How and where did the Lenta hypermarket begin? Founder of the Lenta network - RBC: “My hobby is counting millimeters, pennies

Vedomosti became aware of the owners of the St. Petersburg hypermarket chain Lenta. The founder of the network, Oleg Zherebtsov, owns only 43.5%, and 40% belongs to the American investor August Meyer. He became Zherebtsov’s partner in 2002, when investment funds valued Lenta at $20 million. Since then, the company has risen in price almost 50 times.
The Lenta hypermarket chain's revenue this year should exceed $1 billion, but the company's owners have so far preferred not to name themselves. But Zherebtsov told Vedomosti that he controls only 43.5% of the network, and his partner is private investor from the USA August Meyer: he owns another 40% of Lenta. The remaining 16.5% is shared by seven company managers, including financial director Sergei Yushchenko. This information was confirmed by a bank employee who will become one of the organizers of Lenta’s IPO.

Zherebtsov started with wholesale trade, and opened the first store only in 1993. By the crisis of 1998, the chain included three stores with an area of ​​300-1000 square meters. m and one hypermarket under construction in St. Petersburg. To complete construction, small shops had to be sold, recalls Zherebtsov. Three years later, Lenta already had two hypermarkets with a sales area of ​​about 12,000 sq. m. m each, and their total sales exceeded $100 million. Since 2001, Lenta tried to attract a portfolio investor, negotiated with EBRD funds, Delta Private Equity Partners (formerly Delta Capital Management), etc., but did not agree on the price.

In 2002, friends introduced Zherebtsov to 39-year-old American August Meyer. It was not possible to contact him yesterday. The Lenta press service explained that he avoids publicity. An acquaintance of Meyer said that he comes from a wealthy American family that owns banks, radio stations and other assets. In one of his rare interviews with St. Petersburg media, Meyer said that until 1998 he worked as a deputy prosecutor in San Diego and, in addition to investing in retail, is engaged in leasing residential premises.

Zherebtsov says that before the deal with Meyer, he was the sole owner of Lenta. The entrepreneur did not say how much he sold the 40% stake for. According to him, for that transaction, Lenta was valued at more than what the investment funds were willing to pay (at the rate of $20 million for the entire company), but “not several times.” Director of Corporate Relations at Delta Private Equity Partners Ekaterina Pantelyushina only confirmed that the fund was negotiating the purchase of a stake in Lenta.

In any case, Lenta is now worth much more than Meyer paid for it. During the IPO, planned for late 2006 - early 2007, Lenta expects to raise about $300 million for 25-30% of its shares, a source close to one of the organizers of this placement told Vedomosti. That is, the chain’s business can be valued at approximately $1 billion. By the end of the year, the chain will open stores in Novosibirsk, Astrakhan and Tyumen - there will be 14 of them in total. The company also plans to build hypermarkets on 11 of its existing sites. Financial indicators networks are not disclosed, except for annual revenue from Q1. m of retail space - $11,317. For comparison: according to Lenta, Metro C&C - $11,194, Ramstore hypermarkets - $6,722. The materials of the Karusel network say that its figure is $8,238, and the highest are Auchan ($11,287) and Mosmart ($11,111). “This is a very good level of efficiency in the use of retail space. Above average,” Semyon Slutsky, deputy general director of Mosmart, comments on Lenta’s revenue. “Lenta is very successful in St. Petersburg, and there is no reason why it will not be successful in other regions.”

Even before Lenta discovered an American shareholder, the chain announced that it was being consulted on strategy development former managers Wal-Mart, the largest retail network peace. Among them are former Wal-Mart senior vice president of commerce Bill Woodworth and one of its store managers Rob Voss. Both were close friends of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. For more than two years they have been on the board of directors of Lenta.

It all started with an ordinary warehouse store. Today, the Lenta Group of Companies has 191 hypermarkets and 49 supermarkets throughout Russia. Today there are more than 20 thousand items of all kinds of goods on its shelves. And among them - their own brands"Lenta" and "365 days"

 

Reference Information:

• Company name: Lenta LLC;
• Legal form activities: society with limited liability;
• Kind of activity: Wholesale food products, including drinks and tobacco products;
• Revenue for 2016: 351.3 billion rubles;
• Largest beneficiary: TPG Capital
• Number of personnel as of December 31, 2016: 45,689 people;
• The site of the company: http://www.lenta.com

Lenta is a hypermarket chain well known to Russian consumers, managed by Lenta Ltd. She was among the first to shape the culture of wholesale and retail. From the warehouse store to trading format cash & carry in the northern capital at st. Zamshina, 27/1 and two workers cash registers the company has grown to become a network of federal hypermarkets and one of the leaders in Russian retail. This is exactly how the story of Lenta developed.

Going back to the past

The first store was opened by Oleg Zherebtsov in 1993 in St. Petersburg. It was designed for wholesale buyer: owners of restaurants and cafes, small retailers. The assortment was confectionery, alcoholic products, the most popular varieties of tea and coffee. Low prices have been Lenta's main advantage from the very beginning.

In 1999, he opened the first hypermarket under the Lenta banner. He will make his fortune in grocery stores. His network became a compilation of 400 stores from all over the world, it allowed millions of Russians to shop in clean, spacious premises, without worrying about quality, and at very affordable prices.

“I think I will become the most unhappy person if we ever sell Lenta” (O. Zherebtsov)

This is exactly what he said in 2005. But already in 2009 he sells his share without discussion or comment, and invests the proceeds in a new market for himself, “complex and small” - pharmaceuticals.

And by 2009, the company already had more than 30 stores in 17 Russian cities and opened new ones every year, as well as distribution centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and then in Novosibirsk, Tolyatti and Rostov-on-Don.

In 2013, Lenta launched a chain of supermarkets as a pilot project.

“We already knew how to work very well with hypermarkets, our key area. Three years after the pilot launch new format has proven its effectiveness. Today this is no longer a pilot project, supermarkets are an important segment for Lenta, which demonstrates high sales density and very good comparable revenue growth" (Jan Dunning, Lenta CEO).

Modernity

Today Lenta is a significant player in Russian food retail. This:

• 191 hypermarket chains in 83 cities of the constituent entities of the Federation with an average retail area of ​​about 6 thousand square meters. m. Their different formats are used: “standard” (about 7,300 sq. m. of retail space and almost 26 thousand warehouse accounting units), “compact” (4,920 sq. m. and 17-19 thousand units), “ super-compact" (up to 3,000 sq. m. and 12 thousand units);
• 49 supermarkets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Moscow and Kaluga regions on 900 sq. m trade. pl. and 6.2 thousand warehouse accounting units;
• 7 own distribution centers;
• 2 well-known product brands: “Lenta” and “365 days”;
• more than 11.8 million active loyalty card holders.

The company’s new logo, from which the stripe as a symbol of the ribbon and the slogan “Savings in every purchase” have disappeared. Always" is still recognizable by customers.

Financial position

Increasing the retailer's own funds at the expense of the profit received helps reduce the company's financial dependence.

Source: official website of the company

Rice. 1. Retail "Lenta".
Source: website new-retail.ru

Among the largest

The company demonstrates steady revenue growth and rose from 47th place in the Forbes 2013 ranking to 21st.

Source: Forbes

Today the chain ranks among the top five largest grocery retailers.

Rice. 2. Ten largest retailers operating in Russia.
Source: website vedomosti.ru

At the same time, Lenta declares its intention by the end of 2020 to take the position of player No. 3 in the market among all food retailers, not only Russian ones. To do this, it will have to surpass the French Auchan in terms of revenue.

Shares and shareholders

Since 2014, securities have been listed on the London Stock Exchange. Shares of only real existing shareholders of the retailer are sold on stock exchanges, including at that time:

• TPG Group, which has 49.8%;
• EBRD - 21.5%;
• VTB Capital - 11.7%.

Subsequently, the company received a listing in Moscow. Today, the shareholders' shares have changed: TPG has 34%, EBRD has 7.37, and management and the board of directors have 1.09%.

Lenta shares are not as liquid as securities and. In addition, Lenta does not pay dividends on publicly traded securities. This explains the 4% discount with which Lenta shares are trading compared to Magnit and X5.

At the same time, Lenta’s securities corrected by more than 20% relative to the highs of 2016, which is significantly more than even the shares of Magnit, which greatly disappointed investors with its financial result behind last year. Thanks to this, Lenta shares have now become the most interesting asset in Russian retail available for purchase on the Moscow Exchange.

Fig.3. MOEX common shares.
Source: website finanz.ru

Rice. 4. Securities Lenta Ltd (LNTAq).
Source: website ru.investing.com

Lately, Lenta has been demonstrating active expansion, and, according to Bogdan Zvarich, senior analyst at Freedom Finance Investment Company, its shares should be paid attention to.

By the end of 2016, the company reached a capitalization level of $3,990 million and was ranked 32nd in the RiaRating Agency list, remaining the third food retailer in terms of capitalization after the richest, which are Magnit and X5 Retail Group.

The company's intentions are to become the second most valuable retailer in the country.

According to the results of the RBC study, Lenta was among the 50 largest Russian taxpayers. For 2016, the tax burden on the company was 1.2%; 3.7 billion rubles in taxes were paid to the budget.

Own brands

By developing their own private labels (private brands), many food retailers are solving the problem of the dull monotony of domestic trade, when large and small stores sell the same goods and often at the same prices. The production of private label goods allows you to distance yourself from competitors, offering your customers a unique product that others do not have.

Lenta is reconsidering its approach to goods of its own brands and promises that by the end of 2017 there will be up to 2,600-2,800 types of such goods in the chain’s hypermarkets, which is one and a half times higher than last year’s level.

Today, buyers are well aware of two Lentov brands:

People's grocery stores in Russia, located within walking distance, “Pyaterochka”, “Kopeyka”, “Narodny”, etc. belong to... foreign companies.

Perhaps this information will give a new look at why prices are rising, why supermarkets do not support the Russian manufacturer, why networks of small retailers are being destroyed everywhere grocery stores and where the money goes.

Products and their prices are more serious, more painful and more important to every person in the country than distant and incomprehensible politics, economics and finance.

Here is a list of countries where the largest grocery chains are registered, with hundreds of thousands of stores throughout Russia

1. "Auchan" (France),

2. “Okay” (Luxembourg),

3. “Pyaterochka” (Netherlands),

4. “Crossroads” (Netherlands),

5. "Carousel" (Netherlands),

6. “MetroCash&Carry” (Germany),

7. “Ribbon” (British Virgin Islands),

8. "Globe" (Cyprus),

9. “Billa” (Austria),

10. “Selgros” (Germany),

11. "Leroy Merlin" (France),

12. “Magnit” (Cyprus offshore Lavreno Ltd.),

13. “Kopeyka” (Netherlands),

14. "We" (Netherlands),

15. Mercado Supercenter (Netherlands),

16. “Basket” (Netherlands),

17. "Paterson" (Netherlands),

18. "People" (Netherlands),

19. “Simbirka” (Netherlands),

20. “Provision” (Netherlands),

21. "Fair" (Netherlands),

22. "Troika" (Netherlands),

23. “Family” (Netherlands),

24. “Thrifty family” (Netherlands),

25. “World of Products” (Netherlands),

26. "A5" (Netherlands),

27. "Spar" (Netherlands),

28. “Universam” (Netherlands),

29. “Tamerlane” (Netherlands),

30. “Purchase” (Netherlands).

“A very large percentage of the market and a significant segment of our wallet falls on goods of necessity that you and I must support every day.

This includes personal hygiene products. This and detergents. These are other household chemicals that we use almost in automatic mode. But you go to the store and what do you see? Foreign brands. Infinitely expensive"

— says Gleb Veshaev, director of the information and analytical center social technologies"Crassus."

"It turns out that foreign capital penetrated with its tentacles into every cell Russian business. And here, locally, chain hypermarkets take a protective position precisely in relation to Western manufacturers.

The chain closes, turning Russia into a tool for pumping money out of the Russian population and sending it to third countries.

Chain stores are the main striking force of Western business. They are the ones who, like huge vacuum cleaners, suck in cash flows and take the currency abroad. So far, hypermarkets are openly working against Russia.

Yes, hypermarkets were destroyed Russian network retail. Yes, they left a large part of the population without work and without the ability to support their families. Then at least give normal service in return.

But he's not there. Lobbying the interests of Western brands, undervaluing, playing with currency prices - everything is aimed at Russian territory support the foreign market and drown Russian manufacturers. For now, hypermarkets function like huge factories for exporting profits from Russia.”

“Despite all the political statements of the networks that they are keeping their prices, the entire burden of fulfilling this statement has fallen on the producers. The networks themselves have not cut their costs. They passed everything on to the manufacturer.

It's the producers who keep prices normal. And they not only hold it, but even reduce it.

Networks, instead of the stated reduction or retention of prices, also raised prices for manufacturers.

If earlier the manufacturer returned 5 percent to the network, now it is 10 percent in the form of, so to speak, internal bonuses. And here we also need to add various fees, marketing charges, etc. Even logistics, which has also been reduced today, has placed an additional burden on the shoulders of the manufacturer.”

Veshaev believes that there really can be no talk of any import substitution, because the West does not intend to negotiate with Russia. And grocery store chains are “the striking force of Western business.” They suck money out of the population and send it abroad at a tremendous pace. It became abundantly clear that grocery Network shops now it is part of the political system.

Lobbying the interests of Western brands, understating prices, playing with currency prices - everything is aimed at supporting the foreign market on Russian territory and drowning Russian manufacturers.

But each of us, for our part, has the power to choose the place where to buy the goods. Even in Western chain stores, we can choose a domestic product or product instead of an imported one and, thus, “vote with our rubles.”

Let's see what Russian remains in our trade:

Metro AG- the fourth largest retail chain in the world.
The founder of the network, Otto Beisheim, served as part of an elite SS unit - the 1st Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" during World War II. In addition, Metro actively collects personal data from Russians.
He also owns Metro Cash & Carry, Real (in Eastern Europe sold to the Auchan retail chain),

Media Markt, Saturn, Galeria Kaufhof Groupe Auchan SA belongs to the French "Association of the Mulier Family".

"OK"- chain owner - LUXEMBOURG

CEO- Patrick Longuet, former director of Auchan. Since 2014, General Director of the O'Key Group network - Tony Denis Mayer, former top manager of Wimm-Bill-Dann.

OBI(OBI, from the pronunciation of the French hobby) is a German retail chain.
The founder of the network is Manfred Maus from North Rhine. The chain's first store opened in 1970 in Hamburg. The name was purchased from French merchants.

"ESSEN"(German: Food) - a chain of hypermarkets in Tatarstan. Founded in 2003 by Leonid Baryshev and Vadim Makheev with the help of specialists who studied at the French Carrefour chain.

"Alphabet of taste"- founded in 2003.
Founder - Diamond Solutions Inc. (registered in the British Virgin Islands).
In 2014, she acquired a property near Moscow trading network Spar.

Spar is a Dutch supermarket chain headquartered in Amsterdam.
The founders of the network, Maxim Koshcheenko and Oleg Lytkin, control more than 50%.
The remaining 43% stake is in the hands of V.M.H.Y. Holdings Limited, whose owners are former owners Expobank.
Divisions: " 7I Family", Spar, "Idea", "Norma", "Olivier", belonging to joint stock company Smart Value Retail.

"Seventh Continent"- JSC. Headquarters - in Moscow. Founded in 1994.
The main owners are entrepreneur Alexander Zanadvorov (74.81%), the family foundation of the governor of the Tula region Vladimir Gruzdev (10%).
Some of the company's shares are traded on the RTS and MICEX. Until 2008, 74.81% belonged to State Duma deputy Vladimir Gruzdev.
Parent company formally: Cyprus: Pakwa Investments Ltd.

Company "Ribbon" Although founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg, it is registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Fix Price(chain of stores)
Frank Woolworth is considered the founder of the concept. The “everything at one price” store concept has become widespread in America and Western Europe.
Leading operators: Dollar tree (USA), 99 cent online (USA), Dollarama (Canada), Daiso (Japan), Poundland (England), Euroshop (Germany).

X5 Retail Group - chain owner “Pyaterochka”, “Crossroads”, “Carousel”, “Kopeyka”, “Paterson”, “Island” and internet project "Order table E5.RU" .
The company is registered in the NETHERLANDS. The largest stake in X5 (47.8%) is held by co-owners of Alfa Group - Mikhail Fridman (21.9%) and others,
the founders of Pyaterochka have 21.2% of the company.
Acting Chief Executive Officer of the company - Stéphane Ducharme
The main owner of the company is the Russian holding AFK Sistema; 53.47% of the shares are privatizers again!
At the end of 2008, it was included in the list of companies that received state support during the crisis. - the work of the 5th column.
To purchase Kopeyka from Nikolai Tsvetkov, she took out a five-year loan from Sberbank without property collateral. -5th column again.
The remaining shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Berlin Stock Exchange, Munich Stock Exchange

"Dixie" formerly called Uniland, founded in 1993 - Headquarters in Moscow. In 2004, it sold 30% of the shares to the funds Citicorp International Finance Corporation, Cube Private Equity, Van Riet Capital and others. The guarantors were Renaissance Capital, Investment Bank Trust and Deutsche Bank.

"Victoria" - previously also managed "Blocks", "Cheap" And "Family piggy banks", but in 2012 Victoria was absorbed by Dixie.

TECHNOSILA
Control over the network belonged to the Dauria group, i.e. Mikhail Kokorich (former general director of the timber company Ilim Timber Industry).
In 2012, the Dauria group sold the company to financial investors.

Owners MTS
The main owner of the company is the Russian holding AFK Sistema, which as of December 27, 2013 owned 53.47% of the shares. The remaining shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (stock ticker MBT, one ADR contains two ordinary shares), the London Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Berlin Stock Exchange,
Munich Stock Exchange,

MGTS
The company's largest shareholders: Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (55.738% ordinary shares), and its subsidiaries CJSC Sistema-Inventure (24.204%),
Comstar One Ltd. (14.195%)

AVITO.ru
Developed by SWEDISH online auction site Tradera.com, acquired by market leader eBay.
In 2013, a merger took place with OLX.ru and Slando.ru

Operating profit

▲ RUB 22.33 billion (2015, IFRS)

Net profit

▲ RUB 10.28 billion (2015, IFRS)

Assets

▲ RUB 178.39 billion (2015, IFRS)

Number of employees

35.1 thousand (2013)

Parent company Website K:Companies founded in 1993

Story

Lenta company was founded Russian entrepreneur Oleg Zherebtsov on October 25, 1993 in St. Petersburg. The first Lenta store in the Cash & Carry format opened in 1993 in St. Petersburg on Zamshina Street, two more were opened in 1996-1997 small shops in St. Petersburg .

In 2009-2015, more than thirty hypermarkets were opened: five in Novokuznetsk, three more in Novosibirsk, three in Omsk, two each in Barnaul, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl, three in Ivanovo, and in other cities - one by one. Lenta also appeared in rented space in existing shopping centers. A second distribution center was built in Novosibirsk.

Subsequently, management of the company was carried out collectively. At the beginning of 2011, August Meyer's Svoboda fund tried to buy out the share of its “rival”, the Luna fund. As a result, in August 2011, it became known that an agreement had been reached that both funds would part with their shares, selling them to the American fund Texas Pacific Group, VTB Capital and the EBRD (as a result, TPG and VTB Capital will jointly own 65% "Lenta", and the EBRD - 20%). The total transaction amount is expected to be $1.1 billion.

IPO

At the end of February 2014, the company held an IPO. The volume of Lenta's placement amounted to $952 million excluding the organizers' option and $1.095 billion with its full exercise. The value of Lenta's business was estimated at $5.4 billion, market capitalization at $4.3 billion. Lenta was valued at a discount of only 11% to the leader of Russian retail - Krasnodar Magnit and a premium to the securities of OK "at 13%.

On 5 March 2014, Lenta began trading its global depositary receipts (GDRs) through the international order book of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). On March 6, 2014, trading in Lenta securities began on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).

Owners and management

The parent company of the network, Lenta LLC, is 100% owned by Lenta Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands. As of April 2014, the network's share distribution is as follows:

• TPG Capital - 35.55%,
• EBRD - 15.32%,
• Directors and management - 1.14%,
• Shares in free float - 47.99%.

The company's CEO is Jan Dunning, and the chairman of the board of directors is John Oliver. Also on the board of directors are: Ian Dunning, Steve Johnson, Michael Lynch Bell, Jaho Lemmens, Lindsay Forbes, Anton Artemyev, Dmitry Shvets, Stephen Peel, Martin Elling.

In April 2015, Lenta shareholders proportionally reduced their stakes in the retailer. TPG Group owns 35.55% of shares, EBRD owns 15.3%, VTB Capital - 5.8%, minority shareholders 7.6%, company management owns 1.1%, 34.6% of Lenta shares are in free float.

Almost immediately after the SPO, the company announced the payment of dividends to its shareholders represented by Lenta Ltd in the amount of 6 billion rubles. Evidence suggests that shareholders are gradually getting rid of Lenta. The reasons for the Western owners of the company are rather political, and there is also a threat of nationalization.

The retailer's business also raises questions. It is known that the company's debt burden exceeds industry average level. Lenta's large loans in 2014 totaled 26.1 billion rubles, and in March 2015 the company turned to VTB Bank for a loan of 15 billion rubles, which is the largest borrowing in the company's history.

Lenta forecasts slower revenue growth in 2015 compared to last year. The company plans to open 20-25 hypermarkets and 10-15 supermarkets, which will cost Lenta 25 billion rubles.

Activity

As of the end of October 2016, the retail network includes 125 hypermarkets and 27 supermarkets in 62 cities of Russia. Twenty-two hypermarkets of the network are located in St. Petersburg; seven - in Novosibirsk, six - in Omsk; five in Novokuznetsk; four - in Volgograd, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk; three each in Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Ivanovo; two each in Syktyvkar, Veliky Novgorod, Krasnodar, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk, Novorossiysk, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Togliatti, Taganrog, Saratov, Cherepovets, Belgorod, Penza and Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Tagil; one by one shopping complex was located in a number of large cities in Russia, including Nizhnekamsk, Novocherkassk, Perm, Tomsk, Tula, Kaluga, Ufa, Murmansk, Irkutsk and others.

In 2013, the company began opening stores of a new format - supermarkets. 22 supermarkets have been opened in Moscow, the Moscow region, as well as a supermarket in Maloyaroslavets. In the same year, the first hypermarket was opened in the Moscow region - in Balashikha.

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Notes

1. (February 15, 2016). Retrieved August 18, 2016.
2. (Russian) . lenta.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
3. New shareholder of Lenta. Vedomosti, No. 89 (1863), May 18, 2007
4. (Russian) . retail-tech.ru (March 1, 2009). Retrieved November 18, 2010.
5. (Russian) . lenta.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
6. Ekaterina Gerashchenko.. Gazeta.ru (???). Retrieved August 10, 2011. .
7. (Russian) . lenta.ru (September 14, 2010). Retrieved September 30, 2013.
8. . vedomosti.ru.
9. . rbc.ru.
10. . rbc.ru.
11. . lentainvestor.com.
12. . lentainvestor.com.
13. .
14. .
15. .
16. (Russian) . lenta.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.

Links

An excerpt characterizing Lenta (a chain of stores)

Many historians say that the Battle of Borodino was not won by the French because Napoleon had a runny nose, that if he had not had a runny nose, his orders before and during the battle would have been even more ingenious, and Russia would have perished, et la face du monde eut ete changee. [and the face of the world would change.] For historians who recognize that Russia was formed by the will of one man - Peter the Great, and France from a republic developed into an empire, and French troops went to Russia by the will of one man - Napoleon, the reasoning is that Russia remained powerful because Napoleon had a big cold on the 26th, such reasoning is inevitably consistent for such historians.
If it depended on the will of Napoleon to give or not to give the Battle of Borodino and it depended on his will to make this or that order, then it is obvious that a runny nose, which had an impact on the manifestation of his will, could be the reason for the salvation of Russia and that therefore the valet who forgot to give Napoleon On the 24th, waterproof boots were the savior of Russia. On this path of thought, this conclusion is undoubted - as undoubted as the conclusion that Voltaire made jokingly (without knowing what) when he said that the Night of St. Bartholomew occurred from an upset stomach of Charles IX. But for people who do not allow that Russia was formed by the will of one person - Peter I, and that the French Empire was formed and the war with Russia began by the will of one person - Napoleon, this reasoning not only seems incorrect, unreasonable, but also contrary to the whole essence human. To the question of what constitutes the cause of historical events, another answer seems to be that the course of world events is predetermined from above, depends on the coincidence of all the arbitrariness of the people participating in these events, and that the influence of Napoleons on the course of these events is only external and fictitious.
Strange as it may seem at first glance, the assumption that the Night of St. Bartholomew, the order for which was given by Charles IX, did not occur at his will, but that it only seemed to him that he ordered it to be done, and that the Borodino massacre of eighty thousand people did not occur at the will of Napoleon (despite the fact that he gave orders about the beginning and course of the battle), and that it seemed to him only that he ordered it - no matter how strange this assumption seems, but human dignity tells me that each of us, if not more, then no less a person than the great Napoleon orders that this solution to the issue be allowed, and historical research abundantly confirms this assumption.
In the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon did not shoot at anyone and did not kill anyone. The soldiers did all this. Therefore, it was not he who killed people.
The soldiers of the French army went to kill Russian soldiers in the Battle of Borodino not as a result of Napoleon’s orders, but by at will. The entire army: the French, Italians, Germans, Poles - hungry, ragged and exhausted from the campaign - in view of the army blocking Moscow from them, they felt that le vin est tire et qu"il faut le boire. [the wine is uncorked and it is necessary to drink it .] If Napoleon had now forbidden them to fight the Russians, they would have killed him and gone to fight the Russians, because they needed it.
When they listened to the order of Napoleon, who presented them with the words of posterity for their injuries and death as a consolation that they too had been in the battle of Moscow, they shouted “Vive l" Empereur!” just as they shouted “Vive l"Empereur!” at the sight of an image of a boy piercing the globe with a bilboke stick; just as they would shout “Vive l"Empereur!” at any nonsense that would be told to them. They had no choice but to shout “Vive l" Empereur!” and go fight to find food and rest for the victors in Moscow. Therefore, it was not as a result of Napoleon’s orders that they killed their own kind.
And it was not Napoleon who controlled the course of the battle, because nothing was carried out from his disposition and during the battle he did not know about what was happening in front of him. Therefore, the way in which these people killed each other did not happen at the will of Napoleon, but happened independently of him, at the will of hundreds of thousands of people who participated in common cause. It only seemed to Napoleon that the whole thing was happening according to his will. And therefore the question of whether or not Napoleon had a runny nose is of no greater interest to history than the question of the runny nose of the last Furshtat soldier.
Moreover, on August 26, Napoleon’s runny nose did not matter, since the testimony of writers that, due to Napoleon’s runny nose, his disposition and orders during the battle were not as good as before are completely unfair.
The disposition written out here was not at all worse, and even better, than all previous dispositions by which battles were won. The imaginary orders during the battle were also no worse than before, but exactly the same as always. But these dispositions and orders seem only worse than the previous ones because the Battle of Borodino was the first that Napoleon did not win. All the most beautiful and thoughtful dispositions and orders seem very bad, and every military scientist criticizes them with a significant air when the battle is not won, and the very bad dispositions and orders seem very good, and serious people prove the merits of bad orders in entire volumes, when the battle is won against them.
The disposition compiled by Weyrother at the Battle of Austerlitz was an example of perfection in works of this kind, but it was still condemned, condemned for its perfection, for too much detail.
Napoleon in the Battle of Borodino performed his job as a representative of power just as well, and even better, than in other battles. He did nothing harmful to the progress of the battle; he leaned toward more prudent opinions; he did not confuse, did not contradict himself, did not get scared and did not run away from the battlefield, but with his great tact and war experience, he calmly and with dignity fulfilled his role as an apparent commander.

Returning from a second anxious trip along the line, Napoleon said:
– The chess has been set, the game will start tomorrow.
Ordering some punch to be served and calling Bosset, he began a conversation with him about Paris, about some changes that he intended to make in the maison de l'imperatrice [in the court staff of the Empress], surprising the prefect with his memorability for all the small details of court relations.
He was interested in trifles, joked about Bosse's love of travel and chatted casually in the way a famous, confident and knowledgeable operator does, while he rolls up his sleeves and puts on an apron and the patient is tied to a bed: “The matter is all in my hands.” and in my head, clearly and definitely. When it’s time to get down to business, I’ll do it like no one else, and now I can joke, and the more I joke and am calm, the more you should be confident, calm and surprised at my genius.”
Having finished his second glass of punch, Napoleon went to rest before the serious business that, as it seemed to him, lay ahead of him the next day.
He was so interested in this task ahead of him that he could not sleep and, despite the runny nose that had worsened from the evening dampness, at three o'clock in the morning, blowing his nose loudly, he went out into the large compartment of the tent. He asked if the Russians had left? He was told that the enemy fires were still in the same places. He nodded his head approvingly.
The adjutant on duty entered the tent.
“Eh bien, Rapp, croyez vous, que nous ferons do bonnes affaires aujourd"hui? [Well, Rapp, what do you think: will our affairs be good today?] - he turned to him.
“Sans aucun doute, sire, [Without any doubt, sir,” answered Rapp.
Napoleon looked at him.
“Vous rappelez vous, Sire, ce que vous m"avez fait l"honneur de dire a Smolensk,” said Rapp, “le vin est tire, il faut le boire.” [Do you remember, sir, those words that you deigned to say to me in Smolensk, the wine is uncorked, I must drink it.]
Napoleon frowned and sat silently for a long time, his head resting on his hand.
“Cette pauvre armee,” he said suddenly, “elle a bien diminue depuis Smolensk.” La fortune est une franche courtisane, Rapp; je le disais toujours, et je commence a l "eprouver. Mais la garde, Rapp, la garde est intacte? [Poor army! It has greatly diminished since Smolensk. Fortune is a real harlot, Rapp. I have always said this and am beginning to experience it. But the guard, Rapp, are the guards intact?] – he said questioningly.
“Oui, Sire, [Yes, sir.],” answered Rapp.
Napoleon took the lozenge, put it in his mouth and looked at his watch. He didn’t want to sleep; morning was still far away; and in order to kill time, no orders could be made anymore, because everything had been done and was now being carried out.
– A t on distribue les biscuits et le riz aux regiments de la garde? [Did they distribute crackers and rice to the guards?] - Napoleon asked sternly.
– Oui, Sire. [Yes, sir.]
– Mais le riz? [But rice?]
Rapp replied that he had conveyed the sovereign’s orders about rice, but Napoleon shook his head with displeasure, as if he did not believe that his order would be carried out. The servant came in with punch. Napoleon ordered another glass to be brought to Rapp and silently took sips from his own.
“I have neither taste nor smell,” he said, sniffing the glass. “I’m tired of this runny nose.” They talk about medicine. What kind of medicine is there when they cannot cure a runny nose? Corvisar gave me these lozenges, but they don't help. What can they treat? It cannot be treated. Notre corps est une machine a vivre. Il est organise pour cela, c"est sa nature; laissez y la vie a son aise, qu"elle s"y defende elle meme: elle fera plus que si vous la paralysiez en l"encombrant de remedes. Notre corps est comme une montre parfaite qui doit aller un certain temps; l"horloger n"a pas la faculte de l"ouvrir, il ne peut la manier qu"a tatons et les yeux bandes. Notre corps est une machine a vivre, voila tout. [Our body is a machine for life. This is what it is designed for. Leave the life in him alone, let her defend herself, she will do more on her own than when you interfere with her with medications. Our body is like a clock that must run for a certain time; The watchmaker cannot open them and can only operate them by touch and blindfolded. Our body is a machine for life. That's all.] - And as if having embarked on the path of definitions, definitions that Napoleon loved, he suddenly made a new definition. – Do you know, Rapp, what the art of war is? - he asked. – The art of being stronger than the enemy at a certain moment. Voila tout. [That's all.]