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Megapolis Kesaev. Single "tower" for the billionaire Kesaev

One of the most enviable brides in Russia, Ilona Kesaeva, had an affair with Vyacheslav Pivovarov, a member of the board of directors of RusHydro, who is 19 years older than her.

Ilona is 27 years old, in 2013 she became the debutant of Tatler magazine, but the social life in Moscow did not work out for the girl. The heiress of a multi-billion dollar fortune chose to travel on a private jet to the world's best resorts, study art and party at Hollywood parties with her sister Lara Lieto, who has been dating actor Adrien Brody for many years.

Unlike Ilona, her 46-year-old boyfriend is well known in the metropolitan party. Being married to model Inge Barkovska, Vyacheslav often attended social events: from culinary evenings in Moscow restaurants to the New Wave in Jurmala. By the age of 40, Pivovarov had achieved many successes in his career, he was engaged in attracting foreign investors. Prior to moving to Russia, he worked as Managing Director of Citibank in New York. In Moscow, he was offered the position of adviser to the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, which he held for two years, and then became a member of the board of directors of one of the largest state-owned companies, RusHydro.

Lovers spend their summer holidays on the Cote d'Azur: a Bentley convertible maneuvers along French serpentines. Party in Saint-Tropez and mesmerizing landscapes of one of the most expensive resorts in the world. Nearby, at the Spanish island of Mallorca, at this moment, the 50-meter SKY yacht of Ilona's father is moored, which at any moment can take her beloved anywhere in the world.

Ilona Kesaeva is the eldest daughter of Igor and Stella Kesaev, who divorced a few years ago. Kesaev's youngest daughter, 10th grader Christina, met with the son of Krasnoyarsk billionaire Oleg Kirillov.

Tobacco distribution in Russia began with a huge scandal. In the early 1990s, in an effort to help the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and veterans of the security services, the government provided incentives for the import of alcohol and tobacco to various foundations affiliated with the ROC and the security forces. The idea did not live up to expectations: as representatives of the state themselves later admitted, along the “humanitarian corridor”, along with (sometimes instead of) wine and cigarettes, cars, equipment, and so on began to be imported into the country. Due to gray schemes, the budget lost significant profits, and by the end of the 90s, the duty-free corridor was closed, and the story was called in the press - "Tobacco Scandal". By this time, transnational tobacco companies had already opened their production facilities in Russia, and dozens of small and medium-sized firms became distributors of their products. But the competition among distributors did not last long - until serious players with good connections came.

Unprecedented concentration

“We have an unprecedented situation in the tobacco distribution market: in fact, it is controlled by two groups of companies - SNS and Mercury,” says Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the board of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies. According to analysts, the volume of the cigarette distribution market in Russia exceeds $12 billion, 20% of the market belongs to SNS, 70-75% belongs to the Megapolis company, which is part of the Mercury group.

SNS was formed in the early 1990s by graduates of the Moscow Military Academy of Strategic Missile Forces Oleg Smirnov, Sergei Nesterenko and Oleg Salo. Today SNS is the exclusive distributor of British American Tobacco (BAT) in Russia.

Mercury group of companies was founded in 1991 Igor Kesaev, which in Forbes rating for 2011 ranks 54th among the richest businessmen in Russia with a fortune of $1.8 billion. Megapolis, which is part of Mercury, has exclusive contracts for the distribution of Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and Imperial Tobacco products.

Such a high concentration on the Russian tobacco distribution market has not always been. Until 2007, the share of "Megapolis" was approximately 55%. But in 2007, Megapolis acquired a number of independent tobacco distributors, and in 2008, after merging with another international tobacco manufacturer, Gallaher, JTI refused to cooperate with 11 distributors in favor of Megapolis.

Why did competitors leave the market one by one, and multinational companies concentrated their sales around two key players? Dmitry Yanin believes that the success of Megapolis can be explained by the good ties of its owner, Igor Kesaev, with those who, along with the Russian Orthodox Church, opened the tobacco distribution market - security officials and former intelligence officers.

Anatoly Shiryaev, adviser to Igor Kesaev on interaction with the media and public organizations, explained that the concentration and optimization of business in the tobacco distribution market took place on market conditions and within the framework of the law. Shiryaev also believes that "a high concentration of distribution of tobacco products has a wide international practice" because such a system is "transparent from the point of view of tax administration." As for the influence of the security forces, Anatoly Shiryaev believes that it would be wrong to deny "the impact on business of relations with representatives of law enforcement agencies and state authorities." At the same time, as Igor Kesaev's adviser explained, such relationships do not replace business management, and therefore the Mercury Group develops thanks to highly qualified personnel.

ICIJ and Novaya Gazeta also interviewed key multinational cigarette manufacturers in Russia on why distribution is concentrated around just two companies and how important it is for them to have a distributor with good government and intelligence connections.

Imperial Tobacco did not respond to questions. Director of BAT-Russia for corporate relations Alexander Lyuty explained that BAT has been cooperating with SNS for more than 10 years. The advantages of working with one distributor, according to Liuty, are obvious: firstly, SNS, as a strategic partner, focuses only on British American Tobacco products; secondly, it facilitates the processes of interaction, because the geography of the activities of BAT-Russia and SNS coincide. As for ties with the security forces, Oleksandr Lyuty noted that the BAT does not know anything about the presence of ties between the SNS and state or law enforcement agencies. “The fact that business partners have any connections in certain structures is not a selection criterion for cooperation. We evaluate only their professional and business qualities,” Liuty added.

Philip Morris did not comment on how important it is for the company to have good connections with a distributor in law enforcement and government agencies and why such a concentration is inherent in the Russian distribution market. Alexey Kim, director of corporate affairs at Philip Morris Sales and Marketing, only explained that Philip Morris' partner, Megapolis, "meets our requirements for distribution and logistics."

Strategic Charity

The Mercury group, owned by Igor Kesaev, includes companies engaged in development, retail, arms production, as well as gas equipment for Gazprom. An important place in the Mercury group is also occupied by the Monolith National Non-Profit Foundation, whose honorary president since 2003 has been Igor Kesaev. As Anatoly Shiryaev, adviser to Igor Kesaev, explained to Novaya Gazeta and ICIJ, the main statutory goals of the fund are “support for the economic, medical, social and cultural needs of Russian FSB officers in urgent need, including those retired and their families.” According to Shiryaev, Monolith provides material assistance to the widows and families of dead and wounded FSB officers, helps organize meetings with FSB veterans, and purchases medical and technological equipment for FSB medical and preventive institutions.

Only from open sources of information - annual and quarterly reports of companies - it is clear that enterprises from the Mercury group sent millions of dollars to the Monolith fund. Why are Russian businessmen ready to donate huge sums to support the security forces and various funds associated with special services?

“The tobacco trade is a very profitable business. And as you know, everything profitable in Russia may one day become an object for raiders. Therefore, firstly, support for the funds of the security forces is like an insurance policy. And secondly, many Russian businessmen themselves come from the special services,” says Elena Panfilova, director of the Russian branch of the anti-corruption center Transparency International. According to her, the main problem of numerous funds to support the security forces is that most of them are like “black holes”, without websites, with non-transparent budgets…” […]

In 2003, retired FSB colonel Vladislav Petrov became the executive director of the Monolith Foundation. Today, Petrov holds important positions in the Mercury group of companies. He heads the board of directors of OAO Turboholod, which sells gas production equipment to Gazprom. Turboholod, judging by the company's statements, is 57% owned by Konsensus-R LLC, which, in turn, is controlled by Igor Kesaev.

Petrov also heads the board of directors of the Sochi sanatorium. M.V. Frunze, which is 98% owned by Mercury. According to the sanatorium's list of affiliates for 2011 [.rtf, 47 Kb], its board of directors also includes Viktor Patrushev, brother of Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who headed the FSB from 1999 to 2008.

Today, captain 1st rank in the reserve, Vladislav Petrov, is not the only FSB veteran in the management of the Monolit fund and the companies of the Mercury group. The vice-president of Monolith was a former employee of the third head office of the FSB (military counterintelligence) Yuri Khalturin. In 2003, Yuri Khalturin, Igor Kesaev and former FSB deputy director Vladimir Anisimov were awarded the Order of the Russian Orthodox Church for the reconstruction of the temple. Today, Vladimir Anisimov, who left the FSB in 2006, holds the post of adviser to Igor Kesaev in the Mercury group of companies.

Anatoly Shiryaev, adviser to Igor Kesaev on interaction with the media, explained that many former employees of special services and law enforcement agencies really work in Mercury, although their share in the total mass of employees is extremely small. According to Shiryaev, these are high-class professionals, who often have two or more higher educations and speak several foreign languages. They have a huge life and professional experience behind them, which is in demand in the companies of the Mercury group. “We will continue to adhere to this practice, which, by the way, is widespread in civilized, as we say, countries,” Shiryaev said.

In 2003, the Monolith Foundation signed a general agreement with the FSB on the provision of financial assistance. This agreement is still in effect today. Novaya Gazeta and ICIJ managed to find three examples when Monolit paid for the purchase of apartments for the needs of the FSB as part of an agreement on material assistance. In 2009, Monolith paid at least 2.5 million rubles for a three-room apartment for the FSB in Ussuriysk; in 2010 - 3 million rubles for a one-room apartment for the FSB in Pyatigorsk; and in the same year - 5 million rubles for a three- or four-room apartment for the FSB in Essentuki.

Where does the charitable foundation get the money to buy apartments for the most influential intelligence agency in the country, which has no problems with public funding?

In 2006, the board of directors of JSC "Zavod im. V.A. Dyagtereva, which is part of the Mercury group of companies, decided not to pay dividends to shareholders due to a loss of 120 million rubles. True, at the same meeting the board of directors approved the decision of the general director to transfer 184 million rubles to the Monolith Foundation as charitable assistance.

A similar situation was repeated in another company that is part of the Mercury group, OJSC Sovinteravtoservis. The board of directors of the company decided not to pay dividends to shareholders for 2008, and retained earnings for previous periods (40 million rubles) were sent in the form of charitable assistance to the Monolith Foundation.

Anatoly Shiryaev, adviser to Igor Kesaev, explained that such decisions do not infringe on anyone's interests, because the charitable foundation and the companies that donate money belong, in fact, to one owner - the Mercury group. And when asked what other organizations, besides those included in Mercury, donate money to the Monolith Foundation, Shiryaev explained that “there are several other major sponsors, their names are well known, but by mutual agreement, the names of these companies and the amount of sponsorship funds are not announced” .

"Monolith" is not the only fund to support the security forces associated with Igor Kesaev. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Kesaev was the founder of the National Non-Profit Law Enforcement Support Fund. Anatoly Shiryaev, an adviser to Igor Kesaev, explained to ICIJ and Novaya Gazeta that Igor Kesaev ceased his activities in the law enforcement support fund in 2003, immediately after the establishment of Monolit, on whose activities he focused not only his attention, but the entire group.

Until 2007, according to the Federal Tax Service, this charitable organization had a different name: the National Non-Commercial Fund for Support of Employees of the Federal Security Service. Kesaev's partner in the law enforcement support fund was retired FSB colonel Valery Sokolov. He, as previously reported by Kommersant, is closely acquainted with the Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, whose adviser was Sokolov's son, Alexei Sokolov. For some time, the Law Enforcement Support Fund was headed by Valery Sokolov's wife, Irina Sokolova. She was an assistant to the speaker of the State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, and today she leads the public reception of Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

We were not able to get in touch with anyone from the Sokolov family: the public reception office was informed that “for technical reasons” the reception desk was not open until July. The FSB did not answer questions from Novaya Gazeta and ICIJ about cooperation with the Monolith Foundation and companies of the Mercury group.

Weapon ties

The connections of the owner of the Mercury group, Igor Kesaev, go far beyond the FSB. Companies owned by Kesaev also employ former high-ranking politicians and employees of the Ministry of Defense.

Mercury includes Zavod im. V.A. Dyagtereva, which produces Kalashnikov assault rifles and machine guns, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). The plant's products are exported to Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Alexey Lossan

There are not so many "dark horses" left in the "golden hundred" of Russian businessmen, about which very little is known. Among these non-public billionaires, tobacco tycoon Igor Kesaev is often named, who, in addition to selling cigarettes, has long been engaged in oil refining, building skyscrapers, retail and even manufacturing machine guns.

There are many legends about the origin of Igor Kesaev, as well as about the sources of his fortune. According to one version, he is the heir to the "guild" capital of the Soviet era, collected by senior party officials, according to another - a protege of the special services. According to the third version, Kesaev is an Ossetian Greek from Vladikavkaz who made his own wealth. […] Indeed, the Mercury Group, created by Igor Kesaev, includes the largest distributor of cigarettes in Russia, Megapolis, the Dixy chain, the KiN plant, Orton Oil, which owns a stake in the oil company Sibir Energy, and many other assets. Moreover, it is Igor Kesaev who is called the first contender for the development projects of Shalva Chigirinsky. […] At the same time, unlike his wife Stella Kay, who opened the Stella Art Gallery in Moscow, the entrepreneur remains an absolutely non-public figure. At social events, Kesaeva is accompanied by a security jeep with submachine gunners in camouflage. The businessman refused to meet with "Ko", but answered some questions through the vice president of the Mercury Group, Robert May.

Gave a light

It is believed that Igor Kesaev began his career in the tobacco business, but this is not entirely true. After graduating from MGIMO in 1988, the 22-year-old entrepreneur got a job at the Absolut-Moscow insurance company as head of the banking operations insurance department. In this position, the future member of the Forbes list worked for about three years, after which he took the position of general director of the Jupiter insurance company. It is not known for certain whether he was the owner of this structure or only a top manager, but the field of activity of JV "Jupiter" was interesting. The company insured the risks of Russian investors when investing in the US stock market. According to experts, such a corridor could open wide opportunities for the withdrawal of capital abroad. As a result, a tripartite agreement was signed between Jupiter, Alexander Kablukov's investment company Sovlex, and Moseximbank. Money was transferred abroad through this credit institution, one of the founders of which was the then chairman of the Council of Ministers of North Ossetia, Sergey Khetagurov, who later held the posts of deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and head of the Federal Migration Service, as well as a constant opponent of Alexander Dzasokhov in the elections. The company, headed by Kesaev, insured these investments, according to the contract, for 1% of the amount. Apparently, later the relations of the parties to the agreement changed, as a result, Igor Kesaev became the chairman of the board of directors of Mosexim-bank. So, among the founders of the bank was JSC "Trading and financial company "Apollo-Mos", the general director of which at one time was Kesaev. The fact that the acquaintance of Igor Kesaev and Sergey Khetagurov was not accidental is also evidenced by the fact that later, after leaving the public service, Khetagurov became vice president of the Mercury Group of Companies.

It is difficult to say now what kind of operations Moseximbank was engaged in, but it was called one of the main credit institutions through which contracts for the sale of Russian weapons and components passed. Strikingly, in 1999, ranked 179th in terms of equity, the bank was listed among the most valuable institutions for the defense industry. In particular, when the Bank of Moscow planned to organize a syndicated loan for the defense industry, Mosexim was to be among its participants. And in June 1998, the same Bank of Moscow and OAO Sukhoi Design Bureau signed a general agreement on cooperation, and Moseximbank again acted as the third partner under the agreement. Moreover, around the same time, the Bank of Moscow acquired a 19% stake in Mosexim.

However, the idyll could not last forever. In December 1999 Moseximbank's license was taken away. Eligin Safarov, head of the Main Directorate of Federal Customs Revenues, sent a telegram to the State Customs Committee, in which he demanded that bank guarantees issued by Moseximbank not be accepted as security for customs payments. Moreover, in October 2000, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared the bank bankrupt and opened bankruptcy proceedings against it. It is noteworthy that the Vperyod Moscow Machine-Building Plant acted as the applicant in the bankruptcy case. According to the statement of the enterprise, the bank did not fulfill its obligations to it. It is not known what kind of obligations were discussed, but the very fact of cooperation between the bank of the second hundred and the manufacturer of parts for Mi helicopters and Yak aircraft speaks for itself. Market participants do not exclude that it was the export of military and civilian equipment that could become one of the main sources of capital for Igor Kesaev, and Sergey Khetagurov, who had extensive connections among senior officials, would have helped him in finding the necessary contacts. However, the question remains why Moseximbank still went bankrupt, despite the fact that its chairman of the board of directors was only increasing his capital. It is possible that the reason was the creation in 2000 of a single state intermediary for the export and import of military products - FSUE Rosoboronexport, and the need for intermediary services disappeared. However, Kesaev by this time had succeeded in a completely different area.

Deep puff

In the early 90s, Igor Kesaev began to distribute various foreign goods in Russia. For this, back in 1992, the Mercury Trading House company was established. According to experts, at the very beginning of the 1990s, this company became one of the distributors of Philip Morris (PM) in Russia. Around the same time, Kesaev was also engaged in Moseximbank. “In any case, the sign of this particular credit institution was shining on the building of the Mercury office,” says one of the players in the tobacco market. It is possible that, among other things, Mosexim issued bank guarantees to Mercury. According to Robert May, at first the company was focused on importing various goods from Asia - Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, but then Igor Kesaev took part in the first supply of cigarettes from Germany through Reemtsma. “He continued to expand his influence in the cigarette distribution market by partnering with other tobacco companies. When the distribution business of the Mercury Group began to develop, the client base also increased. In 1993, the company signed its first Philip Morris distribution contract in Russia,” May says.

Since the early 2000s, Igor Kesaev began to buy up all Philip Morris distributors in Russia. As a result, the share of the Philip Morris group in the domestic tobacco market reached 22% by the end of 2002, but in the same year a conflict arose between the companies, as a result of which a plan for the reorganization of Mercury was developed. Officially, until October 2006, two different companies worked on the tobacco market - Mercury and Megapolis, which were eventually merged into one. In particular, the first structure, created in the early 1990s, worked with Philip Morris, and the second, which entered the market only in 1999, supplied Gallaher Liggett-Ducat products on an exclusive basis. According to market participants, the turnover of the first before the merger was about $500 million, and the second - $2 billion a year. According to Ko's sources, the ownership structure in Igor Kesaev's tobacco business is very complex, and in fact both companies were backed by the same owners - presumably Kesaev himself and his partner Sergey Katsiev, who headed Megapolis Group of Companies. A year later, the next stage of business consolidation took place. […]

At the moment, the company has more than 315,000 sq. m of warehouse space. According to the results of 2007, the revenue of the Megapolis Group amounted to about $5.5 billion. “It is difficult to say what share of Russian distribution is accounted for by this company, because no one monitors the shares. However, this is definitely one of the largest players not only in Russia, but also in the world,” says Maxim Korolev. According to him, it is difficult to calculate what share of the turnover is brought by cigarettes, because, in addition to cigarettes, Megapolis also distributes other goods, including snacks, chewing gum, etc.

“As for the profitability of cigarette distribution, Megapolis is very limited in this matter: the manufacturer controls the input and output of the product, and a pack cannot be sold for more than the price written on the package. The retail margin is also negotiated, so the distributor has a tough “fork”. Here the only resource is savings, and there are no gigantic profits in this business, everything is regulated,” says Maxim Korolev. According to experts interviewed by Ko, this factor could have influenced the FAS, which did not oppose the emergence of such an obvious monopolist. “Due to the low profitability of the distribution business, it is unlikely that Megapolis is the main generator of finance in the Mercury Group. […] Thus, the version about the “non-tobacco” origin of Kesaev’s condition is again indirectly confirmed.

Breasted on the embrasure

Be that as it may, but in 2005, having accumulated funds, Igor Kesaev began to buy up various companies in other segments. It is noteworthy that the first acquisition outside the tobacco market was the purchase of controlling stakes in two military-industrial complex enterprises: the Kovrov Mechanical Plant (KMZ) and the Degtyarev Plant. At the same time, Kesaev, a minority shareholder at both plants, got a powerful and unyielding structure of Rosatom Techsnabexport, which organized the production of gas centrifuges at the enterprises - the main equipment for uranium enrichment. As a result, Kesaev managed to divide the spheres of influence and exchange blocks of shares. On the basis of KMZ, it was decided to create a center for centrifugal engineering (“Russian centrifuge”) and transfer there from the Degtyarev Plant all the equipment necessary for this. In turn, at the Degtyarev Plant itself, only the production of military equipment was left: machine guns and grenades of the same name. In addition, all military production of KMZ was transferred to Kesaev: the production of the Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system, the Ataka anti-tank guided missile, light and small arms. At the same time, the board of directors of the Degtyarev Plant on behalf of the new owner was none other than the vice-president of the Mercury Group of Companies Sergey Khetagurov. Among those who helped resolve Igor Kesaev a possible conflict with Rosatom, market participants most often name the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, Alexei Aleshin, close associate of Sergei Chemezov.

Kesaev's close contacts with Aleshin became the reason that when, at the end of 2005, Igor Kesaev began business relations with one of his main future partners, Shalva Chigirinsky. At the same time, rumors appeared that Kesaev was acting in the interests of Rosoboronexport. Through his company Orton Oil, the entrepreneur bought out half of the Cypriot offshore Bennfield Ltd., which is the main owner of the British oil company Sibir Energy. The deal cost Orton Oil approximately $620 million […]

Active buying of assets in various industries could not do without a conflict with Moscow officials. In July 2007, employees of the tax crimes department of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate, accompanied by riot police, conducted a search and seizure of documents on the territory of the KiN Moscow Brandy Factory. According to representatives of the enterprise, it was an attempted raider takeover by the city government, which is a minority shareholder of the plant. According to Ko, the minority shareholder was ready to pay $35 million for a 52% stake in KiN, owned by the chairman of the board of directors of the plant, Armen Yeganyan and general director Nikolai Evseev, with its market value of more than $100 million. “A year and a half ago, the Moscow government decided to become the sole owner of Moscow cognac factory "KiN". The lease on the land was ending, which made the plant extremely dependent on the Moscow authorities,” recalls Vadim Drobiz, head of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets. However, the owners of the KiN managed to sell a controlling stake, which was claimed by the Moscow government, Igor Kesaev. The amount of the transaction is unknown, but it is obvious that it was more than promised by the capital's officials and less than the market value of the package. Finally, at the end of 2007, the Mercury Group entered retail, having bought out a controlling stake in the Dixy retail chain for about $600 million. “This purchase was a logical step, as our company has long wanted to enter the retail sector: there is an obvious synergy between the distribution business and retail,” says Robert May. The new owner immediately began to optimize it. In particular, Ilya Yakubson, the former vice president of Megapolis, was appointed to the position of vice president, and a year later, after the top manager became aware of the matter, he took over as president of the company. “In Dixy itself, the situation improved significantly after the change of ownership, operating results increased,” says Tatiana Bobrovskaya, an analyst at BrokerCreditService. According to her, as was announced after the deal with Mercury, the network opened more than 100 discounters last year. “Dixie's loan portfolio at the end of the year is well balanced. In 2007, the EBITDA margin was 5.3%, and by the end of 2008 it is expected to be 5.4%. At the same time, many retailers show a decrease in the last year,” the expert says. - “Although now Dixy operates at an average level of profitability for retail chains, nevertheless, when compared with other public companies, the margin can be increased to 7 to 8%. So there is something to work on,” she adds. Moreover, at the end of 2008, the Mercury Group announced its intention to launch another retail project. The company plans to sell franchises in Russia for opening stores under the brand name of the international retail alliance Independent Grocery Alliance (IGA). Last week it became known that Dixy is starting to test the technology of the international IGA in 15 of its stores. Starting next year, Megapolis (part of Mercury Group) plans to conclude contracts with owners of other stores - preliminary negotiations have been held with representatives of 170 companies.

According to Robert May, the Mercury Group also includes the Gorevsky GOK in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the largest enterprise in Russia for the extraction of ore and the production of lead and zinc concentrate. GOK is the operator of the Gorevsky polymetallic deposit, which is considered the largest in Russia and the fifth in the world in terms of proven reserves of lead and zinc. Igor Kesaev also owns the Turboholod enterprise, which specializes in the production of turboexpanders for the gas industry. The founder of the Mercury Group of Companies continues to maintain ties with North Ossetia - in particular, he is building a cascade of small hydroelectric power stations in this republic in the Urukh river basin. This is the first private investment project in the field of small hydropower in Russia. The total investment in the project is estimated at 10 billion rubles in 2008 prices, 70% of which is the investment of Igor Kesaev. It is noteworthy that Sergey Khetagurov signed the construction agreement on behalf of the company.

In addition to serious investments, Igor Kesaev does not disdain smaller projects. In October 2006, at the RFBR auction for 185 million rubles. he bought the Sochi Sanatorium. M.V. Frunze. In fact, the winner of the auction was the national non-profit fund "Monolith", created to support veterans of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the president and, according to Ko, one of the main founders of this fund is Igor Kesaev. In April 2008, it became known that Kesaev was planning to rebuild the sanatorium into a super premium class complex.

"If a friend turned up suddenly ..."

[…] Back in 2007, Kesaev became a partner of Chigirinsky in several large development projects. In particular, by joint efforts they planned to build a multifunctional complex "Crystal Island" in Moscow with an area of 2 million square meters. m, as well as to reconstruct the territory of New Holland in St. Petersburg. In addition, Mercury Development has a 300-meter Mercury City Tower with an area of 158,000 sq. m in Moscow City. If in the Crystal Island project Kesaev could only act as a co-investor, then in the New Holland ST he is a co-founder, and the skyscraper completely “hangs” on it. […]

More recently, extravagant millionaire Oleg Tinkov posted his own List of Real Billionaires on his blog. In this rating, Tinkov included the names of only those Russian businessmen who, in his opinion, made their fortune “from scratch”.

Top-10 Entrepreneurs in Russia
1. Andrey Rogachev (Macroworld)
2. Rustam Tariko (Russian Standard)
3. Sergey Galitsky (Magnet)
4. Ruben Vardanyan (Troika Dialog)
5. Dmitry Troitsky (OK)
6. Igor Kesaev (Megapolis)
7. Evgeny Chichvarkin (Euroset)
8.Mikhail Slipenchuk (Metropol)
9. Oleg Leonov (ex-Dixie)
10. Oleg Zherebtsov (Tape)

Oleg Tinkov explained his choice with the following considerations:

“These people (entrepreneurs) are different from the Forbes businessmen (who are suffering before our eyes and whose punishments for their dirty deeds are yet to come) THAT they all created their businesses from ZERO. Each of them, starting from their student days, began to trade, dream and then BUILD new enterprises, create jobs and develop their business. They did not participate in the redistribution or did not buy existing enterprises. These are real heroes, and most importantly, they are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for all of us, since each of them is one of us. YOU CAN DO IT!"

Any rating is subjective. But in this case, Tinkov's list is interesting in that he accidentally drew attention to several billionaires who, unlike secular lions like Abramovich, Deripaska, as well as Tariko, Vardanyan and Chichvarkin, do not like to shine. We are talking about quiet, modest monsters of the "gray" Russian economy. Kompaniya magazine correspondent Alexei Lossan researched the biography of one of these non-public billionaires in the material "Behind the Smoke Screen". http://www.ko.ru/document.php?id=20747 As a result, the journalist questioned Tinkov's idealistic ideas about the possibility of doing business in Russia "from scratch".

And even the production of machine guns

“There are not so many “dark horses” left in the “golden hundred” of Russian businessmen, about which very little is known. Among these non-public billionaires, tobacco tycoon Igor Kesaev is often named, who, in addition to selling cigarettes, has long been engaged in oil refining, building skyscrapers, retail and even manufacturing machine guns.

There are many legends about the origin of Igor Kesaev, as well as about the sources of his fortune. According to one version, he is the heir to the “guild” capital of the Soviet era, collected by senior party officials, according to another, he is a protege of the special services. According to the third version, Kesaev is an Ossetian Greek from Vladikavkaz who made his own wealth. In particular, this opinion about the origin of capital is shared by the chairman of the board of directors of Tinkoff-Credit Systems Oleg Tinkov, who, in the rating of entrepreneurs who created their business from scratch (the rating was published on the businessman’s blog), put Kesaev in sixth place - just ahead of the founder who moved to London Euroset Evgeny Chichvarkin.

“I don’t know him at all, so there’s complete objectivity here. I like the size of his business and how he does it - that's all, ”Tinkov commented on his decision to Ko. Indeed, the Mercury Group, created by Igor Kesaev, includes the largest distributor of Megapolis cigarettes in Russia, the Dixy chain, the KiN plant, Orton Oil, which owns a stake in the oil company Sibir Energy, and many other assets.

Moreover, it is Igor Kesaev who is called the first contender for the development projects of Shalva Chigirinsky. According to the forecasts of Mercury itself, the annual turnover of the group of companies in 2009 will be more than $15 billion. At the same time, unlike his wife Stella Kay, who opened the Stella Art Gallery in Moscow, the entrepreneur remains an absolutely non-public figure. At social events, Kesaeva is accompanied by a security jeep with submachine gunners in camouflage. The businessman refused to meet with "Ko", but answered some questions through the vice president of the Mercury Group, Robert May.

Gave a light

It is not known for certain whether he was the owner of this structure or only a top manager, but the field of activity of JV "Jupiter" was interesting. The company insured the risks of Russian investors when investing in the US stock market.

According to experts, such a corridor could open wide opportunities for the withdrawal of capital abroad. As a result, a tripartite agreement was signed between Jupiter, Alexander Kablukov's investment company Sovlex, and Moseximbank.

Money was transferred abroad through this credit institution, one of the founders of which was the then chairman of the Council of Ministers of North Ossetia, Sergey Khetagurov, who later held the posts of deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and head of the Federal Migration Service, as well as a constant opponent of Alexander Dzasokhov in the elections. The company, headed by Kesaev, insured these investments, according to the contract, for 1% of the amount.

Apparently, later the relations of the parties to the agreement changed, as a result, Igor Kesaev became the chairman of the board of directors of Mosexim-bank. So, among the founders of the bank was JSC "Trading and financial company "Apollo-Mos", the general director of which at one time was Kesaev. The fact that the acquaintance of Igor Kesaev and Sergey Khetagurov was not accidental is also evidenced by the fact that later, after leaving the public service, Khetagurov became vice president of the Mercury Group of Companies.

In particular, when the Bank of Moscow planned to organize a syndicated loan for the defense industry, Mosexim was to be among its participants. And in June 1998, the same Bank of Moscow and OAO Sukhoi Design Bureau signed a general agreement on cooperation, and Moseximbank again acted as the third partner under the agreement. Moreover, around the same time, the Bank of Moscow acquired a 19% stake in Mosexim.

It is noteworthy that the Vperyod Moscow Machine-Building Plant acted as the applicant in the bankruptcy case. According to the statement of the enterprise, the bank did not fulfill its obligations to it. It is not known what kind of obligations were discussed, but the very fact of cooperation between the bank of the second hundred and the manufacturer of parts for Mi helicopters and Yak aircraft speaks for itself.

Market participants do not exclude that it was the export of military and civilian equipment that could become one of the main sources of capital for Igor Kesaev, and Sergey Khetagurov, who had extensive connections among senior officials, would have helped him in finding the necessary contacts. However, the question remains why Moseximbank still went bankrupt, despite the fact that its chairman of the board of directors was only increasing his capital. It is possible that the reason was the creation in 2000 of a single state intermediary for the export and import of military products - FSUE Rosoboronexport, and the need for intermediary services disappeared. However, Kesaev by this time had succeeded in a completely different area.

Deep puff

“In any case, the sign of this particular credit institution was shining on the building of the Mercury office,” says one of the players in the tobacco market. It is possible that, among other things, Mosexim issued bank guarantees to Mercury.

According to Robert May, at first the company was focused on importing various goods from Asia - Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, but then Igor Kesaev took part in the first supply of cigarettes from Germany through Reemtsma. “He continued to expand his influence in the cigarette distribution market by partnering with other tobacco companies. When the distribution business of the Mercury Group began to develop, the client base also increased. In 1993, the company signed its first Philip Morris distribution contract in Russia,” May says.

Officially, until October 2006, two different companies worked on the tobacco market - Mercury and Megapolis, which were eventually merged into one. In particular, the first structure, created in the early 1990s, worked with Philip Morris, and the second, which entered the market only in 1999, supplied Gallaher Liggett-Ducat products on an exclusive basis. According to market participants, the turnover of the first before the merger was about $500 million, and the second - $2 billion a year.

According to Ko's sources, the ownership structure in Igor Kesaev's tobacco business is very complex, and in fact both companies were backed by the same owners - presumably Kesaev himself and his partner Sergey Katsiev, who headed Megapolis Group of Companies. A year later, the next stage of business consolidation took place.

Due to the fact that Gallaher merged with JTI, there was a redistribution of the distribution network. “After JTI took over Gallaher, the two companies brought their distribution networks together, and Megapolis pulled ahead. As a result, the entire distribution of JTI in Russia came under the control of Megapolis. This process lasted two years, while all other distributors, 11 companies, received sufficient compensation and were satisfied, which is not typical for this market,” says Maksim Korolev, editor-in-chief of the Russkiy Tobacco industry news agency.

According to him, in the end, after the merger, JTI not only did not lose market share, as always happens after M&A transactions, but increased it from 34 to 36%. “Megapolis played a leading role in the growth of this share. This example characterizes Igor Kesaev, apparently, as an experienced and non-greedy negotiator,” says Korolev. As a result, Megapolis became the largest FMCG distributor in Russia, operating through 270 of its own branches and controlling approximately 70% of the Russian tobacco market.

At the moment, the company has more than 315,000 sq. m of warehouse space. According to the results of 2007, the revenue of Megapolis Group amounted to about $5.5 billion.

“It is difficult to say what share of Russian distribution is accounted for by this company, because no one monitors the shares. However, this is definitely one of the largest players not only in Russia, but also in the world,” says Maxim Korolev. According to him, it is difficult to calculate what share of the turnover is brought by cigarettes, because, in addition to cigarettes, Megapolis also distributes other goods, including snacks, chewing gum, etc.

According to experts interviewed by Ko, this factor could have influenced the FAS, which did not oppose the emergence of such an obvious monopolist. “Due to the low profitability of the distribution business, it is unlikely that Megapolis is the main generator of finance in the Mercury Group. In December, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary, and so for the first 6-7 years of them, the positions of Megapolis were much more modest than the current ones, ”adds Maxim Korolev. Thus, the version about the “non-tobacco” origin of Kesaev’s condition is again indirectly confirmed.

Breasted on the embrasure

At the same time, Kesaev, a minority shareholder at both plants, got a powerful and unyielding structure of Rosatom Techsnabexport, which organized the production of gas centrifuges at the enterprises, the main equipment for uranium enrichment. As a result, Kesaev managed to divide the spheres of influence and exchange blocks of shares. On the basis of KMZ, it was decided to create a center for centrifugal engineering (“Russian centrifuge”) and transfer there from the Degtyarev Plant all the equipment necessary for this. In turn, at the Degtyarev Plant itself, only the production of military equipment was left: machine guns and grenades of the same name.

In addition, all military production of KMZ was transferred to Kesaev: the production of the Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system, the Ataka anti-tank guided missile, light and small arms. At the same time, the board of directors of the Degtyarev Plant on behalf of the new owner was none other than the vice-president of the Mercury Group of Companies Sergey Khetagurov.

Among those who helped resolve Igor Kesaev a possible conflict with Rosatom, market participants most often name the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, Alexei Aleshin, close associate of Sergei Chemezov.

Through his company Orton Oil, the entrepreneur bought out half of the Cypriot offshore Bennfield Ltd., which is the main owner of the British oil company Sibir Energy. The deal cost Orton Oil about $620 million.

Igor Kesaev joined Sibir Energy at a difficult time, when the company lost its stake in the Sibneft-Yugra JV, created jointly with Roman Abramovich. At the same time, minority shareholders demanded that the majority shareholders and the management of Sibir Energy compensate for the loss of their stake in the joint venture. Only shares in the mining companies Magma Oil and Evikhon remained in the ownership of Sibir Energy (the company was created at one time with the support of Vladimir Shumeiko - from the editor of FLB).

Moreover, at that moment, Shalva Chigirinsky was actively fighting Gazprom Neft for control of the Moscow Oil Refinery. However, Kesaev chose the right direction for investment, in August 2007 the Moscow government became a co-owner of Sibir Energy, receiving 18.03% in Sibir Energy in exchange for transferring direct control over the Moscow refinery to the British company. In addition, SE took over approximately 139 gas stations in Moscow. But because of this deal, Kesaev and Chigirinsky lost control over the oil company: the share of the offshore Bennfield decreased from 57 to 46.68%, and the Moscow government received the right to a decisive vote.

“A year and a half ago, the Moscow government decided to become the sole owner of the KiN Moscow brandy factory. The lease on the land was ending, which made the plant extremely dependent on the Moscow authorities,” recalls Vadim Drobiz, head of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets. However, the owners of KiN managed to sell the controlling stake, which was claimed by the Moscow government, to Igor Kesaev. The amount of the transaction is unknown, but it is obvious that it was more than promised by the capital's officials and less than the market value of the package.

Finally, at the end of 2007, the Mercury Group entered retail, having bought out a controlling stake in the Dixy retail chain for about $600 million. “This purchase was a logical step, as our company has long wanted to enter the retail sector: there is an obvious synergy between the distribution business and retail,” says Robert May.

The new owner immediately began to optimize it. In particular, Ilya Yakubson, the former vice president of Megapolis, was appointed to the position of vice president, and a year later, after the top manager became aware of the matter, he took over as president of the company.

“At Dixy itself, the situation improved significantly after the change of ownership, operating results increased,” says Tatiana Bobrovskaya, an analyst at BrokerCreditService. According to her, as was announced after the deal with Mercury, the network opened more than 100 discounters last year. “Dixie's loan portfolio at the end of the year is well balanced. In 2007, the EBITDA margin was 5.3%, and by the end of 2008 it is expected to be 5.4%. At the same time, many retailers show a decrease in the last year,” the expert says. – “Although now Dixy operates at an average level of profitability for retail chains, nevertheless, when compared with other public companies, the margin can be increased to 7 to 8%. So there is something to work on,” she adds.

Moreover, at the end of 2008, the Mercury Group announced its intention to launch another retail project. The company plans to sell franchises in Russia for opening stores under the brand name of the international retail alliance Independent Grocery Alliance (IGA). Last week it became known that Dixy is starting to test the technology of the international IGA in 15 of its stores. Starting next year, Megapolis (part of Mercury Group) plans to conclude contracts with owners of other stores - preliminary negotiations have been held with representatives of 170 companies.

According to Robert May, the Mercury Group also includes Gorevsky GOK in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the largest enterprise in Russia for the extraction of ore and the production of lead and zinc concentrate. GOK is the operator of the Gorevsky polymetallic deposit, which is considered the largest in Russia and the fifth in the world in terms of proven reserves of lead and zinc.

Igor Kesaev also owns the Turboholod enterprise, which specializes in the production of turboexpanders for the gas industry.

The founder of the Mercury Group of Companies continues to maintain ties with North Ossetia - in particular, he is building a cascade of small hydroelectric power stations in this republic in the Urukh river basin. This is the first private investment project in the field of small hydropower in Russia. The total investment in the project is estimated at 10 billion rubles in 2008 prices, 70% of which are investments by Igor Kesaev. It is noteworthy that Sergey Khetagurov signed the construction agreement on behalf of the company.

“If a friend turned up suddenly ...”

In 2008, the American Forbes placed Igor Kesaev on line 962 in the world ranking of billionaires, estimating his fortune at $ 1.2 billion. Compared to last year, the position of the entrepreneur was greatly shaken: he left the list of the richest people in the world. In turn, the Russian magazine Finance estimated his fortune at only $700 million.

“We do not enter into discussions about whether the assessment of the condition is correct or not, all assets belonging to the Mercury Group are known and can be assessed,” says Robert May.

The economic crisis, on the one hand, put Igor Kesaev in a difficult position, and on the other hand, opened up new opportunities: because of his joint business with Shalva Chigirinsky.

Back in 2007, Kesaev became Chigirinsky's partner in several major development projects. In particular, by joint efforts they planned to build a multifunctional complex "Crystal Island" in Moscow with an area of 2 million square meters. m, as well as to reconstruct the territory of New Holland in St. Petersburg.

In addition, Mercury Development has a 300-meter Mercury City Tower with an area of 158,000 sq. m in Moscow City. If in the Crystal Island project Kesaev could only act as a co-investor, then in the New Holland ST he is a co-founder, and the skyscraper completely “hangs” on it. At the moment, all these projects have stalled.

“The main development business of Igor Kesaev was associated with Chigirinsky, which is currently experiencing a serious weakening of the administrative resource. Therefore, Kesaev, as a developer, is in a state of expectation,” says Alexander Pozhalov, head of the project planning department at Moscow Information Technologies. For example, according to him, the Mercury City Tower, which Kesaev is building together with Chigirinsky, was planned to be one of the last to be commissioned. Therefore, Kesaev’s doubts about the implementation of a costly project with a long-term return can be understood.

The fact is that Kesaev's main partner in this business, Shalva Chigirinsky, found himself in a difficult situation with the onset of the financial crisis. As it turned out, in order to implement the construction plans, the head of Russian Land pledged his stake in Sibir Energy. In order not to lose the shares of the oil company, the businessman found a way out - to sell all his development projects to the same Sibir Energy. In response to such plans, Sibir Energy shares on the LSE fell by 60.5%, and the capitalization of the entire company fell to a record $222 million.

Minority shareholders began to threaten management with lawsuits, and the Moscow government openly opposed the deal. Obviously, the capital's officials managed to persuade Igor Kesaev to block Chigirinsky's proposal. As a result, the company's CEO Henry Cameron was suspended from work, and Jones Day and Ernst & Young began investigating his relationship with Chigirinsky.

In addition, according to Ko's sources, the Russian prosecutor's office is already studying Chigirinsky's activities because of his conflict with the federal authorities around the Rossiya Hotel and the Sovetsky Hotel.

Moreover, at the end of 2008, Orton Oil allocated $ 192 million to Chigirinsky to pay off loans, that is, in fact, Igor Kesaev lent money to his partner. At the same time, Kesaev's share in Sibir Energy was pledged in Sberbank back in October 2007 under a $649 million credit line, and in the event of a sharp drop in the company's capitalization (for example, due to the results of inspections), he may lose it due to margin- call.

As Alexander Pozhalov notes, the role of the Moscow government in the fate of the owners of Sibir Energy can become decisive: Moscow Oil Refinery is one of the main budget-forming enterprises in the capital.

“The city does not have the task of having its own oil company, it needs to find a respectable investor who would provide the Moscow Oil Refinery with raw materials in the long term. As a result, it can be assumed that Kesaev, if he decides to participate more closely in the oil business, may well replace Chigirinsky as the main shareholder of SE. And the Moscow government will not interfere with this, ”the expert suggests.

Moreover, according to him, Kesaev, if desired, will become the first contender for control over some of the development assets of his partner.

“In this case, a number of such large projects as the Rossiya Tower in the Moscow City complex, the Nikitsky Pereulok 5 business center, the Passage department store, the Novaya Holland” in St. Petersburg and a number of other facilities in Moscow and the regions,” says Maxim Klyagin, an analyst at Finam Management. Another question is what to do with these assets during the crisis?” (30.03.2009)

Heir Kesaev

The events of recent days show that Kesaev continues to be lucky: the problems of his former partner Shalva Chigirinsky have escalated. In particular, Sibir Energy issued a press release in which it said that "Sibir Energy Oil Company filed a lawsuit in the High Court of London against two former members of the company's board of directors - Shalva Chigirinsky and Henry Cameron." The new management of Sibir Energy wants to return the money "which was withdrawn from the company." The sum of claims fluctuates today from 328 million dollars to 400 million dollars.

Igor Kesaev is an entrepreneur, owner and president of the Mercury Group of Companies.

Assets

development, trade, mechanical engineering, transport services, mining industry (Mercury Group of Companies).

State

Biography

Igor Kesaev was born on October 30, 1966 in Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz) in the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Education

In 1993 - graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

Career

1988 - 1992 1999 - 1999 - Head of the department of insurance of banking operations of the insurance company "Absolut-Moscow", director of the insurance company "Absolut-Moscow", general director of the insurance company "Jupiter".

1991 - created the trading company "Mercury".

Since 1992, he has been the owner and president of the Mercury Group of Companies.

2005 - acquired controlling stakes in two enterprises of the military-industrial complex: Kovrov Mechanical Plant (KMZ) and the Degtyarev Plant.

Through Orton Oil, together with Shalva Chigirinsky, he jointly owned Bennfield Ltd., which controlled 47% of Sibir Energy. Acquired a stake in Sibir Energy from Shalva Chigirinsky in 2005.

2006 - united tobacco business with Megapolis company. .

Together with Shalva Chigirinsky, through the company ST New Holland LLC, he won a competition for the reconstruction of New Holland in St. Petersburg.

In December 2007, the Mercury Group of Companies acquired Dixy from Oleg Leonov (51% - a controlling stake). According to experts, the cost of the transaction amounted to 600 million dollars.

In October 2007, he agreed with Armen Yeganyan on the purchase of his stake in OAO Moscow Wine and Cognac Factory KiN. The cost of the deal was $15 million. Having not received shares in 2010, he filed a complaint with the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress, the reason for which, according to him, was the illegal capture of KiN by initiating a criminal case against Armen Yeganyan. .

2009 - sold his stake in Sibir Energy to Gazprom Neft.

2011 - Dixy bought the Victoria chain of stores. Victoria's shareholders received 13.1% in the combined company and $324 million.

Public activities and awards

President of the National non-profit fund "Monolith". Awarded with the Order of Rev. Sergius of Radonezh III degree and a special medal "For military commonwealth".

Charity

2011 - donated 30 million rubles to the MGIMO Endowment. .

Hobbies

Engaged in extreme sports - heli-skiing, mountaineering.

Drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Family status

Married, three children.

Wife: Stella Kesaeva (Stella Kay).

Notes

The richest businessmen of Russia - 2012
Crooked route "tobacco captain"
How Igor Kesaev consumed cognac
Igor Kesaev parted ways with Sibir Energy
Igor Kesaev invests $1 million in the MGIMO Endowment
Forbes Profile
fencing ceremony

While the rest of Russian oligarchs are feverishly salvaging their assets and asking for help from the state, billionaire Igor Kesaev can afford to maintain the expensive and empty Mercury Tower complex, where tenants do not seek.

The 75-storey Mercury Tower complex stands out against the background of buildings in the Moscow City business center not only for its golden color, but also for the fact that since its construction it has had problems with tenants. For some reason, no one really wanted to rent offices here.

And the news that the Freedom Finance investment company decided to occupy 3,000 sq. m. out of 87.6 thousand sq. m. m, allotted in the building for office space, literally excited the capital's business world, reports The Moscow Post correspondent.

The interest in this news is not accidental - for the past two years, 27.7 thousand square meters have been empty in the Mercury Tower, owned by billionaire Igor Kesaev. m of offices, that is, almost a third of the area. At the same time, over the past three years, only 19.3 thousand square meters have been rented here. m, of which 6.5 thousand square meters. m was occupied by the Dixy supermarket, also owned by Kesaeva. But the construction of the tower itself cost, as the billionaire himself claimed, a billion rubles, and its maintenance also clearly costs a pretty penny.

Meanwhile, experts believe that the reluctance of entrepreneurs to rent offices in Mercury is not due to the crisis, but to the fact that the owner was too harsh in the selection of tenants. Perhaps the whole point is that Igor Kesaev does not want someone to inadvertently see how exactly he conducts his business? The mere fact that all the other rich Russians have been feverishly trying to save their assets lately, and Mr. Kesurin does not even want to rent an office in his tower to anyone, makes one wonder.

"Mercury Tower" Discord

Of course, it can be assumed that Igor Kesaev has a special relationship with the golden tower in Moscow City. After all, it was only Pushkin who had enough of a miraculous monument, and the billionaire Kesurin, perhaps, wanted a more material embodiment of his success. After all, he likes to repeat that he built his business from scratch.

"Mercury Tower" stands out from other buildings in "Moscow City"

That's how it is, but the methods of this "construction", they say, did not always fit into the framework of fair competition. And even the history of the Mercury Tower itself is indicative in this sense.

When the tower was just starting to be built, it had two owners. Together with Kesaev, Vyacheslav Basati owned half of the shares of the complex, he was also the general director of ZAO Mercury Development. But in 2013, Basati suddenly died, and his father, who at that time was 82 years old, became his heir. And within a few months after the death of his son, he lost a solid inheritance.

Now the rights of the heir and his own are being defended by another victim in the struggle for the Mercury Tower - vice-president of the Mercury group of companies Sergey Khetagurov. A well-known person in Russian politics - in the past the head of the government of North Ossetia, a State Duma deputy, a member of the Federation Council. With a request to understand the illegal actions of Mr. Kesaev, from his point of view, Khetagurov turned to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, from where he received answers.

But, according to Khetagurov himself, quoted by Novy Vzglyad, "Kesaev will try to interfere with the investigation, he has a serious financial and administrative resource. Pressure on the investigation is already being exerted on some grounds." It must be assumed that Mr. Kesaev is not the first to act by such methods, because he always liked to surround himself with people from law enforcement agencies.

tobacco captain

They say about Igor Kesaev that he is a very closed figure and prefers not to communicate with the media once again. However, a businessman who made his fortune by selling alcohol, food and tobacco rarely succeeds in avoiding high-profile scandals; Kesaev did not succeed either.

Igor Kesaev

So, in 2011, a scandal erupted around the tobacco business of Mr. Kesaev. At that time, journalists wondered why competitors left the market one after another, and only two companies remained on the Russian tobacco distribution market. One of them is Megapolis, which is part of the Mercury group of companies, owned by Igor Kesaev.

There was only one answer then - good connections with the security forces and former employees of the special services helped. The company itself did not deny these connections. The then adviser to Igor Kesaev on interaction with the media and public organizations, Anatoly Shiryaev, said that it would be wrong to deny "the impact on business of relations with representatives of law enforcement agencies and government bodies," but emphasized that such relations do not replace business management.

However, it was no secret to anyone that Mr. Kesaev is the founder of the Monolith Foundation, which provides material assistance to the widows and families of the dead security officials, a veteran of the special services, and FSB officers. It was only in 2009 that a scandal of local significance occurred around the fund. The then mayor of Kovrov, Irina Tabatskova, in an interview with the regional publication "Vladimirskaya Gazeta" told how the general director of JSC "Plant named after V.A. Degtyarev" (also owned by Kesaev) "pays for the services of the capital's special services and dubious funds from the cash desk of the enterprise."

According to Tabatskova, funds from the sale of social facilities of the city also went to this kind of "charitable" activity: Then "Vladimirskaya Gazeta" wrote that funds like "Monolith" were nothing more than a kind of "common fund" replenished by businessmen who wanted to pay respect to the security forces or to thank them for the services rendered, the Tomiks portal writes.

Scandal around "Dixie" with a stink

Another solid asset of Mr. Kesaev is the Dixy group of companies. Last year, she had two troubles at once, which, against the backdrop of a general crisis, could knock anyone out of the saddle. But not Mr. Kesaev. First, the Portuguese president, Pedro Manuel Pereira da Silva, fled the company. Moreover, he sold his share of the shares. As The Moscow Post wrote then, Pedro simply ran away from Dixie, realizing that the company was doing "left" accounting, and this.

And a little later, one of the sausage producers, Mortadel, accused Dixy of selling products dangerous to the health of Russians through its stores. The scandal erupted due to the fact that the retailer terminated the contract with the manufacturer, motivating the decision by the fact that the partner repeatedly failed to meet delivery deadlines, and, in addition, soy protein, gluten, gelling agents and other substances were found in its products. The sausage makers responded that it was not about the quality of the products, but about the markup, because of which the supplier argued with the retailer.

The scandal reached even the Federation Council, where the vice-president of "Mortadel" Elvira Agurbash spoke. She also said the day before that her company made an independent study of other meat products lying on the shelves of "Dixie" and experts allegedly found E. coli in them. That is, products that are dangerous to the life of consumers. This, in particular, was written by the Skandaly.ru portal.

Is it better not to mess with Kesaev?

It is curious that Dixie did not even react to this accusation. And why? Firstly, the company is sure that the matter will not go further than an emotional speech in the media and in front of senators. The sausage manufacturer will not sue. Firstly, because it was he who put soy protein banned by GOST in his products. And, secondly, it is impossible to prove that this was done by agreement with the seller (according to our information, this is a common practice of reducing the cost of products in retail chains, especially when it comes to so-called private labels).

And thirdly, you can always use proven methods of pressure. In any case, a few years ago, the media wrote that this is how the gentleman tried to get ownership of the KiN wine and cognac factory that interested him. It was said that allegedly the businessman Armen Yeganyan, who owned the key asset of the plant, was first offered by some lawyers on behalf of Kesaev to sell the enterprise for a good sum. Having received a refusal, the lawyers disappeared, but the tax authorities came. Later, they tried to incriminate Yeganyan with ... kidnapping. The case fell apart. Finally, Yeganyan was charged with large-scale fraud.

So it was or not, but only today "KiN" is included in the group of companies "Mercury" of Mr. Kesaev. But among the assets of the billionaire there is also the Orton Oil company, which, along with the capital's government, is the largest shareholder of the oil company Sibir Energy PLC, as well as the same "Plant named after V.A. Degtyarev", which produces military equipment and is one of the twenty largest enterprises Russia. And something is not heard that these assets of Mr. Kesaev had any problems today. Perhaps it's all about the businessman's partners?

Not surprisingly, the tenants do not rush into the "Mercury Tower", and its owner does not suffer much from this. Still, money loves silence. Especially if they are, as they say, obtained by not quite legal methods.

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