Oligarch Yuri Zadvorny: plagiarism fisherman from Murmansk

Successful sailing to the sea and to power turned the head of the Murmansk businessman Yuri Zadvorny, so much so that he decided to put on the mantle of a doctor of sciences. However, the fisherman was exposed. However, he was by no means left with nothing.

This is the first publication in a cycle about fish oligarchs directly connected with the authorities in the North-West of Russia.

Let’s start with Murmansk. The most fishing town in the North-West of Russia (NWFD). An ice-free port, a powerful fleet since Soviet times, a university and college that train sailors of all the necessary specialties – this is the guarantee of its status. Here, in the NWFD, there are the most fishing enterprises and workers in this industry*.

Murmansk fishermen, like any other large businessmen, periodically go to the authorities. “Chronicles” will tell about four “fish admirals” who at different times influenced politics in 51 regions.

Walking into power

The most experienced and wealthy of our heroes is Yuri Zadvorny. He was a deputy of the Murmansk Regional Duma of another III convocation, from 2001 to 2007.

The biography of Zadvorny seems to be simple and understandable. Born in 1952 in Kuibyshev (now Samara). According to his own words, he was baptized and considers himself Orthodox. In one flattering biography, the Zadvorny family, judging by the surname descended from serfs, is boldly placed on a par with Belinsky, Lermontov, Ushakov and Radishchev. However, Zadvorny himself claims that he goes back to the noble family of the Vorontsovs, but the family was forced to hide this under Soviet rule.

The future fisherman graduated from the Murmansk Higher Marine Engineering School with a degree in navigation engineer. Despite the Orthodox faith, he joined the CPSU and worked as a secretary of the local committee of the Komsomol. Not the most honorable position at the end of the Soviet empire.

Be that as it may, Zubarev rose to the rank of captain and in 1991 left the Murmanrybprom company for the Kepromar company. Later, Kepromar employees founded their own company and bought three ships for it. After the company was divided, as Zadvorny said, by lot. He got the ship Andromeda, after which he named the new company.

Then Zadvorny returned to Murmanrybprom as the general director, and in 1999 he headed the new Murmanseld-2 enterprise. The former Komsomol member made his own daughter Karina the first deputy. Now she is engaged in an important business – helping to sanctify the court.

Then Zadvorny became bored with being the only ruler of the sea, and he was elected a deputy of the regional parliament, where he lobbied for the interests of the fishermen – but, I must say, he did not receive a salary for his work. He was remembered, for example, for calling for the killing of drug dealers. However, neither in 2007 nor in 2011 the fisherman could not be re-elected.

If you carefully examine the assets of the already defunct Murmanrybprom company, you can find out that the founder of Zadvorny’s Murmanseld-2 company, according to Rosstat, was the same Murmanrybprom in which Zadvorny was director. Moreover, of all the companies established by Murmanrybprom, only two are alive and flourishing – one belongs to our hero, and the other has gone to the structures of Russia’s main fish oligarch Vitaly Orlov.

Failed Scientist

In 2006, Murmansk State Technical University declared Zadvorny an honorary doctorate. And, apparently, the doctor liked his status.

In 2011, our fisherman defended his dissertation and became a doctor of economic sciences. In one obsequious interview, they wrote about him like this: “Zadvorny is a scientist, author of three monographs and 46 scientific articles. Professor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of MSTU. On June 15, with a “dry” score of 19:0, he defended his doctoral thesis in economics. But the appeal “hello, doctor!” scrupulously rejects: “It’s too early – the VAK has not yet approved the dissertation.”

From there:

A wonderful person. That’s just the dissertation he wrote off. This was discovered by the Dissernet community of scientists. In 2022, Zadvorny was deprived of his doctoral degree. Thus, Zadvorny does not have a real degree, but three fishing companies remain.

Business for a long happy life

Zadvorny’s main asset, Murmanseld-2, received in 2021 quotas for catching at least 11.5 thousand tons of cod, which brought the company 1.5 billion rubles. revenue, from which the oligarch, who cares for the prosperity of the Murmansk region, paid about 8% of taxes (118 million rubles). The company’s net profit amounted to 836 million rubles.

His long-standing company, Andromeda, which Zadvorny owns jointly with his wife, got less cod quotas – by 3.5 thousand tons. This did not prevent the company from making a net profit of 330 million rubles. The fishing collective farm Zarya (yes, Zadvorny is also a prominent collective farmer) got about 6.2 thousand tons of cod. The net profit of the company is 490 million rubles.

At the same time, Zadvorny does not hide the fact that salaries in the company are not the highest, believing that employees do not value money, but, in his own words, stability. For understanding, the median per capita monthly income of residents of 51 regions is just over 38 thousand rubles. (approximately $500)*. The consumption of fish in Russia is steadily declining, and this is due to the fall in incomes of the population. Because of the sanctions, the stocks of tin for cans are running out, which means that the prices of canned fish are rising. Moreover, according to the chairman of the Association of Coastal Fisheries and Farmers of Murman, Anatoly Evenenko, the fleet is worn out by 80%. After the start of the war with Ukraine, foreign shipyards refuse to repair Russian ships, and their capacities are not enough.

What about Zadvorny? In 2021, plagiarist fisher companies got 20 thousand tons of cod and a profit of 1.65 billion rubles. Distinguished career of a former captain, deputy and doctor of economics.

_{*Data from the collection of Rosstat “Regions of Russia” for 2021.}

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