Leonid Mikhelson can hardly be called an entrepreneur in the sense that is usually put into this concept. He is engaged in his favorite business - construction, and in order to realize his grandiose projects, he is ready to sacrifice part of the capital.

 

Leonid Mikhelson first became the leader of the Russian Forbes list in 2016, although in the previous year he was ranked 7th in the ranking. His fortune is estimated at 14.4 billion dollars. Against the background of other representatives of the top ten, he stands out in that he increased it by 2.7 billion over the year, while for the rest it decreased.

• Place and date of birth. August 11, 1955, the city of Kaspiysk, Dagestan
• Education. 1977, Kuibyshev Construction Institute, engineer
• Capital. Gas company Novatek (production, processing) - 24.8% of the shares; Sibur (petrochemical production) - 43.2%.

Leonid Mikhelson is a closed person, his personal life is taboo, and he does not answer reporters' questions about it. He speaks exclusively about work, his company and his projects. He spent half of his life in the Tyumen North, and looks like a man obsessed with a cherished dream or a global idea. He does not exchange for trifles, in any business he immediately grasps the main thing - what surprises and attracts people.

In fact, he is a good manager and production worker. Everyone who has dealt with him commends his competence. It is said that he knows everything that happens in his company better than any of his managers. His favorite brainchild, Novatek, is the second largest gas producer in Russia after Gazprom. And although its share is only 6% of the total, it was enough to take a place at the top of Forbes. According to rumors, he dreams of building a company that will cost $ 100 billion (now its capitalization is half that).

“Novatek, its business is my life. It is not correct to translate it into numbers. Vedomosti, 2005

How a civil engineer became a businessman

Mikhelson's father was engaged in the construction of oil pipelines in a small town on the Caspian coast, and the family wandered with him to work places. After school, Leonid entered the Kuibyshev (now Samara) Construction Institute, after which he left for the Tyumen region. He worked as a foreman, site manager at the construction of the Urengoy - Chelyabinsk gas pipeline, then the Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod branch.

There I realized that building is mine, and the North really hooked me. Everything was done to the limit of possibilities, probably, this attracted the most. 2012, Vedomosti.

In 1985 (30 years old) he was appointed chief engineer of the Ryazantruboprovodstroy trust. In 1987, his father fell ill and died, by then holding the post of head of the Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy trust, and he was appointed to his place. The "legacy" he got was a rundown one - the "ghost of perestroika" was already wandering around the country, there were no orders - no one was building anything anymore. Meanwhile, the trust employed 4.5 thousand people who had families.

In 1989, when the enterprises began to corporatize, Mikhelson sold his "Zhigulenka" and acquired a 15% stake - the head had no right to buy more by law. On the basis of the former construction trust, the Nova enterprise was formed.

I was a man of the Soviet system, I respected it, I felt quite comfortable and had no idea that it could be otherwise. Therefore, what happened in 1989-1991 was wild for me. Chaos, no one manages anything, total shifting of responsibility. It was possible to manage effectively in such conditions only if you are the owner and control the entire process. 2005.

From the world along the "thread": how capital was created

By 1994, Leonid Mikhelson became the general director of the Novafininvest OJSC he created. The company had skilled workers, equipment, and in addition to construction, offered geological exploration services - drilling deep wells for oil and gas. He began to look for customers, raising his old connections in the Tyumen region. The impoverished oil and gas workers had no money, they paid for their work with the shares of their companies. There he met and began to work closely with an experienced geologist Iosif Levinzon, who headed Purneftegazgeologiya, and knew all the promising fields of the region very well. Later, Levinzon became vice-governor of the YaNAO, and after resigning, he works at Novateks.

For 10 years, from 1995 to 2005, Mikhelson became a shareholder and then a member of the board of directors of the largest gas producing companies: among them: Purneftegazgeologiya, Tarkosaleneftegaz, Tambeyneftegaz. In addition, he acquired licenses for Zapadno-Tarkosalinskoye (380 billion m 3 of gas), Yurkharovskoye gas condensate fields (300 billion m 3 of reserves), and 20 more sites. As one of the investment bankers put it: every Russian oligarch acquired his assets on the cheap, being at the right time in the right place. Actually, Michelson does not deny this.

“I believe that not everything in this life depends only on you. I think that only 40% of success is hard work, brains, determination, and 60% is luck and the ability to use it. Interview, 2012.

By the early 2000s, the company was already a major player in the gas production market, and one of three independent companies operating in Russia (Fig. 1). The other two, Northgas (Farhad Akhmetov) and Itera (Igor Makarov), were forced to leave the gas business under pressure from Gazprom. How did Michelson manage to negotiate with the state monopolist?

"Independent" gas company: myth and reality

Leonid Mikhelson, whose biography is inextricably linked with Novateks, likes to talk about the independence of his company, but in Russia this is impossible in principle. Unlike oil pipelines, access to which was decentralized almost immediately, there is only one pipeline for transporting gas in the country. It belongs to Gazprom, and access to it actually determines the business and existence of an "independent" miner.

Before the start of the consolidation of Gazprom (2001), little was known about Mikhelson. He worked in the shadows, and in fact - alone. He did not sell or exchange shares, did not diversify funds in directions that are visible to the general public. His assets came to the attention of Alisher Usmanov, who was collecting the lost property of Gazprom. As a result:

• 2003 - Novatek transferred the license for the Zapadno-Tarkosalinskoye field to Gazprom for 8 shares of Prneftegazgeologia; sold a 25% stake in Tambeyneftegaz.
• 2004 - Mikhelson made an attempt to sell a stake in the French company Total, but the deal did not take place (it is believed that under pressure from Gazprom).
• 2005 - Levinson was charged with abuse of authority and making an illegal transaction; searches and seizures of documents were carried out at the company's offices.
• 2005 - when the "storm passed", Mikhelson decided to hold an IPO, a significant stake (19%) was sold on the London Stock Exchange at the maximum price.
• 2006 - on his own initiative, he sold a 19.9% ​​stake in Novateks to Gazprom, counting on an interest in preserving the company.

In addition to gas production, for some time he was engaged in banking activities. In 2006, he created the "First United Bank". However, unlike Mikhail Fridman, for whom Alfa-Bank became the locomotive of business, Mikhelson was more interested in production. In 2016, he sold it to Promsvyazbank.

The second "ascent" of Leonid Mikhelson

The turning point came in 2008, when he managed to attract a serious partner to the company - Gennady Timchenko (5th place on the Forbes list). A well-known oil trader with extensive connections and experience in international trade bought out 5.7% of Novatek's shares (later increased the stake to 23.5%). The partnership turned out to be successful, the business quickly began to gain momentum:

• 2009 - a controlling stake in OAO Yamal LNG, owned by Timchenko, was acquired from Volga Resources, along with a license for the largest Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas condensate field.
• 2010 - the oil and gas processing company Sibur, the largest in the country, was bought from Gazprom, its products are supplied to 70 countries (Fig. 2). The shareholders included Gennady Timchenko and Kirill Shamalov (the secular press calls him Putin's son-in-law).
• 2011 - 100% of Yamal LNG shares were consolidated, foreign partners were attracted: Total (France), CNPC (China) - 20%.

Michelson's "star" project - Yamal-LNG

Now Leonid Mikhelson is a public figure, media attention is riveted to him. It is implementing the largest project in its history: it is building Russia's first plant for the production of liquefied natural gas to transport it to the Asian market via the Northern Sea Route. The main consumers should be India, China, Japan.

The start of construction coincided with the imposition of sanctions on Timchenko, access to European loans was blocked, and Novateks found itself in a difficult situation. Two years, 2014-2016 Mikhelson has been intensively looking for investors. In 2016, 9.9% was acquired by the Chinese company Silk Road Fund, SRF (“Silk Road”). According to the Kommersant newspaper, in 2015, 109 billion rubles were invested in the project, which increased the company's external debts to 300 billion dollars. Mikhelson lost control of Sibur, his share decreased from 50.1% to 43.2%.

Since the construction of Yamal LNG actually means the beginning of the development of a new gas-bearing province, the company received state assistance: according to Forbes, the investment amounted to 150 billion rubles. Novateks received unprecedented benefits: it does not pay VAT on the import of equipment, it is exempt from debt control, paying property tax for 12 years, and income tax is reduced to 13.5%. In 2015, Mikhelson first appeared in the list of "kings of the state order", and immediately in 2nd place after Rotenberg (Kerch bridge and gas pipeline to China). Sibur received an order for the construction of the Amur GPP - 790.6 million rubles.

Leonid Mikhelson has put so much on Yamal LNG that the “construction of the century” will have to be completed, no matter what the cost. Under the implementation of the project, the international cargo port of Sabetta is being built with public money. Now it is a shift camp, to which he flies, as befits a billionaire, on a private jet.

“Any project should pay off, but creating something fundamentally new using new technologies and approaches is what is interesting” Interview, Vedomosti, 2012

Leonid Mikhelson is the richest Russian. A PHOTO. VIDEO

Leonid Mikhelson, co-owner of Novatek and Sibur, became the richest Russian in the Forbes rating with a fortune of $14.4 billion.

Co-owner of Novatek and Sibur Leonid Mikhelson topped the Russian part of the annual rating of world billionaires compiled by Forbes magazine. He became the richest Russian for the first time.

Michelson's fortune increased by $2.7 billion over the year and now totals $14.4 billion.

The second richest Russian, according to Forbes, was Mikhail Fridman, ("Alfa Group") with a fortune of 13.3 billion dollars.

The third position in the ranking of the richest citizens of Russia was taken by Alisher Usmanov("Metalloinvest", "MegaFon", "Kommersant"), which led the Russian segment of the rating for several years in a row. His fortune is estimated at $12.5 billion.

Last year, the richest Russian was recognized Vladimir Potanin However, this year his fortune has dwindled to $12.1 billion.

Leonid Mikhelson

Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson was born into a Jewish family on August 11, 1955 in the Dagestan city of Kaspiysk.

In childhood, he moved to the city of Novokuibyshevsk, Kuibyshev region, where he graduated from school number 8 in 1972.

Father, Viktor Zelmanovich Mikhelson, was engaged in the construction of oil pipelines and subsequently became the director of the Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy trust. Leonid Mikhelson's mother, Praskovya Fedorovna, also worked in construction (in the 25th trust).

In 1977 he graduated from the Kuibyshev Civil Engineering Institute with a degree in civil engineering. After that, he worked as a foreman of the SMU in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug of the Tyumen Region near the city of Surgut on the construction of the first string of the Urengoy-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline.

In 1984 he became the chief engineer of the Ryazantruboprovodstroy trust.

In 1987, he headed the Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy trust, which in 1991 was the first in the region to go through the corporatization process and become a private construction company of Samara People's Enterprise Nova JSC.

From 1987 to 1994 was the manager of JSC Samara People's Enterprise Nova. Then he became the general director of the management company Novafininvest.

Further, Mikhelson began to buy up the shares of the Purneftegazgeologiya association, which owned licenses that allowed it to develop a number of fields. As a result, this enterprise was completely absorbed. This is how JSC was born. Novatek. In 1996, the company began to produce gas and oil.

At this time, the media wrote that Mikhelson was playing a dishonest game and bribed the Deputy Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Iosif Levinzon, who was also one of the shareholders of Novatek. In addition, the press accused Mikhelson of using budgetary funds in the form of loans from state banks.

Mikhelson, meanwhile, became a shareholder of SIBUR and very soon became one of the most influential people in the Russian Federation.

Novatek, created by him, is now in second place in the country in terms of hydrocarbon production.

After Gazprom was strengthened in the 2000s, Michelson's enterprise has the status of the only independent player in the oil and gas industry and the Russian market. Today, in addition to NOVATEK, Mikhelson owns about 75% of a large Samara bank called "Perobank".

In addition, the businessman holds securities and presides over the board of directors of a company such as SIBUR, which also operates in the petrochemical industry.

Since 2003 - Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Management Board of OAO NOVATEK.

From March 2008 to December 2010 - Member of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Stroytransgaz.

From 2008 to 2011 - Member of the Board of Directors of Art Finance LLC.

In 2011-2013 was a member of the Supervisory Board of OJSC All-Russian Bank for the Development of Regions.

Since 2011, he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC SIBUR Holding.

In 2009 he created the Foundation for Contemporary Art in Moscow "Victoria - The Art of Being Modern"(V-A-C, Victoria - the Art of Being Contemporary) with the aim of presenting contemporary Russian art in the West, integrating Russian art into the global artistic context, as well as in educational and educational activities in the field of contemporary art in Russia.

Personal life of Leonid Michelson

According to the data provided by Leonid Mikhelson himself, he is married and happy with his wife Lyudmila. They have a daughter, Victoria (born in 1992).

Owner of a contemporary art gallery in Samara and founder of a charity children's foundation.

At the same time, a number of media outlets previously wrote that in reality, Mikhelson has long had another wife, Olga Yeskova, who lives in Spain and even gave birth to his son.

There was information that Lyudmila ten years ago, having learned about her husband's infidelity, wanted to file for divorce and divide the property, but he somehow managed to hush up the family scandal and the divorce did not take place.

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Biography, life story of Michelson Leonid Viktorovich

Mikhelson Leonid Viktorovich is a Russian businessman, chairman of the board of the Novatek gas company and chairman of the board of directors of the Sibur petrochemical holding.

Childhood and youth

Leonid Mikhelson was born in Kaspiysk on August 11, 1955 in the family of Viktor Zelmanovich, an oil pipeline builder and later director of Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy, and his wife Praskovia Fedorovna, a construction worker. Soon after the birth of their son, the whole family moved to Novokuibyshevsk. There Leonid spent his early years.

At school, Leonid was distinguished by high academic performance and a diligent attitude to study. Having received a certificate, the young man entered the Kuibyshev Civil Engineering Institute. In 1977, Michelson became a certified civil engineer.

Career

Immediately after the institute, Leonid went to Siberia, where he became a foreman at the construction of the Urengoy-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline. After 5 years, Mikhelson was promoted to head of the line at Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy, then he was appointed line engineer in Ryazan. In 1987, after the death of Viktor Zelmanovich, Leonid Viktorovich became the head of Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy (Mikhelson Sr. took care of this in advance). At first, the appointment of Leonid Mikhelson to this post was negatively received by the working class, but very soon Leonid proved that he was a true professional in his field.

Later, Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy went through the process of corporatization and became a private construction company JSC Samara People's Enterprise Nova. Michelson managed this company until 1994. Then he took the position of General Director of the management company Novafininvest.

CONTINUED BELOW

In 2003, Leonid Viktorovich joined the Board of Directors and became the Chairman of the Management Board of OAO Novatek. In 2008-2010, the entrepreneur was a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Stroytransgaz. Until 2011, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Art Finance LLC. In the period from 2011 to 2013, he served as a member of the Supervisory Board of OJSC All-Russian Bank for the Development of Regions. In 2011, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC Sibur Holding.

Charity

In 2009, Leonid Mikhelson created the Victoria - The Art of Being Modern Foundation. The main goal of the foundation is to integrate contemporary Russian art into the global artistic context. In addition, the foundation is engaged in enlightenment and educational activities in the field of contemporary art.

Leonid Mikhelson helps his native Novokuibyshevsk whenever possible. So, he sponsors the local volleyball club "Nova" and secondary school No. 8 (apparently, the entrepreneur studied in it).

Personal life

Even in his youth, Leonid married his longtime girlfriend Lyudmila. In 1992, a daughter, Victoria, was born in the family. In 2015, the couple had a son.

Awards, prizes, achievements

Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree. Also, the entrepreneur is an honorary citizen of two cities - Novokuibyshevsk and Tarko-Sale.

Core assets

Novatek (24.8%), Sibur (57.2%), OJSC First United Bank (Pervobank, about 75% of shares). Main partners: Leonid Simanovsky.

Biography

Graduated from the Kuibyshev Civil Engineering Institute with a degree in civil engineering in 1977. After graduation, he worked as a foreman at the construction of the Urengoy - Chelyabinsk gas pipeline, in 1985. became the chief engineer of the Ryazantruboprovodstroy trust, in 1987. headed "Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy", which became a joint-stock company "Nova" and soon entered the structure of "Novafininvest", which was engaged in gas production.

Mikhelson began buying up the shares of the Purneftegazgeologiya association, which owned several sites with large gas reserves; organized a network of oil and gas producing enterprises on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. With the assistance of the ex-manager of Purneftegazgeologia and the new vice-governor of the YaNAO Joseph Levinson OAO Novatek was established in 1996. started gas production at three major fields in the region.

By the end of the 1990s. "Novafininvest" bought the only plant in Russia of insulating materials for pipelines "Truboizolyatsiya". At the same time, a profitable deal was concluded with NGK Itera.

In 2003, Novafininvest OJSC was renamed Novatek. In the early 2000s. Michelson tried to attract investors. In 2002 managed to reach an agreement on the merger of oil and gas assets with Itera Igor Makarov but the deal was canceled without explanation. The agreement with the French Total on the sale of a blocking stake in Novatek was rejected by the FAS.

As a result, Mikhelson held an IPO, in 2005. by placing 19% of Novatek's shares on the LSE.

In 2010-2011 Mikhelson and Timchenko managed to resell the French Total shares of Novatek, owned by "Gazprombank", businessmen gained about $800 million from the deal.

In 2011 100% of the shares of the largest Russian petrochemical holding SIBUR was acquired by Sibur Limited, the ultimate beneficiaries of which are the shareholders of OAO Novatek: Leonid Mikhelson (57.5%) and Gennady Timchenko (37.5%).

In 2012 Novatek acquired a 49% stake in Northgas from Gazprom for $1.38 billion and 1% stake in Northgas from Gazprom.

In 2013, the name of Leonid Mikhelson was in third place in the overall ranking of the two hundred richest people in Russia. According to Forbes magazine, the personal fortune of the Russian businessman is estimated at $15.4 billion.

With a personal fortune of $ 11.7 billion, in 2014 he took 7th place among Russians included in the ranking of the richest people in the world (according to Forbes magazine).

In autumn 2015, NOVATEK and the Chinese investment fund Silk Road Fund (SRF) signed a framework agreement on the acquisition by SRF of a 9.9% stake in the Yamal LNG project. After the deal is closed, the shareholder structure of OAO Yamal LNG will be as follows: OAO NOVATEK (50.1%), France's Total (20%), China's CNPC (20%) and China's SRF (9.9%).

Mikhelson, for his part, said that he welcomed the entry of the Silk Road Fund into Yamal LNG. He called the upcoming deal "continuation of mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese partners as part of the development of Russian Arctic gas projects."

Strokes for a portrait

In 2009 created the Foundation for Contemporary Art "Victoria - The Art of Being Modern" with the aim of presenting Russian contemporary art in the West.

He is married and has a daughter, Victoria. In 2005 there were rumors about a possible divorce of Michelson, but the media did not provide details.

Was fond of volleyball. Novatek is a partner of the Nova volleyball team (Samara Region), the Dynamo hockey club (Moscow) and the Spartak basketball club (St. Petersburg).

Rumors

Mikhelson's father led the Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy trust and was considered an influential person not only in Kuibyshev, but also in Moscow. In 1987 Michelson's father died, after which the Minister of Construction of Oil and Gas Industry Enterprises of the USSR Vladimir Chirskov appointed his son as the new head of Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy. There were rumors that Michelson's father himself lobbied for this appointment before his death.

Novatek has become a major player thanks to the Yurkharovskoye gas condensate field. Mikhelson did not have the funds to purchase the site, but thanks to the inclusion Joseph Levinson As a shareholder of Novatek, Mikhelson managed to get a large bank loan from one of the state-owned banks.

In 2002 Novafininvest received a $500 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the development of Geoilbent, but the company never repaid the loan. Contrary to collateral obligations, the company sold the company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. The offices of Novatek were searched. The media claimed that Mikhelson could flee abroad, and the company could repeat the fate of Yukos, but this did not happen.

In 2005, newspapers wrote that NovaTEK was in danger of becoming another victim of Gazprom, which is trying in various ways to become a gas monopoly. At that time, the main owners of NovaTEK were Leonid Mikhelson and the Vice Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Joseph Levinson. The latter succumbed to the pressure of Gazprom and gave Alexei Miller a controlling stake in NovaTEK. NovaTEK also tried to defend the chairman of the board of directors Leonid Simanovsky thanks to which NovaTEK enjoyed strong support from the authorities of the region, including the governor Vladimir Neyelov. A subsidiary of NovaTEK also received a license to develop the Yuzhno-Russkoye field, but later Gazprom took it away. In the fight for NovaTEK, Gazprom also used the prosecutor's office of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - NovaTEK shareholders were charged with the withdrawal of assets and concealment of profits. The initiation of the criminal case coincided with an attempt by NovaTEK to sell a blocking stake to the Franco-Belgian concern Total - if the shares had gone to the West, Gazprom would not have been able to establish control over the company. The deal with Total did not take place because the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, which had previously given permission for it, canceled its own decision. Subsequently, the Franco-Belgian concern Total finally abandoned the deal with NovaTEK because of the lack of transparency in the sources of the company's assets.

Newspapers wrote about the troubles of Leonid Mikhelson in 2005, when law enforcement officers seized documents in the offices of NovaTEK in Samara, Salekhard and Moscow - in connection with the filing of two civil suits by the prosecutor's office of the Yamalo-Nenets District - about the unlawful transfer of 5.6% to VEB shares of NovaTEK, owned by the Yamal Regional Development Fund, and on the annulment of the very creation of the fund.

Mikhelson's name was heard in the media in 2005 in connection with the trial in the Stavropol Territory. Cypriot company Broadwood Trading & Investments Ltd. (BTI owns a 34% stake in Geoilbent), acting in the interests of NK Russneft, accused the management of NovaTEK of violating its pre-emptive right to buy out Geoilbent's shares. NovaTEK was going to sell its 66% stake in Geoilbent to LUKOIL oil company at a reduced price; to complete the transaction, LUKOIL needed the approval of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). In order to reduce the chances of the second co-owner of Geoilbent LLC to challenge the transaction, the management of NovaTEK sold its stake in a deal that did not involve a direct purchase: NovaTEK contributed its LLC shares to the authorized capital of an oil holding company registered in Salekhard, which was owned by a subsidiary structure of LUKOIL. The newspapers wrote that Mikhelson only pretended to be a tender, trying to get from the heads of corporations additional payments in "live" money that were not taken into account by anyone. There were different versions of why Mikhelson needed funds: to support his future political party, to divorce Mikhelson, or to reduce the traditional shares of his partners, Levinson and Simanovsky.

In 2005, newspapers wrote about financial fraud in NovaTEK, mentioning the names of Michelson's partners - Leonid Simanovsky and Joseph Levinson. It was said that in official speeches Levinzon estimated the reserves of Yurkharovneftegaz's gas fields at 9 billion cubic meters. When Gazprom's subsidiaries abandoned the Yurkharovskoye field, and it came under the control of NovaTEK, it turned out that these reserves were approaching a trillion cubic meters. Levinzon was accused of actively manipulating the access of mining companies to the most profitable deposits in terms of production in favor of NovaTEK. For example, the transfer of Purneftegazgeologia to NovaTEK was accompanied by the dilution of a 30% stake in Gazprom's subsidiary, OAO Zapsibgazprom, and the disappearance of significant investments in an incomprehensible way.

Leonid Mikhelson was accused by a number of media outlets of staging a scandal around the construction of a palace on Istra, which allegedly belonged to the head of Gazprom. There were suggestions in the press that Mikhelson was trying in various ways to get into the board of directors of Gazprom, so he organized the collection of compromising evidence on Miller. In particular, panoramic photographs of the palace on the banks of the Istra River near Moscow and 32 hectares of the palace complex were taken from a helicopter. The information campaign against Miller coincided with the timing of the next meeting of Gazprom's shareholders. The goal was to compromise Miller by the fact that in a time of crisis for the country, he allows himself to spend the money of the people's Gazprom on personal luxury. Thus, journalists believe, Mikhelson is implementing his plans to join the board of directors of Gazprom.

Michelson's company NovaTEK figured in a case initiated in 2005 over the theft of money from Mezhregiongaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom. Six persons became defendants in the criminal case. The Ministry of Internal Affairs brought charges in absentia to the Deputy General Director of Mezhregiongaz Igor Dmitriev, Director of the Department "NovaTEK" Alexander Lyadov(died in 2007) Galina Sheremet, citizen Gulyaeva(former general director and chief accountant of Trastinvestgaz LLC, TIG), Dmitry Novikov(general director of TIG), as well as to a certain citizen Kataev, posing as the general director of LLC Investment Agency Intellect and Law. They are accused of abuse of power and causing property damage.

They wrote that Mikhelson was able to save his business only because he gave a share in NovaTEK to a friend Vladimir Putin Gennady Timchenko. The Volga Resources fund, owned by the latter, increased its stake in NovaTEK to 18.2% of the shares (Timchenko acquired 13.13% of the shares from Cartagena Development Inc) and now its stake exceeds the share of the company's management. It was an asset swap - Timchenko sold a 51% stake in Yamal LNG to Mikhelson's company cheaper than the market and thereby increased his stake in NovaTEK. Leonid Mikhelson was forced to include Timchenko on the board of directors of the company. This deal, according to analysts, means the establishment of the state's strategic control over NovaTEK.

is one of the richest people in Russia. His life and destiny are a vivid example of perseverance, purposefulness and remarkable diligence. He began his career as a simple superintendent and some time later reached simply fantastic heights. Today he is the CEO and largest shareholder of Novatek, as well as the chairman of the board of directors of the SIBUR petrochemical holding. His name is on the list of the richest people in Russia, and his personal fortune is estimated at billions of dollars.

But how did these metamorphoses come about? In this article we will talk about the life and career path of one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Russia.

Childhood and youth of Leonid Michelson

The future billionaire was born in Dagestan, but he almost never lived in his native Kaspiysk. All his childhood and youth were spent in the city of Novokuibyshevsk, where immediately after the birth of his son his parents moved. Here in the Samara region, Leonid's father was engaged in the construction of an oil pipeline. In this field, Viktor Zelmanovich (namely, that was the name of Leonid Mikhelson's father) was quite successful and very soon received the position of director of the Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy trust for his merits. Thus, from an early age, the life of our today's hero and his family was inextricably linked with oil production.

Leonid Mikhelson hides his personal life

After graduating from school number 8 in his native Novokuibyshevsk, Leonid entered the Kuibyshev Civil Engineering Institute, where he began to study as a civil engineer. In 1977, Mikhelson received a diploma and, as a young specialist, went to Siberia, where he began to build the first branch of the Urengoy-Chelyabinsk large gas pipeline. In this place, he worked as a foreman, but soon he began to make serious progress in the service, which did not go unnoticed by his superiors. Mikhelson earned respect among colleagues and began to rapidly climb the career ladder.

In 1983, Leonid Mikhelson took over as head of the line at the construction of one of the branches of the gas pipeline, which was carried out under the auspices of his father's company. Thus, the future billionaire began to work for Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy. However, two years later he was transferred to Ryazan, where he took the post of chief engineer of Ryazantruboprovodstroy.

The further career path of Leonid Mikhelson

The turning point in the career of a young manager was 1987. During this period, Leonid Mikhelson's father died suddenly, and his son became one of the main candidates for the position of head of Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy. In the end, there was no surprise, and it was Michelson Jr. who took the post of head of the company.

From that moment in the life of Leonid Viktorovich there were significant changes. He became one of the most influential people in the region, and therefore everyone had to reckon with his opinion. In 1991, "at the suggestion" of Michelson, Kuibyshevtruboprovodstroy became the first privatized enterprise in Russia, which at the same moment received a new name - Samara People's Enterprise Nova. In this difficult period for the entire industry, Leonid Viktorovich managed to shift the vector of the company's economic activity to the Tyumen region, where he very soon received the right to control a large gas field belonging to the East-Tarkosalinsky area. It is noteworthy that this field was one of the few that Gazprom did not get.

Yurevich and Michelson In 1994, Mikhelson headed the Novafininvest company, which was no longer engaged in the construction of oil pipelines, but in the production of hydrocarbons. The next step of Leonid Viktorovich was an active purchase of shares in the Purneftegazgeologiya association, which owned licenses for the development of a number of fields. In the end, the actual takeover of this enterprise took place, which in turn laid the foundation for a new company - OAO Novatek. In 1996, the organization began gas and oil production at the Vostochno-Tarkosalinskoye field, which became the first in a long list of fields entrusted to Novatek.

Leonid Mikhelson now

Things were going uphill, but it was during this period that reports began to appear in the press about the dishonest game on the part of Mikhelson, namely the actual bribery of the Deputy Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District Iosif Levinzon (who was included in the shareholders of Novatek OJSC), as well as the use budgetary funds in the form of loans from state banks (which again were provided through Joseph Levinson).

Leonid Mikhelson became a shareholder of SIBUR However, one way or another, Leonid Mikhelson soon became one of the most influential people in Russia. The Novatek company created by him is currently the second in the Russian Federation in terms of the number of hydrocarbons produced. After the actual strengthening of Gazprom in the early 2000s, the Michelson enterprise is the only independent player in the Russian oil and gas market.

At present, in addition to the named company, Leonid Mikhelson also owns about 75 percent of the large Samara bank OAO Pervobank. In addition, the businessman is the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of SIBUR, which also operates in the petrochemical sector.

In 2013, the name of Leonid Mikhelson was in third place in the overall ranking of the two hundred richest people in Russia. According to Forbes magazine, the personal fortune of the Russian businessman is estimated at $15.4 billion.

Personal life of Leonid Michelson

Not as much is known about Leonid Mikhelson's personal life as about his career path. The only thing public is the fact that the businessman has long been happily married to his wife Lyudmila. The couple have a daughter, Victoria (born in 1992). Recently, the Russian media called her the richest heiress of Russia. The girl herself is not shy about such popularity, who in recent years has become a regular participant in various fashion events and "social events" in Moscow.