Ilim smushkin group. Farewell to the forest king

Zakhar Smushkin is one of the richest businessmen in Russia, heading the largest timber company in the country. Smushkin is a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of the Ilim group, whose enterprises today produce most of all Russian pulp and cardboard.

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin was born on January 23, 1962 in the cultural capital of Russia in an intelligent family. The childhood of a businessman was spent in Leningrad, where Zakhar graduated from high school and received a higher education. In his youth, the future businessman studied diligently and did not cause trouble for his parents.

Having received a certificate of secondary education, Smushkin entered the Leningrad Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry, studying in which determined the future field of activity of a businessman. Smushkin was a talented student, so in 1984, after graduating from the university, he decided to continue his studies in graduate school, from which he graduated as a candidate of technical sciences.

At that time, Zakhar Davidovich also received his first professional experience in the paper industry, as he combined his postgraduate studies with work at the NPO Gidrolizprom, where he held the position of a researcher. Already in the early 90s, Smushkin received leadership position in the Soviet-Swedish enterprise "Technoferm-Engineering", which marked the beginning of a brilliant career as a businessman.

Business

The biography of Zakhar Smushkin as a businessman dates back to 1992, when, at the time of the collapse of the USSR, Smushkin, together with fellow students Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich, decided to create the Ilim Pulp Enterprise, which exported paper products abroad.

Having earned the first capital, Zakhar Davidovich began to invest in the development of his own small enterprise at that time, turning the company into the largest timber holding, which includes 30 Russian logging companies. In the first 8 years, the businessman managed to head the Kotlassk PPM, Bratsk LPK and Ust-Ilimsk Timber Industry Concern, which, thanks to his hard work and professionalism, became the largest enterprises in the Russian pulp and paper industry.

Creating the largest vertically-integrated timber industry corporation in Russia, Zakhar Smushkin developed his business in the field of trade. He founded the Domovoy supermarket chain in St. Petersburg, which sells household goods and small household appliances... In addition, the "forest tycoon" became a member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, where he headed the commission on the timber industry complex and forestry Russia.

The main achievement of Smushkin in his business is the stability and development of the Ilim holding, which in the conditions of the economic crisis was able to maintain the scale of production. At the end of 2015, the corporation's revenue was almost $ 2 billion, taking into account a decrease in revenues by 9.7%.

In addition to the timber industry, Smushkin is engaged in construction. The businessman heads the company "Start Development", which is currently building the satellite city "Yuzhny" in St. Petersburg. The city will be located on the border of the Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg and the Gatchinsky district Leningrad region... The master plan of the South was developed by foreign companies Urban Design Associates (USA) and Gillespies (Great Britain).

Future buildings will be located on 5.3 million square meters of land, 4 million of which will go to residential buildings for 134 thousand people. In addition to housing itself, the city plan also includes infrastructure buildings. In 2013, a development plan was announced, which was announced by Yuri Bakey, director of the Research Institute of the General Plan of St. Petersburg. The plan includes 27 schools, 10 sports and entertainment centers, 12 medical centers, 58 kindergartens.

In 2015, there was fresh news about the progress of the construction of the city of Yuzhny. Smushkin's company "Start Development" signed with the American corporation IBM, engaged in the production and supply of hardware and software, a memorandum on the implementation of the urban concept "Smart City" during the construction of the South. This concept consists in the integration of the Internet of Things and a number of other communication and information technologies into the city management system.

The agreement was signed at the annual major business event called the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The difference between this satellite city will be that such innovative and innovative solutions are introduced into the functioning of the city immediately at the planning stage, which allows not to recycle the infrastructure for new technologies, and also makes the city project the most attractive for investors.

Managing to clearly manage the business, Zakhar Davidovich did not leave his scientific activity... The businessman is an Honorary Professor of the State Technological University of Plant Polymers in St. Petersburg and an Honorary Doctor of Sciences at the St. In addition, Zakhar Smushkin was appointed a member of the Supervisory Board of the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics.

Personal life

The personal life of Zakhar Smushkin, like most of Russia's largest businessmen, is not paraded in front of the public. It is known that the businessman has achieved success in family life - Smushkin has a wife and a businessman is raising a son.

In addition to the development of the timber industry in Russia, Zakhar Davidovich is fond of chess and tennis. He is also interested in painting - he owns a gorgeous collection of the late 19th - early 20th centuries of famous artists, among whom the businessman singles out.

Zakhar Smushkin now

At the end of 2016, an art exhibition opened in the arena of the Small Hermitage, exhibiting works from the private collection of Zakhar Smushkin. The exhibition was named “Perfection in details. Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (1868 - 1912) ”and included works of decorative and applied art. These are 700 items from the specified era. The materials of execution varied and included metals with different processing techniques, ceramics, as well as decorating with enamels and varnishes.

The reason for the exhibition was the completion of the collection. The billionaire considers his own Japanese collection complete, and any completed item should be shown to the public, the businessman believes. For Zakhar Smushkin himself, collecting art is a spiritual necessity. According to the billionaire, if Smushkin ceases to be interested in culture and immerses himself only in the material business, then he becomes an overly pragmatic and cynical person. Also for a businessman, art is a way of knowing the world.

At the same time, the businessman himself for the first time, in his own words, finally saw the exhibits of the art collection in full dress and exhibited in all their splendor. Zakhar Smushkin hadn't even seen some of the objects before, since the collection items were stored in a specialized warehouse.

In addition, it is known that the businessman also has a collection of Russian art from the second half of the XIX- early XX centuries and contemporary art. The businessman also admitted to reporters that in the future he plans to advance even further in the cultural sphere and even open a full-fledged private museum. Smushkin does not even doubt that the museum will appear in the famous project of a businessman - the city of Yuzhny, but in parallel with this, the billionaire is negotiating with the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko to create a new large museum of contemporary art inside St. Petersburg.

Condition assessment

In the same 2016, Zakhar Smushkin took the sixth place in the ranking of billionaires of Delovoy Petersburg. The Gorod magazine also included the billionaire in the rating of the most influential businessmen of St. Petersburg, and Zakhar Smushkin annually enters the top ten, and in 2013 and 2014 he even headed this list.

After graduation, he worked at the specialized research institute "VNIIgidroliz".

Zakhar Smushkin, together with the Zingarevich brothers, founded Ilim Pulp Enterprise in 1992, which at first worked as an exporter of pulp and paper products, and then became a large manufacturer.

Until 2001 - General Director, and from 2001 to 2007 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC. Supervised the creation of the largest vertically integrated forestry corporation in Russia.

In 2006, half of the company was sold to the American International Paper. With the proceeds from the sale of Ilim, Zakhar Smushkin began to develop the Start DIY store chain, which was then reformatted into the Domovoy chain. In addition, in 2007 Smushkin founded the Start Development company, which later became one of the largest landowning companies in the North-West.

Since July 2007 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Ilim Group.

Member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Chairman of the RSPP Commission on Forestry and Timber Industry, Member of the Council for the Development of the Forestry Complex Russian Federation under the Government of the Russian Federation. Honorary Professor of the St. Petersburg State Technological University of Plant Polymers, Honorary Doctor of the St. Petersburg State Forestry University named after S.M. Kirov.

In 2010, a project was announced for the construction of the satellite city "Yuzhny", which will be located on the border of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region on both sides of the Kiev highway. For these purposes, "Start Development" in 2009 acquired a plot of 2012 hectares. It is assumed that 4.3 million m2 of housing will be built in Yuzhnoye. Moreover, in the summer, the first three developers of Yuzhny were already selected. Until 2028, the volume of investments in the project should amount to 180 billion rubles.

Ranked 4th in the "DP Billionaire Ranking - 2015". The fortune was estimated at 105 billion rubles. Fixed assets: Ilim Group (21%), Start Development, Domovoy chain of stores.

Ranked 6th in the "DP Billionaires Ranking - 2016". The fortune was estimated at 108 billion rubles. Fixed assets: Ilim Group, Start Development, Domovoy chain of stores.

Ranked 7th in the "DP Billionaires Ranking - 2017". The fortune was estimated at 90.7 billion rubles. Fixed assets: Ilim Group, Start Development, Domovoy chain of stores.

The head of Ilim Pulp Enterprise Zakhar Smushkin is a unique personality in the domestic business. The first and until recently the most powerful forest oligarch. One of the few St. Petersburg businessmen who, back in the 90s, managed to expand their business throughout Russia and even beyond its borders. And, finally, he, perhaps, one of the first in Russia of the 21st century, managed to outright lose his empire. Today he has actually lost the best of his enterprises - the Kotlassky PPM - "the core of the timber industry group," as Smushkin himself called it. Dreams of becoming a monopoly in the industry have already disappeared, we have to fight to prevent the remnants of the empire from disintegrating. But until recently, no one could even think about it ...

The rise of a hero

So, Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin was born in 1962. Father David Smushkin, mother Inga Naumovna. Together they lived in Leningrad on Ochakovskaya Street. Rumor has it that Zakhar Davidovich also had a younger brother, Fedor, who left to live in the United States in the early 90s. We will mention him and his role in the life of his brother later. Almost nothing is known about the childhood and adolescence of Mr. Smushkin. He himself does not apply to this, and I don’t want to repeat the already said and in no way confirmed rumors about enuresis allegedly tormenting the hero, an offensive nickname associated with this disease, conflicts with peers. The case is old, and is it so important.
The official biography of Zakhar Davidovich begins in 1984, when he graduated from the Leningrad Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry. You shouldn't call this university a provincial one. No, this institute really trained high-quality personnel for the entire pulp and paper industry. By the way, before moving to Leningrad University, it was here that the late mayor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak worked. And, apparently, they trained quite good economists - today many graduates of this university head firms and various enterprises In Petersburg.
However, it should be admitted that this institute could not be called prestigious either. Why did the parents send Zakhar to study here? They say that he was not doing well with the grades in the school certificate. But the main reason, I think, lies on the surface - his middle name speaks for itself. 1979, unspoken anti-Semitism in high school- to get with such a name on the day faculty at the same Leningrad State University was almost impossible. For evening parties and correspondence students, the army was shining, but this was also not desirable: as they were frightened in childhood, if you go to the army, they will be sent to Afghanistan. In general, we chose "cellulose" as the safest and most realistic option.
In 1984, Zakhar Smushkin, after graduating from the university, remained in graduate school. In the scientific field, he was not famous for anything special, which made it possible to assume that graduate school was also needed in order to avoid service in the ranks of the Red Banner. After graduate school, he was assigned to the NPO "Hydrolizprom". The NGO, among other things, was engaged in devices for the processing of ethyl alcohol. According to some rumors, the first joint business of Smushkin and his permanent partners, brothers Mikhail and Boris Zingarevich, was exactly the trade in by-products of distilleries.
In the future, versions of the take-off of the St. Petersburg forest king differ. For example, it is believed that in 1990 the Russian-American company Technoferm-Engineering was created, where Smushkin was invited to work. However, at that time only one joint venture with this name was registered in St. Petersburg, and it was Russian-Swedish. True, according to other sources, it was a Moscow company, and Smushkin was the head of the technological department there.
One way or another, but it is with this company that the appearance of the "great and terrible" "Ilim" is connected. During 1992 Smushkin and the Zingarevich brothers re-registered Technoferm LLP several times. A certain I. Golubkov appeared among the founders. As they say, this chemist helped Smushkin with his brothers to work on alcohol, the scientist had access to the then first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU Gidaspov. And then Smushkin allegedly brought in a certain Leonid Erukhimovich, an Israeli citizen who had solid connections in financial circles.
As a result, on April 30, Ilim Pulp Enterprise was registered, where Technoferm owned 50%, Intersez, a Swiss company, and 10% belonged to Ust-Ilimsk LPK. Presumably, participation in the IPE of the Ust-Ilimsk plant is evidence of already established contacts with this plant. Actually, the very name of the established company is translated as "Ilimsk cellulose". It is interesting that Ilim gained control over this enterprise only this year.
And, of course, it is worth dwelling on the main shareholder of Ilim, the company Intersez S.A.. Due to her presence in the composition of Ilim shareholders, much was said about the fact that Russian company in fact owned by foreigners. In fact, it certainly does not belong to any foreigners. As established in the Chamber of Accounts, the company "Intercez" was registered in Switzerland on July 1, 1991 with an authorized capital of 50 thousand francs. The auditors never received information about the founders of Intercez. According to one version, initially the company was founded by Erukhimovich, but now it is widely known that the owners of the company are the same - Zakhar Smushkin, Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich.
It was through this Swiss office that the management of "Ilim" ran its affairs. At first, they acted as traders of the products of sawmills and pulp mills, and then began a meteoric rise: they began to buy up timber industry enterprises on the cheap, moved to pulp mills. In 1994, they took possession of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill - the best enterprise industry. The empire began to grow.

Fraud without disguise

It seems that there is no point in dwelling in detail on how and what was acquired by "Ilim". Simply because tons of newspaper articles and reports from regulatory bodies have already been written about it. Just a reminder that until recently the company owned stakes in the following companies: OJSC Kotlassky PPM -51.08%, OJSC Bratskkomleksholding - 37.52%, NPF Saint Petersburg - 100%, CJSC New Kom - 88.64%, LLC In Yure - 70%, LLC OP ILIM - 70%, CJSC Information Agency ArchYugInform - 51%, CJSC Ilim Pulp Siberia - 100%, CJSC Soyuz Inform "- 35%, Ilim Pulp Exim LLC -100%, Ilim Pulp Trading LLC - 100%, Ilim Pulp Koryazhma LLC - 100%, Kasmet-Schastye LLC - 100%, Cosmos CJSC - 78%, OJSC Complex - 41.06%, AO Velsky LPH - 27.4%, OJSC Tegrinsky LPH - 31.92%, OJSC Shonoshsky LPH - 51.34%, OJSC Litvinovsky LPH - 36.44%, OJSC "Erogodsky LPH" -20.79%, LLC "Tograles" - 32%. A number of other enterprises are under their control. St. Petersburg Cardboard and Printing Plant, Paper Mill "Kommunar", 28 logging enterprises , Trade company"Petrobord Trading", Logistic company Fintrans, Kommunarvtorresursy (waste paper preparation), Plzeska Papirna Czech factory.
It is more interesting why, having ascended so high, Zakhar Smushkin today has every chance of breaking so painfully. Yes, it has actually crashed, having lost the largest pulp and paper mill in Europe and the best in Russia ...
Even today it is difficult to talk about civilized business in Russia, and even in the 90s it was just ridiculous. Therefore, blaming Mr. Smushkin and his comrades for their ways of doing business is not very smart. One can only blame them that they did not cover their tracks much and did not shine with a special imagination in the matter of financial scams. Fraud schemes are so transparent that they are not even very interesting. Here is just a summary, a synopsis of what Smushkin and Co. have been doing in the last decade.
Ilim Pulp acquired a block of shares, and then control over the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill as a result of the so-called investment tender, in which there was one contender - Ilim. The Court of Accounts found that it was wrong, unfair, etc. But the most interesting thing is how the investment policy was carried out, under the cover of which Ilim did not pay dividends to shareholders until 2000.
The decision was voiced: not to pay dividends, to invest profit in enterprises. Here the privilege immediately began to work, according to which investments are exempted from taxes. The money went to the accounts of the enterprise in order to return it back to the accounts of Ilim or Intercez in a day. The accounts were clean, and the tax-exempt money remained with the owners. This is how the Ilimovites worked at all their factories.
This scheme has already been voiced several times and the main complaint, in addition to tax evasion, is that as a result of such "investment" the equipment at the pulp and paper mill became obsolete, the workers' wages were lower than at other enterprises of the industry. Workers cannot quit in order to move to more profitable enterprises. In fact, any of the large pulp and paper mills is a city-forming enterprise; people in the same Koryazhma, where the plant is located, have nowhere to work except at the plant. Moving, for example, to Novodvinsk, where the Arkhangelsk PPM is located, is a very difficult matter. It turns out, something like slaves, completely dependent on the owners, who do not want to pay more.
Another example of the primitive creation of money out of thin air is the same equipment upgrade. If Ilim Pulp was going to buy machines, then its affiliated structures, often Intercez, were chosen as the seller. As a result, the machines cost the factories two or even three times more, and the money was again diverted to the West.
Finally, all was amiss with the sale of pulp. As it turned out, Ilim bought products from its enterprises at extremely low prices, much lower than international ones. At this price, for example, cellulose ($ 350 per ton) was sold to Intercez or other resellers (Interpulp Limited, Interpulp Trading Ltd, InterBoard, Alcana Limited and others), which are also controlled from Geneva. Well, let alone Mr. Erukhimovich raised the price level to the market level (for example, $ 500 per ton) and sold it on European markets. The proceeds remained in Swiss bank accounts. In general, money laundering and capital diversion abroad are commonplace.
but Russian experience suggests that such machinations alone are not a reason for such big problems that the head of Ilim Pulp is now facing. There is a more important, in our opinion, component here - this is the manner of "working" with partners and competitors. Indeed, in Russia it was possible to deceive the state and the people as much as you wanted, but to deceive specific businessmen working with you ... - you will always have to pay for this.

Friendship is friendship, and give back shares

For some reason, all of Mr. Smushkin's partners after a while became his enemies, or at least retreated from him. Someone paid for it with money, someone with life.
On March 10, 2000, Dmitry Varvarin, the general director of ZAO Concern Orimi, was killed in the northern capital not far from the Prince Vladimir Cathedral and was shot when he got out of his Jaguar and went to his house.
The Orimi concern has existed since 1990, when Dmitry Varvarin organized the Orimi Wood joint Soviet-American venture. Soon, this company became the leader in the production and export of sawn timber in the North-West of Russia. It was thanks to Varvarin that Ilim Pulp managed to acquire the Bratsk Timber Industry Complex. "Orimi-Wood" owned shares of the enterprise, and D. Varvarin was a member of the board of directors of BLPK. Later Smushkin and Varvarin conducted a swap (exchange of shares). As a result, the latter became a shareholder in Ilim. But this did not last long. As a result of the additional share issue, Smushkin & Co. diluted Varvarin's stake to several percent.
And then they killed Varvarin. Who and why is still unknown. But the fact remains that the owners of Ilim have benefited from this. They got rid of an aggressive and tough competitor who, moreover, forced them to invest in politics - Varvarin was the main sponsor of the former Deputy Chairman of the Accounts Chamber, Yuri Boldyrev. The relations between the partners were probably tense and, who knows, whether Dmitry Varvarin, who liked to play on the brink of a foul, initiated the already mentioned check of the Kotlas PPM by the auditors of the Accounts Chamber.
Other partners of Zakhar Smushkin in Ilim Pulp could now help the foresters build reinforced concrete protection. But IPE's failure follows failure, and this is most likely a consequence of their previous relationship with partners.
One of Ilim's allies for a long time was the St. Petersburg banker Vladimir Kogan ("Promstroybank of St. Petersburg"). Now he is known as the only Petersburg citizen who belongs to the group of oligarchs with whom Vladimir Putin regularly communicates. In general, Vladimir Kogan has been repeatedly called "the most equidistant oligarch." Friendship with such an influential person could solve many of Mr. Smushkin's problems. Ilim Palpe counted on this six months ago. Then, let us remind you, the "foresters" wanted to acquire 20 percent of the shares of the Arkhangelsk PPM, headed by the famous Pomor oligarch Vladimir Krupchak. "Ilim Pulp", according to our information, has been courting him since 1998, but has always faced a categorical refusal. Every year APPM became more and more "tasty" piece and at the end of last year "Ilim" openly announced that it was planned to buy APPM shares. In the end, everything turned out not so, this package was sold just to Vladimir Kogan.
Representatives of Ilim, winking slyly at this, said that the purchase is in fact a maneuver, and then a friend, Kogan, will sell the shares to them. They seemed to be able to count on friendship, because two years ago Vladimir Kogan had 38% of the shares in Ilim Pulp. St. Petersburg "Promstroybank" has repeatedly provided the company with loans. In general, it was a strong union. However, in the spring of 2001, Kogan unexpectedly parted with his shares - they were taken by Smushkin and the Zingarevich brothers. Recently Vladimir Kogan admitted that Promstroibank, being the main creditor of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, was constantly dissatisfied with its clients - it was almost impossible to get a clear report on the use of credit funds from this corporation, and the money was spent on some dubious needs. But Smushkin and Zingarevich also refused to accept the claims, considering it more acceptable to simply get rid of the principled financiers.
Why would a banker suddenly make such sudden movements? There is absolutely no exact information, but according to sources, Kogan was simply squeezed out of the company's shareholders. Maybe, in order not to share, maybe for some other reason. After that, he had no reason to be friends. Therefore, he entered into an alliance with the opponents of Ilim Pulp.
Zakhar Davidovich also had one more "partner", today perhaps even more influential than the president's banker. We are talking about the deputy head of the presidential administration, a member of the "St. Petersburg team" Dmitry Medvedev.
At the beginning of this year, a very expressive note appeared in the Arkhangelsk tab "Arguments and Facts". We will present it without abbreviations, and then comment it out:
Will Petersburgers overcome Abramovich?
The noise raised around the seizure of the Bratsk LPK by the Sibal industrial group also affected our region. Thus, the cooperation ties between Ilim Pulp Enterprise and the Titan company unexpectedly emerged. But something else remained behind the scenes ...
At one time, when Z. Smushkin, the chairman of the board of directors of ZAO Ilim Pulp Enterprise, fought with the regional assembly for the Kotlas PPM, his interests were defended by the "modest" lawyer Dmitry Medvedev. He began working for Ilim Pulp Enterprise after V. Yakovlev came to power in the northern capital. For A. Sobchak, Medvedev was an expert of the Committee for External Relations of the City Hall of St. Petersburg, which was headed by ... V. Putin.
Z. Smushkin helped D. Medvedev in a difficult last time... While working at Ilim Pulp Enterprise, D. Medvedev visited Koryazhma and Arkhangelsk more than once. Today Dmitry Medvedev is the deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Russia and not the last member of the so-called St. Petersburg group.
I wonder if D. Medvedev will be able to help repel the onslaught of oligarchs O. Deripaska and R. Abramovich?
Dmitry Medvedev, indeed, was a longtime partner of Mr. Smushkin. Joint business them started in 1993. On December 16, 1993, at 49 Shpalernaya Street, the joint-stock company Finzell appeared, founded by Smushkin, brothers Zingarevich and Dmitry Medvedev. The latter contributed 50% of the total authorized capital, namely, 500,000 rubles.
A year later, on December 7, 1994, another firm appeared on the same Shpalernaya street, 49. This time it is a joint venture LLP "In Yure", the founders of which were "Ilim Pulp Enterprise" (70%) and the Swiss company VALMET S.A. (thirty%). Medvedev is appointed director of the newly opened organization. And finally, on April 2, 1996, the Ilim Pulp Enterprise limited liability partnership was transformed into a closed joint stock company. The founders are: the aforementioned Finzell CJSC (40%) / read 20% Dmitry Medvedev /, the Swiss company Intertsez S.A. (40%), Kotlassk PPM (10%) and Ust-Ilimsk Timber Industry Concern (10%).
In 1993 Dmitry Medvedev held the position of Director of Legal Affairs at IPE, and in 1998 he became a member of the Board of Directors of BLPK. And then again it is not clear: by the fall of 1999 he was severing all his relations with Ilim, leaving the founders of Finzell CJSC, and his share going to Intercez. Why? Again, according to indirect information, an experienced Putin lawyer saw perfectly well how money was siphoned off from the same BLPK. He had a conflict with Smushkin, they wanted to blame Medvedev for this pumping out of assets. As a result, the gap, and Medvedev leaves. It's funny, he gave "Ilim Pulp" a small present at parting - he found them a new building on Marata Street, not far from Nevsky Prospect. He was there, in the office of one firm and he liked the premises. As a result, Ilim now lives here, while Medvedev works in the Kremlin and, it seems, he has no desire to support Mr. Smushkin.
As a result, what we have: an oligarch who, like many oligarchs, robustly and tastefully sucked money out of the country, sending it to Swiss banks, came under attack from competitors. And in this situation, when it is required to use all connections and opportunities, it turns out that at the very top, where the oligarchs are punished or pardoned, there are two of his "sworn friends", whom he once neglected. As they say, don't dig another hole ...

Recent connections

What is left for Smushkin and his comrades? They still have a good administrative resource. Not only in Arkhangelsk, where, according to rumors, they found a common language with representatives of some law enforcement agencies. Ilim also has higher patrons. According to our information, Zakhar Davidovich favorably responded to the call of the plenipotentiary representative of the President in the North-West to sponsor the notorious Dialogue program, within the framework of which public reception offices of the plenipotentiary are being opened throughout the district. He invested a lot of money in this political project of Viktor Cherkesov, for which he received support, in particular, from the North-West Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was thanks to these connections that Smushkin and Co received the buses of the riot police and the police, who tried to block the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill.
Mr. Smushkin also has acquaintances and friends in the State Duma. He has especially close relations with the deputy Vladislav Reznik. The latter in St. Petersburg was the director and owner of the joint-stock insurance company "Rus", and maintained close ties with "Ilim". They simply had one "roof" in the person of a certain Vladimir Borisov (a former warrant officer of the GRU special forces) and his security company FORPOST. Subsequently, Borisov was involved in criminal liability on suspicion of murder, as well as for illegal possession of weapons.
Reznik, in turn, is on good terms with Voloshin's deputy, Dmitry Kozak. However, it seems that Smushkin does not have to wait for help from his Moscow friends. Quite recently, Ilim Pulp's attempt to find Vladimir Putin through German Gref ended in failure and scandal. The story of the IPE draft letter to the president, in which the head of the Ministry of Economic Development appeared in the role of the messenger and herald of the discredited forest holding, removed from the agenda the question of the intervention of the supreme power in the conflict on the side of Zakhar Smushkin. Gref is very annoyed by this, and the rules of the apparatus struggle dictate to him that it is necessary to move away from forestry affairs.
In general, Zakhar Smushkin has no one left, even his old partners, the Zingarevich brothers, in fact, do not feel keen love for him, and on many key issues the opinions of the "Ilimov triumvirate" differ radically.
In a situation where business collapses, the mask of a successful rich man, a high-flying bird, flies off any person, and he remains who he is. Who will the "forest king" Zakhar Smushkin, a tennis and chess fan, appear?
Having lost a business, only those who have not lost themselves will be able to rise, and Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin seems to have big problems with this.

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin is an entrepreneur, investor and developer. Position: Chairman of the Board of Directors joint stock company Ilim Group. He is one of the top richest businessmen in Russia. In 1992 he founded the Ilim Pulp Enterprise (now the Ilim Group), a pulp and paper company, which has been a key one for the country's forestry sector for more than 20 years, as it is the leader in terms of production. In 2018, the number of Ilim employees is about 17 thousand people.

In addition, Zakhar Smushkin also has a retail business. In 2006, he opened the Start building hypermarket in St. Petersburg, which is currently a federal network of seven branches located in five regions of Russia. And in 2007 Smushkin founded LLC "Management Company" START Development "- a development company that implements projects of commercial and residential construction of various sizes. The company is a member of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce and has more than 10 awards to its credit.

The most famous project, which is being implemented by the development company Zakhar Smushkina, is the construction of the satellite city "Yuzhny", designed for 170 thousand residents and 21 thousand jobs. This project has been assigned federal significance not only because of its scale, but also because a scientific cluster "Science and Technology Innograd" will be created on its territory on the basis of the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, Mechanics and Optics. Innograd will become the best innovation cluster in Russia; more than 7,000 ITMO students and staff will work and study on its territory.

Zakhar Smushkin's birthday is January 23, 1962, hometown is St. Petersburg.
Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin received higher education in his hometown. Nowadays, all spheres of his activity are also closely connected with the Northwestern Federal District and St. Petersburg.
In 1984, Smushkin graduated from the specialty and entered the graduate school of the Leningrad Technological Institute. As a result of the training, he received the scientific degree of candidate of technical sciences. In addition, at the moment Smushkin is an honorary professor at two universities in St. Petersburg, where he periodically conducts lectures on the specifics of the timber industry. At the same time, in 1984, Zakhar Smushkin was assigned to the Research and Production Association "Gidrolizprom", where he took the position of a research assistant.

Six years later, Zakhar Smushkin took over as chief technical department at the international enterprise "Technoferm-Engineering", organized by representatives of Sweden and Russia. With two steps behind higher education and work experience, Zakhar Davidovich was able to modernize the production process at the enterprise in the shortest possible time. The result of Zakhar Smushkin's work at Technoferm-Engineering was an increase in investment attractiveness companies.

Mine own business Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich decides to open in 1992, having gained enough work experience and extensively studied the features of the timber industry. The company he founded, ZAO Ilim Pulp Enterprise, was initially engaged only in the export of small volumes of pulp and paper products, but in a short time it was retrained directly into a manufacturer.

Thereafter, Ilim carried out a number of transactions to merge large manufacturing enterprises... The first such enterprise was the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, which was merged into the company in 1995. Further, in 1997, the Bratsk Timber Industry Complex became part of the Ilim Group, and in 2002 - Ust-Ilimsk. This was the beginning of the formation of an all-Russian network under the control of a centralized leadership.

The main reason for the rapid development of the company was. Since Ilim had a large number of enterprises located in different parts of the country, their coordinated work was ensured thanks to the centralized management. This control was made possible by the technology vertical integration... It was first used in Russia at the enterprises of Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin.

This technology made it possible to coordinate all production areas under a single leadership, as well as to carry out a full cycle of production of pulp and paper products. "Ilim" independently carried out the extraction of resources, processing and delivery to the final consumer.

This way of organizing work in a short time began to show its effectiveness - by the second half of the 90s, Ilim took the first place in terms of production volumes in Russia, and also began to develop international export markets. In 1996, Ilim opened its representative office in China. At the moment, the main export direction of Ilim Group is also the Asian markets.

In 2003, Ilim changed its organizational and management principles and began to work according to the system of business lines, instead of the previously used geographical management principle. Also in 2003, the company began to develop a new production line and opened the first plant for the production of corrugated packaging - "Ilim Gofropak". This year, IlimSeverLes, an enterprise created on the basis of the Kotlas PPM with the aim of uniting production in Komi and the Arkhangelsk region, began its work. In these parts of Russia, Ilim operated more than 10 production enterprises in 2003.

In 2007, Zakhar Smushkin decided to restructure the company, which would improve the quality of management of a large number of Ilim enterprises. The changes affected not only the internal structure, but also the form of ownership and the name. CJSC Ilim Pulp Enterprise, where Smushkin served as CEO, became JSC Ilim Group, in which Zakhar Davidovich moved to the position of chairman of the board of directors. He still works in this position.

In 2009, Ilim Group mastered another new direction of production: a neutral sulfite cellulose plant was opened in the city of Koryazhma. From the moment of its opening to the present day, it remains the world's largest plant for the production of this type of product.

In 2018, Ilim Group consists of three large pulp and paper mills located in Ust-Ilimsk, Koryazhma and Bratsk. The company also includes two factories for the production of corrugated packaging - in the cities of Kommunar and Dmitrov. In addition, Ilim has three representative offices in Russia and one representative office abroad, in the PRC. Zakhar Smushkin's company occupies key position v Russian industry timber industry, as it ranks first in terms of production. Ilim Group accounts for 75% of pulp and 20% of paper produced in the country. In total, the volume of products manufactured by the company annually is about 3 million tons.

The total number of employees employed at the enterprises of the Ilim Group is about 18 thousand people. Each enterprise has passed certification for the international system safety and health. Ilim's enterprises also operate their own, which enhance the safety culture and are aimed at eliminating risks.

Since the company of Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin occupies central position in the Russian forestry sector due to the volume of products produced, environmental policy is a priority for the Ilim management.
This aspect of Ilim's work was also noted by the Ministry of Nature - in 2017 at International Exhibition The “ECOTECH” company was awarded a corresponding award: “for an active environmental policy in the year of ecology”.

Ilim Group strictly adheres to all environmental standards in force in Russia and abroad. Also, enterprises implement corporate environmental protection measures on their own initiative.

The business strategy of Zakhara Smushkina's company is built taking into account the principles of environmental friendliness. These include the rational use of resources and modern technologies - together they help to reduce the burden on environment... Also, Ilim Group has developed and own principles, which he adheres to in the implementation of his activities. And corporate environmental programs implemented at enterprises are built individually - taking into account the specifics of production processes.

In addition, the company has independently developed some principles to reduce its impact on the environment, and strictly adheres to them in its work. Also, for each individual enterprise that is part of the Smushkin company, targeted programs nature protection. They are built taking into account the specifics of production processes.

The World Fund wildlife a list of enterprises that voluntarily undergo forest certification is compiled annually. For many years, Zakhar Smushkin's company has been a leader in it. The territories of all forests leased by the Ilim Group for the purpose of resource extraction are certified for compliance international standards... Ilim Group conducts annual reforestation works on territories with a total area of ​​forty thousand hectares. In 2016 and 17, the company allocated more than 3 billion rubles for various activities aimed at protecting the environment.

In addition, since 2012, under an agreement with WWF, Ilim has refused to lease unique forests that do not fall under protection. Russian legislation... One of them is Verkhnevashkinsky, the company even took it under its wing. Ilim leases this territory, while introducing a moratorium on cutting down trees.

The enterprises of the Ilim Group also strictly adhere to the principles of transparency in their activities. Each year, all enterprises prepare reports containing information on how production processes affected the environment. These reports are sent by the enterprise to several instances: Rospotrebnadzor, Rosstat and FS Supervision in the field of environmental management. And enterprises located in the Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk regions also take part in the preparation of collections on ecology.

In 2005, the company established charitable foundation, named "Ilim-Garant". In 2016, 312 million rubles were allocated, which were allocated to the implementation of charitable and social projects... In total, during its work, Ilim Group independently compiled and implemented more than 200 charity projects. Ilim also actively participates in similar projects organized by other companies or foundations.

Other types of entrepreneurial activities of Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich, in addition to the company producing pulp and paper products, organized a business in other areas not related to the timber industry.

The first such company was opened in the retail sector. Hypermarket building materials, opened at the end of 2006, was named "Start". The first two branches were opened in the hometown of Zakhar Smushkin - St. Petersburg. At the moment, "Start" is already a federal network, which includes seven branches throughout Russia. In particular, "Start" opened in Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Voronezh. The assortment of the hypermarket includes more than 55 thousand items - all kinds of goods for renovation, home and everyday life.

Less than a year later, in 2007, Smushkin established LLC Management company"START Development". This company specializes in the preparation, implementation and supervision of various construction projects. The specialists of Zakhara Davidovich's company are engaged in the creation of architectural concepts for future projects, as well as concepts for further integrated development territories. In addition, "START Development" carries out all the accompanying construction procedures, such as preparation required documents attracting investments. The tasks of the "START Development" company include the formation of land banks.

And, besides this, Zakhar Smushkin's company carries out construction and control over all stages of the implementation of construction projects - infrastructure, commercial, residential.
By 2018, the company had several dacha villages, including Tayberry and Zolotye Klyuchi in the Leningrad Region. The most ambitious commercial construction project is the Donny Verevo industrial park in the Gatchina district of St. Petersburg. Its area is more than 180 hectares, and soon about 30 enterprises operating in the fields of logistics and production will start operating on the territory of the park.

This project, like many others implemented by Zakhar Smushkina's company, has great potential for the development of the economy of St. Petersburg. Donnie Verevo will become one of the city's main economic hubs and will create a large number of jobs in modern factories.

The most famous project, which is being implemented by START Development, is the construction of a satellite city in the Pushkin district of St. Petersburg. The city was named "Innograd", its area will be 2012 hectares, and the number - 170 thousand people. By 2018, about 210 billion rubles have been invested in the project. The final construction will be completed within 20 years.

For Russia, this project will be innovative for several reasons. First, Yuzhny is the most ambitious project for the integrated development of the territory. Secondly, the concept of the city was formed according to the principles of ecological construction, and earlier such projects were not implemented in the Russian Federation, although this has been practiced abroad for at least 15-20 years.

Eco-building, or green development, is a way of organizing living spaces, in which the comfort of people is achieved with minimal harm nature, and all infrastructure facilities are intelligently built into the environment. For example, in Yuzhnoye, electricity for street lighting will be produced using solar panels.

The commercial construction area will create more than 20 thousand jobs in the city. And for quick travel to St. Petersburg, the Kiev highway will be expanded, along which a satellite city will be built. Also, several electric train stations are already operating on the territory of Yuzhny. In turn, Pulkovo airport is located less than 10 minutes from the city by car.

Taking into account the population in the satellite city, about 60 kindergartens and 30 schools will be built. 10 more general hospitals will be built.

In addition, the project takes into account the creation of a large number of green areas and bike paths for comfortable and safe movement around the city. A special mobile application will be developed to track public transport routes.

An innovation cluster will also function in the city. It will occupy an area of ​​100 hectares, where laboratories, lecture halls and a campus for work, training and accommodation of 3 thousand workers and 4 thousand students of the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, Mechanics and Optics will be located. The cluster was named "Science and Technology Innograd", more than 40 billion rubles have already been invested in it. Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich also invested his funds in this project.

The specialization of "Innograd" will include such areas as robotics, urban studies, photonics, cyber-physical systems and biomedical technologies.

Achievements and personal life of Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin is a successful Russian businessman. JSC Ilim Group, which he founded more than 25 years ago, occupies a central position in the Russian forestry sector. The Start hypermarket chain, opened by Smushkin in 2006, currently operates in five Russian regions. And the company "START Development", founded in 2007, is implementing the largest project for the development of territories in Russia - the construction of a city for 170 thousand people. Zakhar Davidovich's business has a positive impact on the economy of St. Petersburg, the Northwestern Federal District and Russia as a whole.

Forbes included Smushkin in the top richest businessmen in the Russian Federation, and the magazine “ General manager"- in the" top 100 businessmen who changed the Russian economy. "
Zakhar Davidovich is also one of the three most influential businessmen in St. Petersburg, according to the list compiled by the Internet portal "City 812".

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin has a wife and a son. The press does not know very much about the personal life of the Smushkin family, since they lead a rather modest lifestyle.
For example, Zakhar Smushkin's hobbies are known. Among his hobbies, the businessman especially notes collecting paintings by Russian artists of the late 19th century, tennis and chess.

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pulp and Paper Mill of OJSC Ilim Group.

The story of the entrepreneur Zakhar Smushkin

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich has gone a thorny path from a simple specialist to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the largest concern in the field of the timber industry - Ilim Group.

The starting point of Zakhar Davidovich's impressive career ladder can be considered 1984 - it was then that he graduated from the Leningrad Technological Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry and began labor activity... He got a job at the scientific association "Gidrolizprom" and at the same time continued his postgraduate studies.

On April 30, 1992, Smushkin, together with familiar specialists (among whom was Boris Gennadievich Zingarevich, who also graduated from LTI PPI), gave life to a new timber company - Ilim Pulp Enterprise. Four years later, Zakhar Smushkin transferred his brainchild to another form of ownership - CJSC.

It was in the middle of the difficult 90s that Zakhar Smushkin's company, under his strict guidance, grew to a federal scale. Thanks to active implementation modern technologies and the vertically integrated structure "Ilim" got the opportunity to successfully compete with the largest timber industry organizations in Russia and Europe.

Interview with Zakhar Smushkin

In 2001, Zakhar Smushkin took over as chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Ilim Group. In 2003 he was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of the St. Petersburg Forestry Academy.

Personal life of Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Davidovich is married, the couple raised a son. As for Smushkin's hobby, the entrepreneur is fond of chess and tennis, and also collects paintings.

Zakhar Smushkin now

According to Forbes, in 2016 Zakhar Smushkin ranked 114th in the list of the richest Russian businessmen. Under his leadership, the Ilim Group continues to develop even during the crisis - its enterprises produce on average 75% of all market pulp in Russia.

Zakhar Davidovich implements his ideas in the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, is a member of the Council of the State Technological University of Plant Polymers in St. Petersburg and the Presidium of the Confederation of Timber Industry of the North-Western District of Russia.