Russian Railways and Son: How Andrey Yakunin's Business Was Built. Vladimir Yakunin left, but the family business lives on Andrey Yakunin biography

Information appeared in the domestic and foreign media that Andrei Yakunin could become a figurant in the investigations of various British services and departments. An overview of the latest publications of our colleagues with links to sources, read below.

In early summer, the ex-president of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin unexpectedly gave an interview to the BBC TV channel. In an interview with the host of the Hard Talks program, Stephen Shakur, the former chief railway worker of Russia responded to the accusations made a couple of years ago in the investigation of Navalny's FBK. Yakunin even recalled the famous "fur store", which, according to him, is "Just a small room where furs were kept" .

Yakunin Jr. purchased a mansion in Foggy Albion for 5 million pounds.

If you think about it, what brought Mr. Yakunin to London and made him indulge in explanations in front of the BBC TV camera - on a site where figures close to the Kremlin are clearly not favored? It is possible that the reason for this was "family matters." After all, the ex-head of Russian Railways made excuses not so much for himself as for the elder son Andrey, who lives in London, and with a British passport. The former head of the state monopoly confirmed to the BBC that Yakunin Jr. acquired a £ 5 million mansion in Foggy Albion, and his lifestyle "Not much different from how other people live here" ... But, apparently, not everyone in the British Isles agrees with this interpretation. Someone would like to know more about the "lifestyle" of Andrei Vladimirovich and the sources of his income.

In March 2017, the British financial regulator FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) began an audit of 17 largest credit institutions in the country and their branches abroad in connection with the investigation of the “Moldovan scheme” - the largest shadow capital laundering operation in the post-Soviet space. As a result of the activities of the "circuit engineers" more than $ 20 billion, although in reality the amount may be four times more.

Almost half of the $ 600 million transferred to this country through the Moldovan "laundry" turned out to be on the accounts of Krapivin Jr. in the alpine republic.

The "Scam of the Century" was uncovered by experts of the International Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Project (OCCRP), who named a Russian businessman among the ultimate beneficiaries of the "Moldovan scheme" Alexey Krapivin... This is son Andrey Krapivin, adviser to Vladimir Yakunin when he was the boss of Russian Railways. According to the Swiss edition Beobachter, on the accounts of Krapivin Jr. in the alpine republic there were almost half of $ 600 milliontransferred to this country through the Moldovan "laundry".

According to Versiya's estimates, by mid-2015, the portfolio of structures close to the Krapivins contained orders from Russian Railways for at least 350 billion rubles... Including contracts for the most expensive construction at that time - the project for the development of the BAM and Transsib (the so-called Eastern landfill). But this is the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, in addition to real structures, there were also dummy partners among the partners of the railway monopoly.

The adviser to the head of Russian Railways allegedly placed his people closely connected with the Solntsevo criminal group in good positions.

According to Russian media, Krapivin Sr. had dealings with the infamous billionaire colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko... The adviser to the head of Russian Railways allegedly placed his people closely connected with the Solntsevo criminal group in good positions. A ramified scheme was organized from one-day firms, entered into the list of real contractors, which stole billions of rubles from the monopoly. And it was the colonel who covered the criminal business. And accordingly he received his share. A law enforcement source told Rosbalt that briquettes of $ 200,000 each found at Zakharchenko were “ordered” by two Russian banks, which were closely related to firms that were “contracted” by Russian Railways and its subsidiaries.

But the European financial authorities may have questions not only to the Krapivins, but also to the Yakunins. Today Andrey runs the entire business of the family clan. According to Forbes, his team manages $ 1 billion in assets. Andrey Vladimirovich's current business is concentrated in Venture Investments & Yield Management (VIYM). Second partner VIYM Yair Ziv worked before cFO in the Target Resources investment group. Its main shareholder is an Israeli entrepreneur Nissim Levy was a co-owner of the Austrian forwarding company Far East Land Bridge, which created with a subsidiary of Russian Railways "Transcontainer" joint venture.

The briquettes found at Zakharchenko's for 200 thousand dollars were "ordered" by two Russian banks, which were associated with firms that "sat" on the contracts of Russian Railways

Andrei Yakunin himself told Reuters that he had "absolutely nothing to do" with the Far East Land Bridge. However, the agency found out that one of the logistics operator's sites was registered on Yair Ziva, and the structure used the same address as a number of other VIYM portfolio companies.

It is understandable why Yakunin Jr. denies any involvement in the Far East Land Bridge - this is a thread that can be pulled to establish involvement in fraud around Russian Railways. And who knows where and to whom the investigation of the British Financial Conduct Authority will lead. Is this not a reason for parenting experiences.

Although, as practice shows, Western justice can be very loyal to Russian businessmen who are directly connected with Russian state-owned companies. This clearly demonstrates an example of a pre-trial agreement between the US authorities and our compatriot. Denis Katsyv - businessman and son vice-President of Russian Railways Petr Katsyv.

A picturesque view of the Swiss city of Davos opens from the Jakobshorn mountain, where not the poorest tourists like to relax and ski and snowboard. Venture Investments & Yield Management (VIYM) manager Andrei Yakunin, son of former Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin, flew to Davos in March 2017, but was in no hurry to put on his ski boots, he participated in the opening ceremony of the four-star Spenglers Hotel, named after the local doctor Alexander Spengler. This hotel is another VIYM development project in Europe.

Andrey Yakunin's team manages assets worth $ 1 billion - these are real estate and direct investments (including debt financing). Yakunin says he started the asset management business through unrelated events and coincidences. In 2008 he moved to a new place of residence, London, where he received Executive MBA joint program of the London Business School and Columbia University (USA). When choosing a specialization, he focused on private equity, which was facilitated by fascinating lectures by Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia University and a member of the board of directors of the financial giant Blackrock (assets over $ 5 trillion).

By that time, Yakunin had little experience in the direct investment market, however, taking into account Russian specifics. He worked as the financial director of the Pribaltiyskaya Hotel, the largest hotel in St. Petersburg, when at the end of 2001 the head of the City Property Management Committee Valery Nazarov (who later became a member of the Russian Railways Board of Directors) transferred 51% of its shares to the Water Entertainment Center company without competition. This company undertook to build a water park "Waterville" on the adjacent territory and spent about $ 30 million on it. The remaining 49% of the "Pribaltiyskaya" "Water Entertainment Center" bought from the city for $ 18 million. Yakunin says that the city did not have financial resources and he and other hotel executives made a management buyout. The hunt for hotels in St. Petersburg was serious - among the contenders for "Pribaltiyskaya" was Mark Balazovsky, a confidant of St. Petersburg businessman Mikhail Mirilashvili. In 2006, Yakunin and partners sold Pribaltiyskaya to the Norwegian company Wenaas Holding for an estimated $ 100 million. Officially, the names of Yakunin's partners were not disclosed.

The investors of Venture Investments & Yield Management, Yakunin's current business, are also unknown. He says that these are wealthy private investors associated with Israeli business, but not related to Russia. They were attracted by the second partner of VIYM, Yair Ziv, who had connections in Israel and London. He has worked for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Target Resources Investment Group and Meridian Commodities. The main owner of Target Resources, where Yair Ziv was a minority shareholder and CFO, is an Israeli entrepreneur Nissim Levi, who co-owned the Austrian forwarding company Far East Land Bridge before the Russian Railways Group became its main owner with a 75% stake.

Yakunin and Ziv initially had about $ 100 million in funds from private deals, including their personal savings. They chose two areas of investment for their company - hotels and high-growth small and mid-cap companies. The partners formulated investment priorities for VIYM: in private equity, these are transactions from € 5 million to € 15 million with shares from 25% plus 1 share to 49% of shares with companies with revenues of $ 10 million or more, and in hotel properties - investments from $ 20-75 million shares from 25% to 100%. Yakunin clarifies that the fund does not invest in companies operating in industries with strong government influence or regulation or one key consumer.

One of the first investment experiences for VIYM was an estimated $ 10 million deal with Viktor Kozyrev's St. Petersburg agricultural holding. His companies provided funds for the construction of a complex for processing and packaging cereals in the Krasnodar Territory. When exiting the project in 2015, according to Yakunin, investments doubled. Almost simultaneously, VIYM invested in the construction of an elite residential complex "Vodoley" in Sestroretsk, where the former head of the "Ozero" cooperative Igor Ballandovich became a partner.

After the first successful deals, VIYM organized two Luxembourg funds: in 2012 - the VIYM Greater Europe Hospitality Fund, and in 2014 - VIYM Growth Fund for investments in companies in Russia, the Baltic States and the CIS (management fee is 2% plus 20% for success). In 2016, the total volume of funds was about $ 200 million. According to Yakunin, the investors of the funds are qualified investors who are ready to invest amounts from € 10 million. Yakunin and Ziv have invested in VIYM and their own funds, their share is at least 20% of the initial assets. “This is a condition that we have discussed with our investors. We dream of the time when we can raise funds by investing 1-2% of our own funds. In today's realities this is unattainable, ”says Yakunin.

VIYM Growth Fund invested in a dozen russian companies... Among them, for example, the Family Doctor medical clinic and the paper products manufacturer Syktyvkar Tissue Group (see all and). Now VIYM Growth Fund has $ 15-20 million of free money, which is enough for several more projects in Russia.

Most big deals Yakunin are associated with the hotel business. One of the latest projects is the sale of Regional hotel chain”(RGS), which includes nine hotels operated by Park Inn, Marriott and Holiday Inn. In 2016, AFK Sistema bought RGS for 6.6 billion rubles (the company's debt at that time was 4 billion rubles). RGS was created with the participation of railway workers: in 2009, Zheldoripoteka, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, sold RGS plots of land for hotels.

The most famous project of Andrey Yakunin - the hotel - is located in the famous "house with lions" in the center of St. Petersburg, which in 2004 was rented for 49 years from the Administrative Department of the President of the Russian Federation for 1.2 billion rubles (i.e. 90 rubles for 1 sq. m per year). Yakunin runs it outside of the Luxembourg foundations. Lease rights belong to Tristar Investment Holdings, Yakunin is its minority shareholder. The main beneficiaries were not disclosed. Investments in the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace amounted, according to Yakunin, $ 250 million, part of the money was provided by VTB. VIYM is considering options for exiting the project. The hotel is estimated at $ 400 million.

Nevertheless, Yakunin is pessimistic about the prospects for the Russian real estate market. “The actions of the Central Bank with the cost and availability of credit resources have a huge impact on the real estate market,” says Yakunin. - It is difficult and expensive to hedge the ruble risk. I would not like to be left with bare currency risk with the inconsistent and unpredictable policy of the national macro-regulator. "

However, most of Yakunin's time and effort is still being taken away by European projects. The VIYM Greater Europe Hospitality Fund has invested in the Italian premium project Antognolla Luxury Resort and Residences - the reconstruction of a medieval estate in Umbria (investments will amount to € 150 million), as well as in the Austrian four-star hotel Park Royal Palace Hotel. The fund is also looking closely at hotels in Holland, Germany and other Western European countries.

What complicates business development? Andrei Yakunin remains a politically exposed person (PEP) according to European standards, and investors and regulators pay attention to this status. In addition, in March 2014, his father, Vladimir Yakunin, was on the US sanctions list. Yakunin Jr. calls this "demotion without a court decision" and compares it with the repressions in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. But this did not prevent the sons of the former head of Russian Railways from gaining a foothold in Europe. Andrei received British citizenship, his brother Victor has a Cyprus passport in his pocket. Unsurprisingly, Andrei Yakunin spent £ 33 million on personal property in London.

ALL PHOTOS

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Regional Hotel Chain LLC Andrey Yakunin (left) and President of JSC Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin at the opening ceremony of the Park Inn by Radisson hotel in Novosibirsk, June 24, 2015
RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev

Over the 12 years of Vladimir Yakunin's work at Russian Railways, his son Andrei has become a major entrepreneur, whose VIY Management fund manages assets worth $ 400 million. Many of VIYM's projects may be associated with Russian Railways.

"We are for the children of railway workers to work in the railway transport"

We will remind, in July 2013, opposition leader Alexei Navalny said in his blog that he turned to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to check the information that: he claimed that Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and his relatives allegedly built a "giant business empire" using offshore companies.

Navalny wrote that the Yakunin family, in particular, owns a chain of Regional Hotel Chain hotels located on the landside in a number of cities of the Russian Federation, which is managed by the son of the head of Russian Railways, Andrey Yakunin.

At the same time, Navalny referred to statements about this by the Yakunins themselves, according to which there are no business ties between Andrei Yakunin and the state monopoly, the head of Russian Railways has no ties with his son's business, and three railway station hotels - in Kazan, Astrakhan and Izhevsk relations with Russian Railways.

Further, Navalny writes about the "house with lions" on Voznesensky Prospekt in St. Petersburg - this building, according to his Anti-Corruption Fund, was leased by the Presidential Administration for an indefinite lease to a closed joint-stock company with which the Yakunin structures are also associated. And the company, also owned by Andrei Yakunin, was involved in attracting investments in the project for the reconstruction of an architectural monument.

Under pressure from public opinion, the head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin in the spring of 2015 even ordered to end nepotism in the structures of the company he heads in two weeks.

"Russian Railways" are famous for their labor dynasties, but the continuity of generations should not be replaced by nepotism, favoritism has no place in Russian Railways, - the website of Russian Railways quoted Yakunin Sr. - We are for the fact that we have a dynasty. We are for the children of railway workers to work in the railway transport. But it is completely unacceptable, in my opinion, is the situation when a family member works under the guidance of another family member: "a son under a father," "a wife under a husband," etc. "

Recall that on August 17 it became known that the head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin sent a telegram to his colleagues, in which he informed about the received proposal to become a senator and the possible departure from the monopoly. The telegram noted that the final decision would be made by the Russian leadership.

In this regard, the Carnegie Moscow Center recalls what legacy one of the people closest to President Putin leaves behind.

The investment budget of Russian Railways for 2015 is 414 billion rubles. The company generates about 3% of the country's GDP. German and Italian high-speed trains began to run along several old, but modernized lines, the external and internal views of stations, train stations, carriages became much more decent, the schedule is being observed.

However, the main results are paralysis in suburban passenger transportation at the beginning of the year, although both for them and for long-distance passenger transportation, Russian Railways annually receives subsidies - in 2015, almost 80 billion rubles.

In 2014, the company lost 44 billion rubles, in 2015 it will not receive another 32 billion rubles, although its tariffs increased by 10% - more than that of other monopolies.

At the same time, Vladimir Yakunin constantly asked the state for help: in 2008, due to the crisis, he asked to buy out infrastructure bonds at the expense of the Bank of Russia and give the company loans for infrastructure projects from Vnesheconombank's money. In 2010 - to increase tariffs for transportation not by 9%, but by 12.1%, and also to give subsidies for 50 billion rubles. In 2011 - to change the taxation model of the company so that it pays less income tax; in 2012 - to zero the value added tax on suburban passenger transportation. In 2015, when electric trains in many regions of the country simply stopped, the government allocated almost 65 billion rubles of state support to Russian Railways.

The eldest son of the ex-head of Russian Railways spoke about his home in England, relations with his father and "risky" investments in Russian assets

Andrei Yakunin, the eldest son of the former head of Russian Railways, became known after an investigation published by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), in which he was named "the only" official businessman in the Yakunin family "managing assets allegedly purchased using the resources of Russian Railways. FBK materials were transferred to the Investigative Committee, and the head of VIY Management, Andrei Yakunin, told Dengi magazine about business and relations with his father in his first interview.

Andrey Yakunin was born in 1975, graduated from the Faculty of Economics of St. state university, later received an MBA from London Business School and Columbia University Business School. In 2006, together with Yair Ziv, he founded Venture Investments & Yield Management (VIYM), specializing in the management of private equity funds in hotel real estate and real sector companies. Now VIYM manages two funds registered in Luxembourg, with assets of € 200 million. Andrey Yakunin lives in London with his wife, son and daughter. Has two citizenships - Russia and Great Britain.

"I was on the other side of the deal."

The abbreviation of the name of your foundation - VIY - are these the initials of your father, Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin?

Of course. RGS ("Regional Hotel Chain", one of the company's projects, which includes nine hotels) also tried to decipher as "easel hand grenade launcher". In fact, of course, it has nothing to do with the father's name. The name of our management company is Venture Investments & Yield Management.

Please tell us about the history of foundation of funds owned by your company and to what extent your family's money is related to their creation.

If by my family you mean me and my wife, then our money, yes, is relevant. When the business started, and this was ten years ago, there was not much of my money, mainly client money was attracted for assets. But as co-investment platforms and funds developed, the amount of the team members' own money began to grow. And then we got the status of a registered fund in Luxembourg. Under the terms of the existence of such funds, the managers (AIFM) invest 100% of their own funds in the creation of a management company with an EU passport to attract investments in Europe. And directly in funds, this figure can be significantly lower ...

And how much money is in the funds now?

We have now invested about € 100 million in the Hospitality Real Estate fund in Eastern and Western Europe and about € 100 million in the size of the Growth Equities fund. At the same time, the share of managers of the team varies from fund to fund depending on the riskiness of the strategy and the consensus of investors on our share of skin in the game (the practice in which managers buy shares of their own companies - "Money").

Who is “us” after all?

The co-founders of the investment advisor and VIYM Management Company are me and my partner Yair Ziv. Yair and I both started this business together and continue.

It is known that Yair Ziv is an Israeli, has lived in London for a long time, is engaged in real estate investments. How did you meet?

I met through friends, as it happens. I worked as the director of the Pribaltiyskaya hotel, they built the Waterville water park, and it was decided that the project would be led further by other people with different profitability benchmarks. Around the same time I got my MBA from London Business School, one of the courses was in direct investment in emerging markets. And we decided to try to create a company that would be looking for investment opportunities with good returns. Yair had a fairly large established base of contacts of investors who, in principle, considered risky deals in Eastern Europe and Russia.

The press wrote that you were not just the director of the Pribaltiyskaya Hotel, but its co-owner ...

I don’t know which specific source you are referring to, but having spent more than seven years of my life transforming a post-Soviet hotel into a modern hotel complex, I had the opportunity to participate in the realized investment profit upon exiting the project.

By the way, I am now trying to use exactly this principle when building the motivation of managers and directors of all companies in which we have invested: a significant share of their remuneration in a project is tied not to the process, but to the end result.

During the first few years of the foundations' existence, you purchased and built nine hotels. FBK's investigations say that these hotels were located on the lands of Russian Railways, and the construction was financed by the structures of Russian Railways.

I would not call it an investigation. If there is a lot of information, then by proper packaging it is possible to highlight either one aspect or the other. Depending on the goal and the audience to which the information product is oriented, based on the same facts, completely different pictures can be presented. My classic example: we, for example, have a hotel in Astrakhan ("Park Inn by Radisson Astrakhan" .- " Money"), which a respected admirer of my modest talents calls it located next to the railway station. The fact is located. It is only part of the motor transport station complex. And we bought the site from the bus workers, not from the "steam locomotive". Why is it not interesting to anyone that this hotel is located not just nearby, but in the same complex with the bus station? There are sites that were bought through Zheldoripoteka when there was a reduction, sale of property and land plots associated with a well-known corporation. So what?

Well, probably the fact that these sites were bought without tenders or at suspiciously low prices ...

I was on the other side of the deal, and it was important for me that we do it according to the rules set by the property seller. And that this does not pose risks for me, of course. If a competition was required, then we took part in it. If external evaluation was required, we followed this path. And it was not we who appointed the appraisers - the seller had an approved list, and we, in principle, did not care which of them would do a specific job.

But this external assessment was often a little strange. For example, a historic mansion, the famous "house with lions" in the center of St. Petersburg, where your Four Seasons hotel is now located, the fund received 90 rubles each. per sq. m ...

You see, if Russian society appraisers (ROO) made a complaint to one of its members that this assessment was made with gross violations of standards, that would be one story. If we had five comparable deals and four of them were significantly higher or lower, it would also be very interesting to talk about this. What to talk about in this particular case, I do not quite understand.

Do you know what the “house with lions” was like at the time of assessment? Firstly, the lack of ownership is a long-term lease today. Secondly, this building, to put it mildly, was not kept in the best condition. During its post-war history, it managed to visit a potato storage, a school and a design institute. For some of the main supporting structures, wear was more than 80%. And there was a limitation on use. And at that time nothing was bought in St. Petersburg except residential real estate. And so we got this assessment.

"We live in a different part of London"

No matter how you feel about Navalny's investigation, his materials have already been transferred to the Investigative Committee ...

Probably, then it makes sense to address the relevant question there. I personally do not know that law enforcement agencies were interested in the activities of our management company or the companies that were the objects of our investments.

Does your relationship with your dad even affect your business?

According to existing norms, I am PEP, a politically exposed person (in this case, a relative of a politically exposed person. "Money"). This is a fact, and it causes certain inconveniences. But it is also a definite plus, I can tell you. Once we have been granted AIFM status for the foundation, anyone can investigate, although we can dig deeper than the CSSF (Luxembourg Financial Sector Oversight Commission - "Money"), hardly anyone can. Because they are much more serious than if none of us were PEP, they checked all our sources of funding, investors and connections from positions international standards corporate governance. In addition, we have serious partners in all our hotel assets. In the RGS, for example, we mainly work with the International Hotel Group, a public company, and, of course, their compliance (internal control service - "Money") checked us in full, including regarding the risks associated with affiliation with his father. So, there are no such risks.

They say that you are going to sell hotels, and even the buyer is called Intourist VAO, which is part of Sistema JSFC Vladimir Yevtushenkov.

From time to time, according to our investment strategies, we exit some projects. Agro-Alliance, for example, was sold simply because the time had come to sell and a favorable offer for us was received. If a crazy offer on hotels arrives that suits us, naturally, we will not refuse. But now such proposals do not fly especially ... With AFK Sistema we work together on a very small hotel market, respectively, we are familiar and communicate, and we know that they might be interested in some of our projects. But it didn’t come close to specific deals.

That is, get out of russian business will fail in the near future?

We are not going to. It would be strange, because we just have a Russian mandate for the Growth Equities fund, namely, the share of Russian assets is up to 80%, therefore, with the exception of some cataclysms, we are moving forward. Yes, we are building up our overseas portfolio, now we have facilities in Vienna, Switzerland and Italy, and I think another project will appear by the end of the year. But also in Russia will enter at least one more asset. So there is growth in all directions.

The press is discussing a £ 23 million mansion in London, which you own along with properties in Austria, Switzerland and Italy ...

I don’t quite understand why this particular property has generated such intense interest. I do have certain personal savings, and I do not invest all my funds in the development and growth of VIY Management. In today's market, which is characterized by extremely low rates on Fixed Income (constant fixed income - "Money"), multidirectional movement of the main stock indexes of emerging markets and the uncertainty in the American stock market, overexposure (here - increased interest, inclination. "Money") to alternative investments is an acceptable and reasonable strategy, which I personally consider to be quite low-risk. This mansion was acquired precisely to close a position on European real estate, since I always prefer direct investments to various REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust - real estate investment funds. - "Money") and similar tools. Due to the current volatility of the London real estate market following the Brexit referendum, I hope that interesting options for this position may appear in the foreseeable future. Its closure is not associated with any personal difficulties for us, since we live in a different part of London and in a different house.

"Father has a colossal network of contacts"

Let's get back to Russian investments. In your lobby you have a model of a huge new residential area on Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway. Are you going to implement it?

The layout dates back to the times when Moscow real estate was in price. Fortunately, we did not have time to collect debts for the implementation of this project. Now we are at the stage of building permission, so it is a little easier for us. With other projects we have, as they say, a claw bogged down, we need to move forward. And here there is an opportunity to look a little more closely at the market and simply not miss the moment when there is a feeling that the downward trend has at least stabilized.

What other segments are you going to invest in?

Now we find the industries related to services for the population very interesting. And here we are looking primarily at healthcare and education. In healthcare, we have a minority stake in the Family Doctor network of clinics. We will definitely look at another company in this direction. On educational topics, we think there is a very good segment in short-term courses and in online learning platforms. We are now looking at two specific companies: one is in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry. "Money"), the second - in the field of agro-industrial production, it is in the North-West.

How is the selection of objects for investment carried out? Do you use family ties to search for objects, for consultations?

We use classical methods of company valuation. At the same time, no one has canceled the charm of the notebook. And of course, my father has an enormous network of contacts. And when you manage to get to know someone, interesting stories can grow out of it. But this also has a downside: when you use someone else's contact book, there is also a certain conceptual obligation, which in the same way affects any stories that may or may not arise from this. In addition, in the industries in which we work, it turns out that our team has at least no worse contact network and we can find interesting partners. This is a natural process of growth and evolution.

How different are your views on politics and economics in our country with your father?

Views ... We don't talk much about this. We don't see much. If these are family meetings, then grandchildren and family affairs are in priority. As they say, if you want to ruin your dinner, start a conversation about politics. But after dinner we talk. And it would be strange if our views completely coincided on these things.

Where do you agree?

I don't really like talking about politics, I mostly prefer about the economy. My father and I agree that it is impossible to build a normal business with a loan price of 18%. And the fact that it is probably illegal or unethical to engage in those businesses that can provide servicing of such loans.

Where do you differ?

Well, for example, I say that the deficit of the money supply affects the restraint of economic growth in the country, and these arguments are not very close to my father. But I am not close to the idea that the creation of greenhouse conditions for the development of some industries is in the long term a positive process for the national economy. Or I think that hoping that the country's financial system, which accounts for about 5-7% of the world economy, can remain closed, contradicts common sense... Therefore, it is a myth to plan any processes that imply closeness and hope for a low impact of external shocks. My father and I also differ in our ideas about how permissible it is to use sovereign funds to cover the gap in current cash flows, again, to finance government spending. But I think that if you ask any random sample of father-son pairs in which sons are 35-45 and fathers are 65-75, then the differences in these positions will be approximately the same everywhere.

But your couple is special. What views does your brother hold?

It's better to ask him.

Where does he work now?

It is also better to ask him that.

Are you in a quarrel?

No. We play tennis with great pleasure, and after Victor made the decision to leave our company, we decided not to talk about work.

Doesn't he work at Gunvor anymore?

He hasn't worked there for a hundred years. This I know for sure.

How has your social circle changed after your father's resignation?

You know, I always try very hard to divide people into those with whom it is pleasant and interesting for me to communicate at work, and those with whom it is pleasant and interesting for me to communicate outside of work. And if we climbed mountains with some people who were related to the company where my father worked, then we will climb the mountains and next year... As for intersections at work, both I kept a respectful distance from them, and today I absolutely do not see why I should make any new connections and business interests there. He, perhaps, could have some changes, but I just do not have the information to clearly comment on something.

Are you related to social activities Vladimir Ivanovich?

Naturally, I know about this, but I personally do not participate, since I have something that interests me myself in my free time from work and family. For example, an initiative to develop the market for alternative investments and long-term capital in the country through the creation and development of an association of participants in the market of alternative investments in the areas of hedge funds, private equity, venture capital and other asset classes (NAURAN). In the same way, we started a story with the creation of an association of SPbU graduates. This is what I'm interested in and what I do.

Maria Glushenkova, Ekaterina Drankina

Obolensky Sergey

Last week, the ex-head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin denied forbes magazine information that he earned $ 11 million last year as head of Russian Railways. His representative explained that this amount is actually much more modest - only $ 2.4 million. But we are talking about his personal legal income at the main, as they say, place of work.

Information about what appeared before his resignation. They wrote about restaurant business, and about the railway station, about purchases, leases, etc. However, until now, few people know that, on the basis of the license agreement dated November 26, 2012, only two companies received the right to sell electronic train tickets from Russian Railways - Universal Financial System LLC ( UFS) and Electronic Ticket LLC. Only two firms in the whole country. And in fact, there is only one, since, firstly, Electronic Ticket quietly retired from business, and secondly, both LLCs had a common manager - Dmitry Vitchinka - and the founder - an offshore company AM Abukers Limited, registered in Nicosia , Cyprus.

Formally, a certain Vera Lissiotis, a Cypriot lawyer, is hiding behind such a successful offshore. However, even last year, quite convincing assumptions appeared in the press that the woman was behind the family of Vladimir Yakunin. Painfully often, the business interests of the Cypriot Vera intersected with the projects of VIY Management (Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin), owned by the eldest son of the ex-head of Russian Railways Andrey Yakunin... It is not for nothing that representatives of the tourism industry seriously believe that it is Andrei Yakunin who is behind OOO UFS. And this UFS, despite the resignation of Yakunin Sr., continues to feed on the monopoly.

Why feed? Because, in essence, now you can buy a train ticket only in three ways - directly at the ticket office, on the Russian Railways website, or also via the Internet, but already through the ufs-online system owned by the Moscow UFS. A year ago, this company admitted that in just 9 months the system was able to pass 6 million tickets through itself. It is used by more than 5,000 Russian companies, including large retailers and tour operators, who are forced to pay an agency fee to the UFS - there are no more alternatives. And since the Russian Railways website often fails, potential passengers sometimes have no alternatives.

Considering that the UFS itself also collects a service fee from buyers, experts, for example, estimated the company's revenue in only 9 months of last year at 2 billion rubles. And if Russian Railways had not given this business to intermediaries, billions would not have gone into someone else's pocket, but would have gone to the benefit of the state company and ordinary passengers. However, according to the SKRIN database, net profit UFS after taxation last year amounted to 261.7 million rubles, which can also be considered a good increase in wages. Enough even for life in London, where Andrei Yakunin settled, not to mention life in Russia, where Vladimir Yakunin still remains.

At the same time, despite the resignation of Vladimir Yakunin, the new leadership of Russian Railways is still in no hurry to revise the intermediary's essentially monopoly on the sale of its tickets. On the contrary, the percentage of these sales through the electronic system "UFS" in the next two years promises to double, depriving the budget of billions, and passengers - tens and hundreds of rubles.

According to one version, Yakunin Sr. was forced to resign after his son applied for British citizenship... With such a son and such an increase in pension, you can afford to retire, remaining with money.

Original of this material
© IA "RBK", 08/18/2015

Russian Railways and Son: how Andrey Yakunin's business was built

Petr Mironenko

Over the 12 years of Vladimir Yakunin's work at Russian Railways, his son Andrey has become a major entrepreneur - his fund VIY Management manages assets worth $ 400 million. RBC recalled which of VIYM's projects may be associated with Russian Railways.

Railway station hotels

The "official" businessman in the Yakunin family is the eldest son of the Russian Railways president, Andrei. He was born in 1975, graduated from the Faculty of Economics of St. Petersburg State University in 1997, then received an MBA at the London Business School. Yakunin Jr.'s PhD thesis was devoted to the hotel business. It was this business that he took up in St. Petersburg in the early 2000s.

In the first half of the 2000s, Andrei Yakunin was the executive director (and, according to the newspaper Delovoy Peterburg, also co-owner) of the Pribaltiyskaya hotel. In 2006 the hotel together with the Waterville water park on Vasilievsky Island were sold for $ 100 million to the Norwegian company Wenaasgruppen AS. The seller, according to Delovoy Petersburg, was the offshore company Chona Holdings Limited. This name, according to "DP", coincided with the first legal entity Fund Venture Investment and Yield Management (VIYM), founded by Andrey Yakunin together with investor Yair Ziv in the same 2006.

According to the official VIYM website, Andrei Yakunin and Yair Ziv remain partners of the foundation even now. The scope of the fund's activities has expanded over ten years. Assets under its management VIYM on its website estimates at $ 400 million, loans attracted for projects - at $ 600 million. The VIYM project portfolio on the fund's website contains investments in agribusiness (agro-industrial holding Agro-Alliance, investment project completed), in paper production ( Syktyvkar Tissue Group ranks third in Russia in the production of toilet paper, according to the VIYM website), in gold mining (the Zolotaya League company, which owns licenses for deposits in the Khabarovsk Territory with reserves of 7.1 tons) and the production of chocolate and confectionery handmade (French Kiss company with 19 boutiques in Moscow). But VIYM's main assets are still in the hotel business - the fund has stakes in the first hotel in St. Petersburg under the Four Seasons brand, opened in the restored historic Lobanov-Rostovsky mansion in the city center, three hotels in Europe (in Vienna, Davos and the Italian Umbria ), as well as the company "Regional Hotel Chain" (RGS). The latter, as stated on the VIYM website, is developing a project "to create the largest regional hotel chain in Russia in the middle price category, providing services under leading international brands."

The business of the RGS is closely related to the Russian Railways, Reuters wrote in its 2012 investigation. In 2009, Yakunin's structures agreed with Rezidor on a joint project to create a hotel chain in Russian regions. The volume of investments was supposed to be $ 500 million, the chain was supposed to include 20 hotels. Premises for most of the hotels, located near the central city stations, were found by RGS, a subsidiary of Russian Railways - Zheldoripoteka, which was created for the construction and distribution of housing among Russian Railways employees.

The fact of cooperation with Zheldoripoteka was confirmed to Reuters by Andrei Yakunin himself. At the same time, he stipulated that there was no conflict of interest related to the place of work of his father, although he admitted in an interview with Reuters that "he understands the fears about the possible benefits of him." "I don't get money from them [Russian Railways], I pay them," Yakunin Jr. told the agency.

Friendly co-investor

He invested in the construction of hotels, including the fund " RWM Capital”, Created in the structures of Russian Railways and controlled part of the former non-core assets of the state monopoly. One of the shareholders of RVM Capital is NPF Blagosostoyanie, which maintains pension accounts of Russian Railways. The details of the terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The website of RVM Capital indicates that in 2011 control over CJSC IG Rosvagonmash, the main shareholder of CJSC MC RVM Capital, passed to the company's management. We are talking about the chairman of the board of directors of the investment group Sergei Orlov, who simultaneously occupies the position of Yakunin's advisor. Orlov worked with Andrey Yakunin back in the early 2000s, when he consulted on legal issues the management of the Pribaltiyskaya hotel, and later was a member of its board of directors, Orlov himself told Vedomosti in 2013. And after the sale of "Pribaltiyskaya" and the founding of VIYM, Orlov moved to work there. Forbes magazine wrote, citing an acquaintance of Vladimir Yakunin, that Orlov is the nephew of the wife of the head of Russian Railways Natalia (Orlov did not comment on this). In an interview with Vedomosti, Orlov did not deny that RVM Capital invested in the projects of the son of the head of the state monopoly, but pointed out that the fund was formed long before his arrival.

To date, according to the official website of the RGS, the company has opened 9 hotels in Russian regional centers. 7 of them operate under the Park Inn brand and one each under the Marriott and Holiday Inn brands.

Logistic operator

Another business of Andrey Yakunin connected with Russian Railways is Far East Land Bridge, wrote Reuters in its 2012 investigation. This transport company established a joint venture with a subsidiary of Russian Railways "TransContainer", which was supposed to specialize in the transportation of goods by land route between Europe and Asia. Subsequently, TransContainer sold its stake to Russian Railways Logistics.

Andrei Yakunin himself told Reuters that he had "absolutely nothing to do" with FELB, but the agency noted that one of the sites of the logistics operator was registered in the name of Yakunin Jr.'s partner Yair Ziv, and the documents showed that the structure registered in Cyprus used the same secretary and the same address as a number of other VIYM portfolio companies.

Now Andrei Yakunin, as his father said in an interview with Gazeta.ru in 2014, lives in London. “My oldest son lives abroad. Has been living for a long time. He left St. Petersburg in not the most blissful times. I have already spoken on this topic. When he came and said that he had made such a decision, he needed it for his work, for his investment activities, I did not feel any joy about this, ”said the President of Russian Railways.