The success story of Zakhar Smushkina, the founder of the largest pulp and paper company Ilim. Farewell to the king of the forest The history of the formation of the Ilim company

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

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

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

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

Business

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

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

By creating the largest vertically integrated timber corporation in Russia, Zakhar Smushkin developed his business in the field of trade. He founded the Domovoy supermarket chain in St. Petersburg, selling household goods and small household appliances. In addition, the “timber magnate” became a member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, where he headed the commission on the timber industry complex and forestry of Russia.

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

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

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

In 2015, fresh news appeared about the progress of the construction of the city of Yuzhny. Smushkin’s company “Start Development” signed a memorandum with the American corporation IBM, which produces and supplies hardware and software, on the implementation of the urban concept “Smart City” during the construction of Yuzhny. This concept consists of integrating the Internet of Things and a number of other communication and information technologies into the city management system.

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

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

While managing to clearly manage his business, Zakhar Davidovich did not abandon his scientific activities. The businessman is an Honorary Professor at the State Technological University of Plant Polymers in St. Petersburg and an Honorary Doctor of Science at the St. Petersburg Forestry University named after. In addition, Zakhar Smushkin received a seat as a member of the Supervisory Board of the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics.

Personal life

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

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

Zakhar Smushkin now

At the end of 2016, an art exhibition opened in the arena of the Small Hermitage, the exhibits of which were works from the private collection of Zakhar Smushkin. The exhibition was called “Perfection in the details. The Art of Japan during the Meiji Era (1868 – 1912)” and included works of decorative and applied art. These are 700 items from the specified era. The materials used varied and included metals with various processing techniques, ceramics, as well as decoration with enamels and varnishes.

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

At the same time, for the first time, the businessman himself, in his own words, finally saw the exhibits of the art collection in full regalia and displayed in all their splendor. Zakhar Smushkin had not even really seen some of the objects before, since the collection items were stored in a specialized warehouse.

In addition, it is known that the businessman also has a collection of Russian art from the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries and contemporary art. The businessman also admitted to reporters that in the future he plans to advance even further in the cultural sphere and even open a full-fledged private museum. Smushkin has no doubt that the museum will appear in the businessman’s famous project - the city of Yuzhny, but in parallel with this, the billionaire is negotiating with the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko about the creation of a new large museum of contemporary art inside St. Petersburg.

Condition assessment

In the same 2016, Zakhar Smushkin took sixth place in the ranking of billionaires of “Business Petersburg”. The magazine "City" also included the billionaire in the ranking of the most influential businessmen of St. Petersburg, with Zakhar Smushkin annually making it into the top ten, and in 2013 and 2014 he even topped this list.

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the pulp and paper mill OJSC Ilim Group.

The story of entrepreneur Zakhar Smushkin

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich went through a thorny path from a simple specialist to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the largest concern in the forest industry - Ilim Group.

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

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

It was in the middle of the difficult 90s that Zakhar Smushkin’s company, under his strict leadership, grew to a federal scale. Thanks to the active implementation of modern technologies and a vertically integrated structure, Ilim was able to successfully compete with the largest forestry organizations in Russia and Europe.

Interview with Zakhar Smushkin

In 2001, Zakhar Smushkin took the chair of the chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Ilim Group. In 2003, he was awarded the title of honorary doctor of the St. Petersburg Forestry Academy.

Personal life of Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Davidovich is married, the couple raised a son. As for Smushkin’s hobbies, the entrepreneur enjoys chess and tennis, and also collects paintings.

Zakhar Smushkin now

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

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

Biography

Own

Partners

Competitors

Area of ​​interest

Biography

In 1984 Graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry and remained in graduate school.

Simultaneously with his postgraduate studies, he worked in distribution at the NPO Gidrolizprom.

Since 1990 worked at the St. Petersburg company Tekhnoferm-Engineering as head of the technology department.

April 30, 1992 CJSC Ilim Pulp Enterprise (IPE) was registered, in which 50% of the shares belonged to the Technoferm-Engineering company, 40% to the Swiss company Intertsez, and 10% to the Ust-Ilimsk LPK (Irkutsk region). CJSC Ilim Pulp was a small company engaged in the export of paper products. As established by the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Intertsez company was registered in Switzerland on July 1, 1991. with an authorized capital of 50 thousand francs. According to numerous media publications, the owners of the company are Zakhar Smushkin, Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich.

From 1992 to 2001 Smushkin is the General Director of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC.

At the same time, Zakhar Smushkin began the formation of a timber industry holding. “Soon the owners of Ilim Pulp realized that they couldn’t make big profits from small-scale trading. Their gaze turned to the forest. Timber industry enterprises were then distributed practically free of charge. Over the course of several years, the holding managed to acquire ownership of about 30 logging enterprises" (Kommersant, 2002).

Ilim Pulp managers were primarily interested in the Ust-Ilimsk Timber Processing Complex. However, it was possible to buy his IPE only after 8 years. The first large plant to be acquired by IPE in 1994 was the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, the second was Bratskcomplexholding (Bratsky LPK).

In 1994 Ilim Pulp received a state stake in the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill. According to media reports, taking advantage of the illness of the plant director, Zakhar Smushkin and the Zingarevich brothers are buying up shares of the pulp and paper mill. Then an investment competition was held, the only participant of which was Ilim Pulp. Under obligations to invest more than 180 billion rubles. into production, the partners receive a state-owned stake in the pulp and paper mill.

In 1997 it was the turn of the Bratsk timber processing plant. The famous St. Petersburg businessman Dmitry Varvarin (killed in 2000) has been with him since 1990. there was a joint Russian-American company Orimi-Wood, which was considered the leader in the production and export of lumber in the North-West of Russia. By 2000 Orimi included about fifty companies, many of which worked in the timber industry; the company owned more than 30% of the shares of the brotherly plant. Zakhar Smushkin offered Dmitry Varvarin an exchange of these shares for a stake in Ilim Pulp, Varvarin agreed. As a result, an additional share issue was carried out, and the stake of the new partner was diluted.

Since January 2001 Zakhar Smushkin - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC

Since April 11, 2001 – Member of the Expert Council on Economic Development and Investment under the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

At the end of 2001 The team of Vladimir Krupchak, who controls the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, made a fundamental decision to merge with IPE. It is assumed that Krupchak will receive in return at least 25% of the shares of IPE. But then the process slowed down, and soon Vladimir Krupchak sold a large stake in APPM to the St. Petersburg Banking House, and the association became irrelevant.

Soon, a confrontation between Ilim Pulp Enterprise and Oleg Deripaska’s structures began for the largest components of the Ilim Pulp holding - the Bratsk Timber Processing Plant and the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill.

December 21, 2001 According to the claim of a private individual Liana Oganesyan, satisfied by the Nizhny Novgorod court, bailiffs, with the help of armed guards, removed General Director Sergei Khvostikov from the management of the Bratsk timber industry complex, and former director Georgy Trifonov was reinstated in his place. The seizure of power at the plant was followed by a lawsuit by Irkutskenergo, whose major shareholders are the owners of Russian Aluminum, for the bankruptcy of the Bratsk Timber Plant. The basis was Trifonov’s termination of the agreement to restructure LPK’s debts to the energy company in the amount of more than 750 million rubles. for a period of 12 years. The management of Ilim Pulp accused the structures of the Siberian Aluminum group (now Basic Element) of forcefully seizing their enterprise and filed counterclaims in the courts. At the same time, active negotiations began between the companies. The conflict was resolved on January 15: the Bratsk City Court declared the actions of the bailiffs illegal, and the next day Ilim Pulp restored control over the Bratsk LPK.

At the same time, Ilim Pulp agreed to buy out the Ust-Ilimsky LPK from the shareholders of Rusal, control over which Rusal received in the fall of 2001.

In April 2002 The federal court of the Zavodsky district of the city of Kemerovo considered the complaint of citizen Sergei Melkin, who did not agree with the execution of the agreement “On investments in OJSC Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill”, concluded in 1994. between the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI) and Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC. The plaintiff demanded to recover damages from non-fulfillment of the contract in favor of the CPPM. According to the press service of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, at the time of filing the claim, Sergei Melkin acted as a shareholder of the KPPP, although he was not one. Nevertheless, the judge, without summoning the defendants to court, foreclosed on a 36% stake in the enterprise. The package was returned to the RFBR.

June 4, 2002 The North-Western branch of the Russian Federal Property Fund sold the seized stake for 1.8 billion rubles. The buyer was CJSC Baltic Financial Agency (BFA), associated with CJSC Banking House St. Petersburg. At the same time, the St. Petersburg Central Registration Company (PTSRK), which housed the register of shareholders of the PPPM, transferred the register to a new registrar - the Central Moscow Depository (CMD), but its employees did not gain access to the register. BFA stated that it is the nominal holder of a block of shares of CPPM.

Ilim Pulp Enterprise in June 2002. protested the decision of the Kemerovo court and achieved a ban on transactions in the register of shareholders of the CPPM. However, at the end of the same month, CJSC Depository Clearing Company (Moscow) wrote off another 25% of KPPK shares, which were pledged in one of the Moscow banks. Depository Clearing Company motivated its actions by fulfilling the ruling of the court of the city of Kemerovo on the complaint of minority shareholder Sergei Melkin.

July 5, 2002 An extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the CPPM, announced by the BFA, took place. The meeting was held in the Leningrad region on the territory of the Lomonosov poultry farm, controlled by ZAO Banking House St. Petersburg. At the meeting, the board of directors of the CPPM was re-elected, the chairman of which was the vice-president of the Banking House, Yuri Sverdlov. Semyon Kravinsky was appointed the new general director of the plant, but he was unable to take up his duties because he was not allowed into the plant management.

Representatives of Ilim Pulp Enterprise appealed to arbitration courts, as well as courts of general jurisdiction in different regions of Russia, with a request to declare this meeting illegal. The courts adopted rulings prohibiting the meeting of shareholders.

July 24, 2002 Participants in the conflict met in the administration of the Arkhangelsk region. On the one hand - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC Zakhar Smushkin, on the other - Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Basic Element Company LLC Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Continental Management Timber Industry LLC Nikolay Makarov and President of Bankirsky CJSC House "St. Petersburg" Vladimir Kogan. Both sides publicly identified themselves as owners of a controlling stake in the CPPM and were unable to agree on a resolution to the conflict. However, an agreement was signed on the parties not initiating the bankruptcy process of the CPPM, on the non-use of forceful methods in resolving the conflict, and on the non-use of the workforce to resolve the situation.

Subsequently, the parties accused each other of violating the agreement. At the same time, Oleg Deripaska announced the creation by the end of 2002. Russian forestry company with a turnover of up to $800 million, noting that it will include KPMK and Arkhangelsk PPM.

Ilim Pulp Enterprise during the second half of 2002. challenged in court all the actions of the opposing party, which, in turn, consistently appealed court decisions taken not in its favor.

December 13, 2002 Another extraordinary meeting of CPPM shareholders took place in St. Petersburg, at which the board of directors elected on July 5, 2002 was re-elected. The new board of directors included the same people, including 4 representatives of the St. Petersburg Banking House, 5 representatives of Basic Element and Continental Management. However, according to representatives of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, by a decision of the Federal Court of the Nevsky District of St. Petersburg, the shareholders of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill were prohibited from voting at this meeting. The court made this determination on December 6, 2002. in connection with the claim of Aleksnadr Bass, a member of the board of directors of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, elected at the annual meeting of shareholders in April 2002. He asked the court to declare the convening of an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the company on December 13 illegal. In addition, the Amur Arbitration Court also declared this meeting invalid in advance.

December 18, 2002 Representatives of Basic Element and Continental Management came to KPMK to begin managing the plant, but were not allowed onto its territory.

January 21, 2003 The appellate instance of the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the complaint of the St. Petersburg Central Registration Company and the Baltic Financial Agency against the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court of November 19, 2002. By the decision of the appellate instance, the agreement between PCRK and OJSC Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill was declared terminated on June 3, 2002, and, accordingly, from that time PCRK was not entitled to carry out any operations in the register of shareholders of Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill OJSC. According to current legislation, the decision of the appellate instance of the Moscow Arbitration Court came into force from the moment it was made.

The press service of Ilim Pulp Enterprise reported in connection with this event: “The decision of this court confirmed the fact that the write-off of the shares of Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill OJSC in the summer of 2002. and the entry of the new owner into the register were carried out illegally.” According to representatives of Ilim Pulp, the litigation over 61% of the shares of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill is over. However, the head of the public relations department of Basic Element, Alexey Drobashenko, told AKS that Basic Element still considers itself a bona fide purchaser of the shares of Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill OJSC.

February 7, 2003 in accordance with the claim of IPE, Interpulp Limited and Alkaria Limited, the court invalidated the purchase and sale agreements for registered shares of OJSC Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill (KPPK), owned by IPE and the company Interpulp Limited, as well as shares of OJSC Bratskkompleksholding (BKH), owned by the company Alkaria Limited, concluded between SZO RFBR and BFA.

In April 2003 Ilim Pulp Enterprise and Continental Management held alternative meetings of shareholders of the Bratsk Timber Processing Plant and the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill.

And May 7, 2003 The Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region upheld the appeals of CJSC Baltic Financial Agency (BFA), the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI), CJSC PCRK and CJSC Investment and Financial Company “Fourth Dimension” against the arbitration decisions of the previous instance.

Both sides continue to insist that they are right, with no intention of conceding.

Own

Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC is the management company of the Ilim Pulp Enterprise timber industry group. According to the press service of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, the company is among the top ten world leaders in terms of commercial pulp production, its own timber reserves and logging. The enterprises included in the Ilim Pulp Enterprise LG produce 61% of Russian pulp and 77% of boxboard.

LG "Ilim Pulp Enterprise" includes: Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, Bratsk Timber Processing Plant, Ust-Ilimsk Timber Processing Plant, St. Petersburg KPK and 42 logging enterprises in the Arkhangelsk and Irkutsk regions. The group also includes the trading company PetroBoard Trading, the Ilim Gofropak factory, the logistics company Fintrans, the Kommunarvtorresursy company, which procures waste paper, and the Plzenska Papirna factory in the Czech Republic. In total, the corporation employs 47 thousand people.

Lobby

According to some reports, Zakhar Smushkin is supported by representatives of “Moscow St. Petersburg residents” who are currently working in the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. According to the media, Zakhar Smushkin is personally acquainted with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Minister of Industry, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation Ilya Klebanov from the time the latter worked in the administration of St. Petersburg.

Partners

Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich, with whom Zakhar Smushkin started business. Boris Zingarevich is now a member of the coordination council of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC, Mikhail Zingarevich is a member of the board of directors of Ilim Pulp

Competitors

Zakhar Smushkin’s main opponent is Oleg Deripaska, whose companies have been fighting for control over the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill and the Bratsk Timber Processing Plant for almost 3 years. He is also the main competitor, since Oleg Deripaska’s goal, by his own admission, is to create a large timber industry holding.

In 1994 Vladimir Kogan, now the president of the Banking House "St. Petersburg", and then the head of the Industrial Construction Bank (St. Petersburg) was a co-founder and major shareholder of Ilim Pulp. The holding and the bank were closely connected: PSB structures provided private equity loans, banking services, insurance and financial services. In just a few years, Zakhar Smushkin became the largest Russian timber merchant, and Vladimir Kogan's bank entered the top twenty leading Russian banks. Apparently, entrepreneurs felt cramped under the roof of one business, and gradually their paths began to diverge: at the beginning of 2001. Kogan sold his shares to Ilim Pulp. And later, in the summer of 2002, Oleg Deripaska publicly announced the creation of a timber industry holding together with the structures of Vladimir Kogan.

Area of ​​interest

Returning control over enterprises

The main goal of Zakhar Smushkin’s company is undoubtedly to establish sole control over the companies for which he is in dispute with Oleg Deripaska.

Restructuring of the holding and entry into the stock market

The redistribution of property taking place in the forest industry did not affect the plans of Ilim Pulp Enterprise to restructure and make the company open. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise Zakhar Smushkin is confident that the well-established scheme for redistributing assets with the help of courts of general jurisdiction will be put to an end, after which the company will list its shares on the stock market. “Before the company enters the market, a company development strategy has been prepared, which implies several structural changes in the company. The transition from the geographical principle of management to product lines is the path that all Western companies follow, because this allows them to solve issues of reducing production costs.

Now we use the boiler accounting method, and we really do not understand the cost of individual types of products, because all fixed costs are written off on highly profitable types of products. In this sense, managerial efficiency in decision making is simply impossible, because we cannot clearly regulate profitability and manage costs. Division by product lines also allows solving issues of product sales. In this case, sales managers are not responsible for selling all products, but specialize in a specific product. Today, three areas have been identified, but in the future there will be five: cellulose, cardboard, logging, wood processing, packaging” (“Vedomosti”, 2002).

Acquisition of trading companies

“We are going to buy trading companies, one or two in Europe. We have even larger sales volumes in Asia, and perhaps something will be opened there. Asia has its own specific business: Asian contracts are poorly financed by banks and are difficult to sell. The volume of supplies to Asia is very large. If we take the import of pulp into China, then the Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk plants supply approximately a third of all bleached pulp from hardwood and softwood supplied to China" (Vedomosti, 2002).

Personal life

Married, has a son.

Among his hobbies he names chess and tennis.

The head of the Ilim Pulp Enterprise company, Zakhar Smushkin, is a unique personality in domestic business. The first and until recently the most powerful forest oligarch. One of the few St. Petersburg businessmen who managed to spread their business throughout Russia and even beyond its borders back in the 90s. And finally, he was, perhaps, one of the first in Russia of the 21st century to completely lose his empire. Today he has actually lost the best of his enterprises - the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill - “the core of the timber processing group,” as Smushkin himself called it. Dreams of becoming a monopolist in the industry have already disappeared; we have to fight to prevent the remnants of the empire from falling apart. But just recently no one could even imagine this...

Rise of a Hero

So, Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin was born in 1962. Father David Smushkin, mother Inga Naumovna. All of them lived together in Leningrad on Ochakovskaya Street. There are rumors that Zakhar Davidovich also had a younger brother, Fyodor, who went to live in the USA in the early 90s. We will mention him and his role in his brother’s life later. Almost nothing is known about Mr. Smushkin’s childhood and adolescence. He himself does not talk about this, and he doesn’t want to repeat the already said and unconfirmed rumors about the hero’s alleged enuresis, the offensive nickname associated with this disease, and conflicts with peers. This is a long-standing matter, and is it really that important?
The official biography of Zakhar Davidovich begins in 1984, when he graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry. This university should not be called provincial. No, this institute really trained high-quality personnel for the entire pulp and paper industry. By the way, before moving to Leningrad University, it was here that the late mayor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak worked. And, apparently, they trained quite good economists here - today many graduates of this university head firms and various enterprises in St. Petersburg.
However, it should be admitted that it was also impossible to call this institute prestigious. Why did his parents send Zakhar to study here? They say that his grades in his school certificate were not good. But the main reason, I think, lies on the surface - his middle name speaks for itself. 1979, unspoken anti-Semitism in higher education - with such a name it was almost impossible to get into the full-time faculty at the same Leningrad State University. For evening students and correspondence students, the army was their star, but they didn’t want that either: as they scared me in childhood, if you join the army, they’ll send you to Afghanistan. In general, we chose “cellulose” as the safest and most realistic option.
In 1984, Zakhar Smushkin, having graduated from the university, remained in graduate school. He did not become famous for anything special in the scientific field, which allowed us to assume that graduate school was needed, again, in order to avoid service in the ranks of the Red Banner. After graduate school, he was assigned to the NPO Gidrolizprom. The NGO, among other things, dealt with devices for processing ethyl alcohol. According to some rumors, the first joint business of Smushkin and his permanent partners, brothers Mikhail and Boris Zingarevich, consisted of trading by-products of distilleries.
Subsequently, versions of the rise of the St. Petersburg forest king vary. For example, it is believed that in 1990 the Russian-American company Technoferm-Engineering was created, where Smushkin was invited to work. However, at that time only one joint venture with this name was registered in St. Petersburg, and it was Russian-Swedish. True, according to other sources, it was a Moscow company, and Smushkin was the head of the technology department there.
One way or another, the appearance of the “great and terrible” “Ilim” is associated with this company. During 1992, Smushkin and the Zingarevich brothers re-registered Tekhnoferm LLP several times. One of the founders included a certain I. Golubkov. As they say, this chemist helped Smushkin and his brothers work on alcohol; the scientist had contact with the then first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU Gidaspov. And then Smushkin allegedly brought a certain Leonid Erukhimovich, an Israeli citizen who had solid connections in financial circles.
As a result, on April 30, Ilim Pulp Enterprise was registered, where Tekhnoferm owned 50%, 40% belonged to the Swiss company Intersez, and 10% belonged to the Ust-Ilimsk Timber Plant. It must be assumed that participation in the IPE of the Ust-Ilimsk plant is evidence of already established contacts with this plant. In fact, the very name of the established company is translated as “Ilimskaya cellulose”. It is interesting that Ilim received control over this enterprise only this year.
And of course, it’s worth focusing on the main shareholder of Ilim, the Intersez S.A. company. Because of her presence among the shareholders of Ilim, much was said about the fact that the Russian company was in fact owned by foreigners. In fact, of course, it does not belong to any foreigners. As established by the Court of Accounts, the Intercez company was registered in Switzerland on July 1, 1991 with an authorized capital of 50 thousand francs. The auditors never received information about the founders of Intercez. According to one version, the company was originally founded by Erukhimovich, but now it is widely known that the owners of the company are still the same - Zakhar Smushkin, Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich.
It was through this Swiss office that the management of Ilim carried out its affairs. At first they acted as traders for the products of timber mills and pulp mills, and then they began to take off rapidly: they began to buy up timber industry enterprises on the cheap and moved to pulp mills. In 1994, they took over the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, the best enterprise in the industry. The empire began to grow.

Fraud without disguise

I think there is no point in going into detail about how and what Ilim acquired. Simply because tons of newspaper articles and reports from regulatory authorities have already been written about this. Let us just recall that until recently the company owned stakes in the following enterprises: Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill OJSC -51.08%, Bratskcomllexholding OJSC - 37.52%, NPF St. Petersburg - 100%, New Com CJSC - 88.64%, In Jure LLC - 70%, OP ILIM LLC - 70%, Information Agency ArchYugInform CJSC - 51%, Ilim Pulp Siberia CJSC - 100%, Soyuz Inform CJSC " - 35%, LLC "Ilim Pulp Exim" -100%, LLC "Ilim Pulp Trading" - 100%, LLC "Ilim Pulp Koryazhma" - 100%, LLC "Kasmet-Schastye" - 100%, CJSC "Cosmos" - 78%, OJSC "Kompleks" - 41.06%, JSC "Velsky KLPH" - 27.4%, OJSC Tegrinsky LPH - 31.92%, OJSC "Shonoshsky LPH" - 51.34%, OJSC "Litvinovsky LPH" - 36.44%, OJSC "Erogodsky LPH" -20.79%, LLC "Tograles" - 32%. A number of other enterprises are under their control. St. Petersburg Cardboard and Printing Plant, Paper Mill "Kommunar", 28 logging enterprises , Trading company "Petrobord Trading", Logistics company "Fintrans", Company "Kommunarvtorresursy" (procurement of waste paper), Czech factory "Plzenska Papirna".
What’s more interesting is why, having risen so high, Zakhar Smushkin today has every chance of crashing so painfully. Yes, it has already actually crashed, having lost the largest pulp and paper mill in Europe and the best in Russia...
It’s difficult to talk about civilized business in Russia today, but in the 90s it was simply ridiculous. Therefore, blaming Mr. Smushkin and his comrades for their ways of doing business is not very smart. One can only blame them for the fact that they did not cover their tracks very well and did not shine with special imagination in the matter of financial scams. The fraud schemes are so transparent that they are not even very interesting. Here is just a brief summary, a summary of what Smushkin and Co. have been doing over the last decade.
Ilim Pulp acquired a stake and then control over the Kotlas pulp and paper mill as a result of the so-called investment competition, in which there was one contender - Ilim. The Accounts Chamber found that this was wrong, unfair, etc. But the most interesting thing is how the investment policy was carried out, under the cover of which Ilim did not pay dividends to shareholders until 2000.
The decision was voiced: not to pay dividends, to invest profits in enterprises. Here the benefit immediately began to work, according to which investments are exempt from taxes. The money went into the company’s accounts in order to be returned within a day to the accounts of Ilim or Intercez. The books were clean, and the tax-free money remained with the owners. This is how the Ilimovites worked at all their plants.
This scheme has already been voiced more than once and the main complaint, in addition to tax evasion, is that as a result of such “investment” the equipment at the pulp and paper mill became outdated, the workers’ wages were less than at other enterprises in the industry. Workers cannot quit in order to move to enterprises that are more profitable for them. In fact, any of the large pulp and paper mills is a city-forming enterprise; people in the same Koryazhma, where the pulp and paper mill is located, have nowhere to work except at the plant. Moving, for example, to Novodvinsk, where the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill is located, is a very difficult matter. It turns out that they are something like slaves, completely dependent on their owners who do not want to pay more.
Another example of the primitive creation of money out of thin air is the same equipment upgrade. If Ilim Pulp was going to buy machines, then the seller chose its affiliated structures, often Intercez. As a result, the machines cost the plants two or even three times more, and the money was again diverted to the West.
Finally, everything was wrong with the sale of pulp. As it turned out, Ilim bought products from its enterprises at an extremely low price, much lower than international prices. At this price, for example, cellulose ($350 per ton) was sold to Interzez or other resellers (Interpulp Limited, Interpulp Trading Ltd, InterBoard, Alcana Limited and others), which are also controlled from Geneva. Well, Mr. Erukhimovich raised the price level to the market level (for example, $500 per ton) and sold it on European markets. The proceeds remained in Swiss bank accounts. In general, money laundering and capital transfer abroad are commonplace.
However, Russian experience suggests that such fraud alone is not a reason for such big problems that the head of Ilim Pulp is now facing. There is a more important component here, in our opinion, - this is the manner of “working” with partners and competitors. After all, in Russia you could deceive the state and the people as much as you wanted, but deceiving specific businessmen working with you... - you will always have to pay for it.

Friendship is friendship, but give away the shares

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

Latest connections

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

Zakhar Smushkin is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Ilim Group, the founder and head of the construction company Start Development and the Domovoy supermarket chain.

Childhood and education

From a young age, he was distinguished by perseverance and perseverance, succeeded in school, which distinguished him from most of his peers and made him a good example for them. In 1984 he entered the Leningrad Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry, and this choice predetermined his future fate as a specialist. Having received a diploma of higher education, he decided not to stop there and continued his studies in graduate school. He successfully combined writing a PhD thesis with work in his specialty.

Labor activity

After defending his PhD thesis, he easily got a job at NPO Gidroilizprom as a research assistant.

In 1990, the young specialist, already having impressive work experience for his age, moved to the large international enterprise Technofirm-Engineering to the post of head of the technical department. In many respects, the company owes it to him for the introduction of innovations and further successful attraction of investments.

Having secured the support of the aforementioned Technofirm-Engineering and the Zingarevich brothers, colleagues and former classmates, in 1992 Smushkin founded the Ilim company. At first, it was engaged in exporting cellulose abroad in small volumes, however, thanks to the management skills of the founder, the company was able to accumulate impressive capital in a short time, retraining itself as a forest industry enterprise.

Ilim and the development of the Russian economy

Over the course of several years, the company acquired more than 30 pulp mills. The largest of them were the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill (purchased in 1994) and the Ust-Ilimsk Timber Processing Plant (in 2000).

Zakhar Davidovich played a big role in the restoration and development of the entire industry. In the 90s (after the collapse of the USSR), all acquired enterprises were in a deplorable state, actually on the verge of bankruptcy. Thanks to their joining the Ilim holding, it was possible to save not only jobs, but also the industry as a whole, and even increase its efficiency, which had a positive impact on the development of the entire North-Western District of Russia.

In addition, during the period of active development of the holding (from 1996 to 1998), the businessman was on the supervisory board of VTB (Vneshtorgbank). This experience allowed him to increase his knowledge in the field of economics and finance, which also had a positive impact on the management of the young and promising company Ilim. In 2001, he was included in the council of experts on economic development and investment under the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

About the holding

At the moment it is the largest cellulose production enterprise not only in Russia, but also in Europe. The annual harvest of raw wood amounts to more than 10 million cubic meters. And the volumes of boxboard, cellulose and raw wood harvested annually are 77%, 75% and 10%, respectively. Ilim, with its activities and innovative management mechanisms, had a huge impact on the formation and development of the economy in the Russian timber industry in the context of the transition from a planned to a market model.

The holding almost completely satisfies the demand for products on the domestic market, while it is also export-oriented: it actively cooperates with Asian countries, in particular with the People's Republic of China. The holding's export of bleached softwood and hardwood pulp satisfies one third of the country's total needs for this product (remember that the population of China in 2015 is more than 1.5 billion people).

In addition, Ilim is a leader in the introduction of innovations, not only of a technological nature, but also financial and managerial. Therefore, even despite the crisis, the holding successfully maintains and increases positive dynamics in all production and financial indicators, while remaining as transparent as possible for control: both environmental, civil and financial.

As the head of the largest forest industry enterprise, Mr. Smushkin understands the importance of compliance with international environmental norms and standards. As a member of the Council for the Development of the Forestry Complex under the Government of the Russian Federation, he actively contributes to its activities by making recommendations regarding the development and improvement of the state of forest resources of the Russian Federation. His company also contributes in every possible way to international initiatives regarding environmental protection, which is important for the largest timber industry holding. Thus, according to Smushkin himself, one of the company’s priorities is to achieve a positive balance between planting and deforestation.

It is noteworthy that in 2012, Ilim began cooperation with the International Fund for Conservation of Nature, known to most as WWF. On a voluntary basis, Mr. Smushkin took control of the enterprise over a huge territory in the Leningrad region, called the Verkhnevashkinsky forest area. This area is not protected from logging in any way at the legislative level in the Russian Federation, however, it is of great interest in the world community as it has virtually no analogues in the world. The company, on the personal instructions of Zakhar Davidovich and as part of charity, leases it, and the lease agreement contains a moratorium clause on logging of this territory. For such a large enterprise as Ilim, this is not just a gesture of goodwill, it is a conscious step towards achieving a balance between the resources people consume and its growth, which is very rare these days.

Expert and teaching activities

In addition to managerial and specialized skills, Mr. Smushkin has both a certain courage and a spirit of innovation. It was he who first applied the technology of vertical integration of enterprises on the territory of the Russian Federation, which had a positive effect on the economy, which was undergoing an emergency restructuring under the conditions of a market model. Now the manager shares the acquired knowledge and developed technologies that have proven their effectiveness through personal example.

As a member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, he is engaged in the implementation of his own developed mechanisms of vertical integration as a tool to bring the industry out of stagnation, and as a member of the Council for the Development of the Forestry Complex under the Government of the Russian Federation, he actively forms and makes recommendations regarding the development and increase of the forest wealth of Russia. Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly noted him as one of the most valuable specialists in the forest industry.

In addition, he participates in the education of young specialists in the timber industry. At the State Technological University of Plant Polymers and at the St. Petersburg State Forestry University named after S. M. Kirov, where he has the status of honorary doctor and professor, he acts as a lecturer on a permanent basis. As part of its educational activities, it contributes to the modernization of student training programs in accordance with the latest international requirements, and also provides students preparing to pass their final qualification work with places for internship at the enterprises of its group of companies.

Member of the Presidium of the Russian Entrepreneurial Society.

Other business projects

In 2007, the timber industry holding Ilim carried out a restructuring into OJSC Ilim Group, the chairman of the board of directors of which is still Zakhar Davidovich. Thanks to these changes in the structure of the enterprise, the businessman found funds for two more successful projects that he opened in the same year:
- Domovoy supermarket chain (7 branches at the moment), specializing in the sale of goods for the home, everyday life and light repairs.
- construction company "Start Development" , which is currently leading the largest construction projects in the Leningrad region.

The most famous project of “Start Development” is the satellite city “Yuzhny”, located in the Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg and amazing in its scope. For construction, a territory with a total area of ​​more than 2,012 hectares was purchased on both sides along the Kyiv highway, also called the M-20 highway. The project plans to construct residential real estate (4.9 million sq. m.), designed for at least 170 thousand people, as well as commercial real estate (1.5 million sq. m.), which is designed to create at least 60 thousand jobs . Already at this stage, investment in the project amounts to more than 209 billion rubles.

The entire construction of the satellite city “Yuzhny” will take 19 years. In such a short period (by the standards of constructing an entire city) Smushkin plans not only to carry out the construction of residential and commercial space, but also to create a full-fledged innovative social and transport infrastructure. Thus, the construction of residential buildings will be accompanied by the construction of at least 60 kindergartens, 30 schools, and 10 wide-profile medical centers. And as part of the development of ITMO University, the “Foreign City of Science and Technology” will be built.

Zakhar Smushkin’s project is unique in its own way. The plan initially involves the creation of a full-fledged city: with its own infrastructure, jobs, recreational areas and even a “silicon valley” in miniature, which Inograd at ITMO is intended to become. Moreover, almost half of the territory - a thousand hectares - has been allocated for the location of a production cluster in the field of innovation. As the manager himself notes, the arrangement of the living space will not be complete without the introduction of innovations - it will be as comfortably integrated with the environment as possible. So, for example, part of the electricity that meets the needs of the city will be created by solar panels, and electric buses will become municipal transport, and their arrival can be tracked using mobile applications. Most of the living space is aimed at people with average incomes, and the projected population density will be half that of St. Petersburg.

In the summer of 2016, it became known that the first stage of development (an area of ​​200 hectares) would be sold to one developer, and not to a pool, as previously planned. This method of implementing the project was not chosen by Smushkin by chance and is due to some important points. For example, with one developer it will be much easier to agree on the concept of construction and sales, and the architecture of the buildings being built. On the allocated site, the selected developer will have to build a property with an area of ​​1 million square meters within five years. m.

In addition, he is involved in the implementation of several other projects. The second largest after the satellite city "Yuzhny" is the industrial park "Doni-Verevo". It is located in the Gatchina district of St. Petersburg. Manufacturing and logistics enterprises will be located on an area of ​​185 hectares.

In total, Start Development owns 40 million square meters. m. The company also has smaller-scale projects, for example, “Tayberry” and “Golden Keys”, intended for the development of summer cottages and the construction of low-rise residential buildings in the Gatchinsky and Pushkinsky districts of St. Petersburg.

The head of the company personally pays attention to solving and discussing issues and areas related to construction. At the II International Forum of Spatial Development, held on September 26-27, 2016 in St. Petersburg, Mr. Smushkin formed and voiced the concept of urban development, as well as the accompanying specific model for the development of economic centers. According to Zakhar Davidovich, the Northern capital is developing along the path of polycentrism. This is due to the active implementation of such large projects as the satellite city “Yuzhny” in the Pushkinsky district and the public and business complex “Lakhta Center” in Primorsky, located in the south and north, respectively. This effect will be achieved, first of all, due to the presence in the plans of projects that will provide jobs for a huge number of people.

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin is not just a successful businessman, an expert in his field and an effective manager, his activities help develop the economy of the region and the country as a whole, and at the same time he actively develops and modernizes the areas related to this activity: ecology, urban planning, entrepreneurship, education of young people generations - based on their own example.

In Russia, Smushkin ranks sixth in the ranking of billionaires, 37th in the ranking of the most successful businessmen and 52nd in terms of capital. The American magazine Forbes placed him in 114th place in the list of the richest businessmen in Russia.

Personal life: family and hobbies

As Zakhar Smushkin himself notes, when running a business, it is very important not to forget about your spiritual development. Thus, he collects paintings by Russian artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. On November 12, 2016, an exhibition of Japanese art from the Meiji era opened in the Small Hermitage, provided by the businessman himself from his personal collection, which he carefully collected over a long time. At the end of the exhibition, the collection will be moved to the museum of the satellite city "Yuzhny", where it will be on permanent display.

Despite such active and varied activities, he does not forget about the most important thing in life - family. Together with his wife, they are raising a son; family hobbies include chess and tennis.