Konstantin Zhevago. The ups and downs of a dollar billionaire. ADDED

A child prodigy from the outback, the youngest billionaire in Europe, a banker and owner of about 60 enterprises and commercial structures. And all this is Konstantin Valentinovich Zhevago – the most mysterious oligarch of modern Ukraine. A man whom almost everyone has heard of, but not everyone knows him by sight.

We will tell the stories of the oligarch’s dizzying rise and enchanting falls.

Konstantin Zhevago. The beginning of the journey

Zhevago Konstantin Valentinovich born in 1974 in the village of Iultin, Magadan Region. Soon the Zhevago family moved to Ukraine. So Konstantin Valentinovich spent his youth in the small town of Dneprorudny in the Zaporozhye region. After graduating from school, he went to study in Kyiv, and at the same time conquer the capital. And he succeeded. Already in his second year at the Kyiv State Economic University (then the Kiev Institute of National Economy named after D.S. Korotchenko), Zhevago began to “earn extra money.” More precisely, at the age of 19, he took the post of financial director of Finance and Credit CJSC. Agree, not every sophomore can boast of such a position. There are several versions of such a successful career takeoff. According to the first, the guy from the province was helped by his classmate Sergei Cherepovets, who in the future will become Zhevago’s business partner. His father held leading positions in the construction and transport sector until 2005, so he could easily help his son and his friend. According to another version, Zhevago’s older brother Oleg helped him achieve success. Subsequently, he will head the supervisory board of Finance and Credit Bank. True, the last version is not very plausible. The fact is that Oleg Zhevago came to the business built by his brother and never really showed off. So, most likely, Konstantin Valentinovich simply knows how to choose friends well.

However, none of the acquaintances explains the fact that a 19-year-old guy from Dneprorudny without any work experience is heading a newly created and such a large-scale organization. Most likely, at that time Zhevago became the zits-chairman – a figurehead person.

So, the young financial director Zhevago and his partners quickly got their bearings and started their business with the purchase and sale of securities during the period of voucher privatization, which started in Ukraine in the dashing 90s. All this was done through the investment company “Finance and Credit”. Young talents bought small blocks of shares, then consolidated them, turning them into large ones, and then sold them to foreign companies and strategic investors. We purchased shares of consumer sector enterprises: beer, tobacco, oil and fat.

In 1994, Zhevago and his companions bought the Business Cooperation Bank, which in the same year was renamed “Finance and Credit” (a little later, people involved in this structure would be called “dates” in business community slang because of the abbreviation “FinIK” “). From this time on, a new story begins.

The epic with “Dates”

Bank “Finance and Credit” became one of the flagships of the business empire of Konstantin Zhevago, which flourished for more than 20 years. According to the bank, in 2015 its main shareholders were F&C Realty PJSC (41.58%), Ascania LLC (45.92%) and Industrial Construction LLC (6.78%), and the main beneficiary was Konstantin Valentinovich.

According to the NBU, in terms of total assets as of July 1, 2015, the bank ranked 10th (UAH 38.88 billion) among 127 banks operating in the country. However, this did not save the institution from problems. The ensuing crisis in 2014 crippled FiK. By the way, many believed that the bank was of interest to someone from the point of view of the possibility of gaining control over any of Zhevago’s businesses. Most often they mentioned the President’s own interest in the AvtoKrAZ plant, an enterprise that worked for the defense industry.

So, the crisis began with delayed payments and non-return of deposits to customers. Representatives of the bank talked about temporary difficulties, but after six months it became clear that Finance and Credit was on the brink. At the beginning of 2015, the NBU and Zhivago himself tried to save the bank: Valeria Gontareva (Read more about her in the article by Valery Gontarev. The glitz and machinations of the Queen of Coins) allocated 1.5 billion hryvnia (700 million in February and 750 million in June), about 5 billion hryvnia was to be collected by Konstantin Valentinovich. Infusions from Zhevago were carried out, but the amount turned out to be insufficient, and on September 17, 2015, the NBU board classified Finance and Credit as insolvent.

And here one should feel sorry for Konstantin Valentinovich, if not for 2 “buts”. Firstly, in August the National Bank unexpectedly transferred Finance and Credit to “normal operation”. In fact, for a month, the bank was plundered by the owner and his team of managers. They split up large deposits, withdrew assets, and transferred the collateral to companies close to the oligarch. The question arises: how could the chief financial regulator even take such a step? It’s all about kickbacks. Usually in such schemes there is a 30% rollback. It will benefit the NBU in the person of Valeria Gontareva.

Secondly, “Finiki” received a court ruling, according to which the Executive Service, the NBU and the banks holding correspondent accounts are prohibited from seizing or forcibly writing off funds in the accounts. The judgment was presented to those Ukrainians who won cases against the bank and tried to get their deposits back.

The entire Zhevago empire

Today, there are about 60 enterprises in the empire of Konstantin Zhevago, where he is either the owner or a shareholder with a controlling stake. Let’s talk about Zhevago’s most “bright” possessions.

Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. In 1996, Zhevago took the post of deputy chairman of the board of OJSC Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. This position was received after Konstantin Valentinovich privatized one of the strategic enterprises of Ukraine, which was in a state of bankruptcy, for almost nothing. The future oligarch was able to carry out the operation thanks (for the umpteenth time) to friendly relations with Alexei Kucherenko, the ex-Minister of Housing and Communal Services, and businessman Sergei Veselov. The transaction amount, according to unofficial data, was $21 million.

Ferrexpo. In 2001, Zhevago registered the management company Ferrexpo in Switzerland. Its main asset is the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. A year later, Ferrexpo received a license to develop the Eristovsky GOK, the largest iron ore deposit in Eastern Europe. Already in 2007, the oligarch was the first Ukrainian to list the company on the main floor of the London Stock Exchange.

Kremenchug “AvtoKrAZ”. The “pearl” of the Zhevago plant collection was under threat of bankruptcy in 2015. The plant had 578.9 million hryvnia in debt to the state-owned Oschadbank, which opened three lines of credit for the plant, but did not receive the money back. Oschadbank threatened to take away the property of AvtoKrAZ and put it under the hammer. However, on February 25, 2016, the court of the Poltava region did not declare the plant bankrupt; the case is still under consideration.

CJSC “Rosava” It was created in 1998 on the basis of the state enterprise OJSC Rosava together with the Amtel holding. Vadim Grib, owner of the TEKT group of companies (Read more about Vadim Grib in the article Vadim Grib. He was called raider No. 1, but was hired by the SBU). Rumor has it that Grib was the executor of the attack, and the real customer was Zhevago.

Further, in order to become the owner and create a tire holding, Zhevago played out a brilliant scheme. He sued the state-owned enterprise Rosava in 2011. The formal reason for starting this process was the debt of the OJSC in the amount of 1.4 million hryvnia. Zhevago’s ultimate goal was to take over the enterprise. The oligarch managed to take control of Rosav. After this, the bankrupt Valsa enterprise (Belotserkovsky Tire Plant No. 2) transferred the right to use its trademark to Rosava.

Pharmaceutical Corporation “Arterium”. It was created in 2005 by merging Kievmedpreparat OJSC (a pharmaceutical company producing antibiotics) and Galichfarm OJSC, which belong to Zhevago. This merger was considered one of the largest events in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market.

Zhevago also acquired Kievmedpreparat through a raider route, having gotten rid of minority shareholders during the merger in the person of Tomas Fiala, a company no less professional in the field of corporate raiding.

Kyiv shipbuilding and ship repair plant. Zhevago received it after tragic events. In 2002, the president and owner of a controlling stake in the plant, Viktor Ionov, was beaten in the courtyard of his own dacha; he died from his injuries. The beating looked like a domestic affair, but immediately after this a corporate conflict unfolded around the enterprise and by 2006 it was completely controlled by Zhevago.

Konstantin Zhevago. What are your plans for the future?

On March 31, 2016, a post by people’s deputy from the Radical Party of Lyashko Andrey Artemenko appeared on Facebook (More details about him in the article Mafioso Andrey Artemenko. Dossier and biography of the scandalous deputy from the “Radical Party”) with the following content:

“Not for an hour…” This was the response of the outstanding Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Vladimir Demchishin when I put on his desk a draft memorandum on creating a consortium to build an LNG terminal and diversify natural gas supplies to Ukraine from Qatar. So, Mr. Minister, we will do without you and your corruption schemes and kickbacks. It’s high time for you to be consigned to the dustbin of history. The initiative of private capital, the desire on the part of the Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar to diversify consumers and expand into new markets did its job and we achieved the agreement of the Qatari side to supply up to 5 billion cubic meters per year to Ukraine, which we negotiated with the management of Ras Gas …
Someone says, and we do. Here is an example in the implementation of the RPL economic program to bring the Ukrainian economy out of a tailspin… And you say coalition…”

So, as we understand, Konstantin Zhevago embodies the very “private capital initiative that has done its job” with the second in Qatar in terms of liquefied natural gas production, RasGas Company (created 15 years ago by the state-owned Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil).

And then Konstantin Valentinovich, probably due to natural optimism, goes on a mega-adventure. The conclusion of agreements in the context of poorly predicted dynamics of hydrocarbon prices, the absence of an LNG terminal in Ukraine, plus an actual ban on the passage of ships with liquefied gas through the Bosporus is more likely to be a lost cause than a disaster.

Of course, it is possible that Zhevago is relying on his experienced business partner Oleg Lyashko (Read more about Oleg Lyashko in the article Combat radical Lyashko). It was not for nothing that Lyashko declared that he had a “golden share” in the future new coalition, which he was going to form with the BPP and the National Front. Most likely, Zhevago also wants to take part in the big game. But the “action” clearly did not work.

As we understand, Konstantin Valentinovich has not played enough of being a deputy. Speaking about Zhevago’s parliamentary position, it is impossible not to note that he is one of the worst absentees of the Verkhovna Rada, who practically never attend its meetings. According to the monitoring published by Opora, during 2002-2006, Konstantin Zhevago never spoke from the podium of the Verkhovna Rada, did not submit a single bill or request. And in 2008, according to data released by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Nikolai Tomenko, Zhevago was absent from 114 out of 116 meetings.

Yes, it is necessary to recall that in politics Konstantin Zhevago almost always supported Yulia Tymoshenko. And if during the reign of Viktor Yanukovych he practically got away with it, then with Petro Poroshenko coming to power his business just fell apart – everyone knows that Poroshenko and Tymoshenko are blood enemies. And if Yanukovych and the “Family” in their relations with Zhevago were guided by the cold calculation that Poroshenko would take revenge on all Tymoshenko’s allies.

Weaknesses of the oligarch

As they say, a rich life is different. Konstantin Valentinovich is not used to denying himself something. He is a real man, so his weaknesses are traditionally masculine – expensive cars and football.

Zhevago is the owner of the Aston Martin One-77 supercar. In Ukraine, it is presented in a single model, and there are 77 of them in the world; the cost of the car ranges around 2 million dollars. The car drives like a breeze along the roads of the capital with a unique license plate “KVZ,” Konstantin Valentinovich Zhevago can easily decipher.

In 2006, Zhevago, or more precisely the Ferrexpo company, acquired a controlling stake in the Poltava football club Vorskla.

In the declaration for 2014, Konstantin Zhevago indicated income in the amount of 5 million hryvnia. In particular, he received 140,306.48 hryvnia of income in Ukraine (salary), another 133,952.82 euros (2,508,566.29 hryvnia) from the Netherlands and 200 thousand dollars (2,720,734.54 hryvnia) from Switzerland. Neither the deputy himself nor his family have declared vehicles.

Note that Forbes magazine recognized K. Zhevago as the youngest self-made billionaire in Europe.

By the way, Konstantin Valentinovich is a famous philanthropist. In 2011, he made a generous donation to St. Miri’s Primary School in South London – £100,000. Why such generosity? It’s simple: Zhevago and his wife and children were planning to move to London and were preparing the ground.

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Konstantin Zhevago is a shining example of how you can get on the right track and move towards your goal. Perhaps this iron grip is due to the Napoleon complex.

Arina Dmitrieva, Skelet.Info

KONSTANTIN ZHEVAGO: DATA FOR DECEMBER 2022

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