscow arbitration. A hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for March 16. According to market participants, downtime of an enterprise can lead to losses of 1 billion rubles per month.

Last week, the first results of an inspection of dealer companies included in the sales holding of OJSC AvtoVAZ - OJSC Lada-Service became known. In 2009, the automaker discovered a shortage of 6,385 cars totaling more than 1.4 billion rubles. and contacted law enforcement agencies. Among the dealers caught in illegal trade were OJSC Rostov-Lada and Kuban-Lada.
An audit carried out by the Department for Economic Crimes of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Rostov Region found that at OJSC Rostov-Lada, from September 2007 to May 2008, cars were sold using a cash register that was not registered with the tax authorities and double-entry bookkeeping. The press service of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate reports that in September 2009 alone, more than 50 cases of illegal sales were registered.
link: http://dkvartal.ru/rostov/ magazines/dk-rostov/2010/n04/ sergejj_kislov_stal_samym_ bogatym_biznesmenom_na_donu

200 richest businessmen in Russia
link: http://www.compromat.ru/page_ 30682.htm

Seed of Discord

The deal between senators Vadim Moshkovich and Sergei Kislov, as a result of which the Yug Rusi holding should receive the oil and fat enterprises of Rusagro, may drag on. As Vedomosti learned, the Cypriot offshore Antanta Investments Ltd is trying to challenge the additional issue of shares of the oil and fat plant (MZhK) Krasnodarsky. This company is located at the same address as the Antanta Capital investment company, owned by Arkady Gaydamak’s son Alexander.

The largest co-owner of the Rusagro group is Senator Vadim Moshkovich. Its subsidiary, Rusagro-Maslo, until recently controlled six oil and fat enterprises. The largest co-owner of the Yug Rusi holding, according to market participants, is Senator Sergei Kislov. The holding is the largest producer of bottled oil. In recent months, five Rusagro-Maslo enterprises, including the Krasnodarsky MZhK, have come under the control of Yuga Rusi.
link: http://www.compromat.ru/page_ 19271.htm

President of the company "Yug Rusi":

Over the 18 years of its history, the Yug Rusi company, created by Sergei Kislov, has gone from a company with a staff of two people to one of the largest agro-industrial holdings in the country and in Europe, which is a vertically integrated structure and includes dozens of areas. And the Golden Seed oil has become an indispensable attribute on the table not only of Russians, but also of residents of many other countries. On December 7, Sergei Kislov turned 50 years old. On the eve of his anniversary, Sergei Vasilyevich met with a 161.ru correspondent. It was about both the present day and the history of the “South of Rus'”.

– Sergey Vasilyevich, was it easy to take the first steps towards creating the “South of Rus'”? How it all began?

– It was 1992. After the collapse of the USSR, economic ties between enterprises from its former republics were also disrupted. Including between bakeries in Transcaucasia and large flour mills in Russia, which traditionally supplied them with flour. Then a company was created that laid the foundation for “South of Rus'”. She purchased grain from farmers in the South of Russia, processed it on a toll basis into flour and sent it to Transcaucasia. The first batches were very small, since our turnover at the beginning was only a thousand dollars! There was life, and there were life principles that provided the foundation for further development. At first we were called “South of Russia”, then renamed to “South of Rus'”. Then we became the largest supplier of flour to Azerbaijan, and international contracts began to trust us. And we saw: where there is grain, there is a seed. At that time, the seed was not grown in such large quantities. There were no major sales of it, and we decided to give it a go.

In 1994 we built our own small pier, although no one believed that this was possible under the conditions of that time. And this pier became a catalyst for business; in two years we came out on top in the export of oilseeds. But when trading oilseeds, the terms were dictated by the buyer. And the buyer did not always behave correctly. There were cases when our cargo arrived, for example, in Turkey under a concluded contract. But the buyer did not unload it and began to bargain. And these cases happened all the time. Then it became clear that it was necessary to build our own oil refinery. They built it in less than a year. This radically changed the situation on the oil market. Before this, Russia imported one million tons of oil and exported most of the seeds. We began to provide the country with high-quality oil ourselves. With the launch of the Yug Rusi plant, Russian oilseeds began to be processed within the country. A stable domestic demand was created for the villagers. As a result, over the past 10 years, Russia has begun to grow three times more oilseeds.
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