Rashnikov Victor

Full name:
Rashnikov Victor

Rashnikov Victor Date of Birth

13 October 1948

Rashnikov Victor Citizenship

Russia

Rashnikov Victor Professional field/official position

Owner and President of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK)

Rashnikov Victor biography

RASHNIKOV Viktor Filipovich (b. 1948 in Magnitogorsk) has been working at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works since 1967, having grown from the position of a locksmith. In 1974, he graduated from the Magnitogorsk Mining and Metallurgical Institute. In 1991, he was appointed Chief Engineer and First Deputy General Director of MMK. In 1993, he became a co-founder of CJSC Investment Company Inreco.

Since 1997, he has been the CEO of MMK. Since 1999, he has been a Member of the Board of Inkombank, the Supervisory Board of Credit Ural Bank, as well as Magma CJSC and Tyazhpromexport CJSC affiliated with MMK. Since 2002, he has also been a Member of the Board of Rosbank. In 2005, he became Chairman of the Board, and in 2006, President of MMK Management Company LLC.

• In 1991 he was appointed chief engineer and first deputy general director of MMK.
• In August 1993, he became one of the founders of AOZT “Investment Company” Inreko “(supply and marketing activities).
• 1994-1997 – First Deputy General Director of OAO “MMK”.
• 1997 – Acting General Director of OAO “MMK”. In the same year at the MMK shareholders meeting his candidature was proposed by Prime-Leasing (representing the interests of Trans World Groop) and representatives of Inkombank for the post of General Director of the company. On the same day he was appointed General Director of OAO MMK. Also became a member of the Board of Directors of MMK.
• On March 13, 1998 he was elected to the Board of Directors of OAO “Central Company FIG “Magnitogorsk steel”.
• From March 1999 – Member of the Board of Directors of OAO “Inkom Bank”, a member of the Supervisory Board of OAO “Credit Ural Bank”. Member of the Board of Directors of ZAO “Magma”, created by OAO “Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine ” and ZAO “Tyazhpromexport”.
• In 2000, Rashnikov was confidant of Vladimir Putin in presidential elections;
• From June 2002 – Member of the Board of Directors of JSCB “Rosbank”. In the Duma elections in 2003 he entered the federal list of “Unity and Fatherland – United Russia”. On December 7, 2003 yt was elected, but refused to mandate.
• From April 2005 – Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since 2006 – President of OOO “MMK Managing Company”.
• He was awarded the title of laureate of the national prize named after Peter the Great “For outstanding contribution to the economy of Russia” (2000). He received numerous government and public awards. Among them – the medal “For Labour Valour” (1986), the Order of Merit (1995), the Order of Merit ” of the IV degree (1998), and III degree (2004), the Order of Peter the Great (2004), Order of the Russian Orthodox Church: The Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh (2001), The Order of St. Prince Daniel of Moscow (2005). He has been elected deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region thrice. He is President of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of the Chelyabinsk region, President of the International Club of managers named after Peter the Great, President of the hockey club “Metallurg” (Magnitogorsk). He is a member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Moroccan Business Council. Honorary Citizen of the Chelyabinsk region. He was awarded the medal “For Labour Valour”, the Order of Merit, the Order of Merit IV degree. Honorary Citizen of the Chelyabinsk region.
• In 2010, Russian magazine “Finance” praised the fortune of Victor Rashnikov at 8 billion dollars (fourteenth place in Russia). On March 10, 2010 American economic journal Forbes assessed the fortune of Rashnikov in 9,8 billion dollars (71th in the world).
• He takes great interes in mountain and water skiing, hockey. Vladimir Putin prefers skiing in recreation facility of “MMK” in the Chelyabinsk region.

Sources: www.fedpress.ru, database “Labyrinth”

Viktor Rashnikov family

Viktor Rashnikov is married. Has two children.

Rashnikov Victor crimes

Rashnikov Victor is the main owner of one of the largest industrial enterprises in Russia, MMK (87.26% of the shares as of 2015), controlling it personally and through his Cypriot company Mintha Holding Limited. He is one of the richest Russians: in the Forbes ranking of 2019, Rashnikov took 14th place with a fortune estimated at $8.9 billion.

1. Rashnikov began establishing control over the plant in 1997, when he, together with his childhood friend Rashit Sharipov (at that time the Chairman of the Board of MMK), removed its director Anatoly Starikov and, with the support of Inkombank, was appointed General Director of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. A little later, Rashnikov got rid of Sharipov. The successful implementation of the plan to seize full control over MMK and use it for the personal enrichment of a narrow group of affiliates had an obvious corruption nature. The ease of privatizing MMK is explained by Rashnikov’s close ties with the former Minister of Industry and Energy in the Russian government, Viktor Khristenko, who was deputy governor of the Chelyabinsk region in 1991-1996 and controlled the state-owned stake in MMK (23%). Rashnikov and Khristenko bought that stake through third parties in December 2004. Later, many minority shareholders claimed that they were deprived of their shares by forging signatures on transfer documents.
2. Testimony from Valentina Davydova: “The shares were sold to the Mecom company located in the factory building, allegedly with my consent. And after that, instead of Mekom, Rashnikov became the owner of the plant… The court made an appeal on inaction to the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, I think, the authorities are unlikely to help return us the stolen goods. As the police department told me, “You don’t even know who you contacted. Your shares are held by Putin.”
3. Rashnikov has strong personal ties with Vladimir Putin. He was his confidant in the 2000 elections. In 2003 and 2007, he ran for the State Duma from the United Russia party. The official website of the President of Russia publishes reports on the meetings of Rashnikov with the president. The media have repeatedly reported that Putin prefers skiing at the MMK recreation center in the Chelyabinsk region.
4. Since 2006, Zumrud Rustamova, the wife of a senior Russian official Arkady Dvorkovich, has been a member of the Board of MMK as the “non-executive director of MMK.”
   In 2008, Viktor Rashnikov and Alexei Mordashov (Severstal) lobbied for amendments to the Tax Code, according to which the sale of ferrous scrap was subject to VAT. In the Duma, Rashnikov’s lobbyist is Pavel Krasheninnikov, a member of the Duma from the Magnitogorsk district, an honorary citizen of Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, and vice president of the Metallurg hockey club.
5. Rashnikov has been the de-facto owner of the Chelyabinsk region for many years. It is noteworthy that when he left the operational management of MMK in 2011, he transferred control to the then General Director of the plant, Boris Dubrovsky, who three years later, with the support of MMK, became the governor.
   Rashnikov and Co. succeeded in extracting huge funds from the multibillion-dollar turnover of MMK using an extensive scheme of intermediary and offshore companies, which would hardly have been possible without reliable patronage at the highest level of the political leadership of Russia.
6. The oligarchic business of Rashnikov is a family business. The youngest daughter Olga Rashnikova joined the Board in 2012 and the strategic planning committee of Magnitogorsk, Forbes estimates her capital at $3.5 billion. The eldest daughter Tatyana Rakhno was engaged in the supply of MMK products abroad in the mid-2000s, then she became the owner of the Reconstruction construction company. The younger brother of Victor Rashnikov, Sergey, was the General Director of the company Profit Management Company, which supplied scrap to MMK.
7. Like most Russian oligarchs, Rashnikov spends impressive amounts on a luxurious lifestyle. According to investigative journalists, he owns one of the largest and most expensive yachts in the world, Ocean Victory, and one of the most expensive Gulfstream G650ER business jets. The Rashnikovs palace and manor in the suburbs of Moscow are estimated at 70-90 million euros. Through French companies, the Rashnikovs also own the luxurious villas of Villa Les Figuiers, Villa Nellcote and Villa Les Terentes in the south of France.
   In January 2018, Rashnikov was included in the so-called Kremlin report, a list of influential Russian politicians and businessmen who could be a target of international sanctions “for significant transactions with organizations from the Russian defense and intelligence sector.”

Rashnikov Victor, link and material

Source: www.compromat.ru

Viktor Rashnikov appeared in the center of a scandal when the Internet site “Magnetic Claw” published materials that the combine’s work was dependent to the system of 39 intermediary firms, created with the participation of Victor Rashnikova and his deputies – export prices for commodities in those companies had been artificially undercut and the difference between the actual price and the contract one got settled at Rashnikov. The founders of the firms was either Rashnikov himself, or his deputies. For example, the founder of the firm “Tehnostila” was deputy director Anatoly Zabolotny, the firm “Kanares” belonged to Rashnikov personally. In order to manipulate the railway fares and gate prices for metal, he also used offshore company “TEK and TRANZIT AG”. Rashnikov and his colleagues organized the delivery of coal to the plant at a higher cost – through intermediary firms from the Kuzbass. Theft and laundering of the funds was made through the Moscow banks and representative offices of foreign firms, including OOO “Magistral”. Rashnikov and the son of the mayor of Magnitogorsk Victor Anikushin were the founders of “Kubanka”, through which the funds of department stores chain OAO “Class” had been transferred – part of the monthly salary of the combine workers Rashnikov gave with cards for redeeming at the stores of the chain.

Sources: Kommersant # 172 (3256) on 14.09.2005, www.pravda.ru from 21.07.2002

Victor Rashnikov’s name was associated with a scandal in 1997 when he and his childhood friend Chairman of the Board of Directors of the MMK Rashid Sharipov removed the director of the MMK – Anatoly Starikov. Sharipov, as head of FIG “Magnitogorsk Steel” (Starikov created it as a holding company structure, controlling shares of Magnitogorsk Iron and Magnitka) then owned 30% of the shares of the MMK and wanted to gain complete control over the enterprise, on that purpose the removal of Starikov was necessary. Soon there was a favorable situation for Sharipov: the old man tried to take credit at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the strategic development of the MMK. Sharipov, Rashnikov and AB “Inkombank” submitted the situation in a disadvantageous way to shareholders, they accused Starikov of violating interests of the plant and made him removed. The new general director of “Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine” became Viktor Rashnikov.

Sources: www.compromat.ru, “Vedomosti 27.03.2007

In the late 90’s the entire stake in MMC was divided among several owners: the state, the administration of the enterprise, FIG “Magnitogorsk Steel”, some industry enterprises and workers. Subsequently, the shares were bought from the enterprise’s employees at cheaper prices. Front companies were engaged in buying up; they had been established by leadership of the MMK, in particular by Rashnikov; and its authorized capital had been paid by shares of the MMK. Rashnikov tried to capture 30% shares in FIG “Magnitogorsk steel”. He was supported by the Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko, who was then a vice-governor on economy of the Chelyabinsk region, he virtually controlled the state stake in MMK (23%) on behalf of the state and covered the frauds committed by the management of the MMK. In order to gain the remaining 30% stake in the FIG, Rashnikov and management of the MMK created a bad construction plan of “Mill-2000” in the MMK . Khristenko lobbied the credit taking for constructions from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. The loan caused a split between chairman of the Board of Directors of the MMK, Sharipov and CEO of the FIG- Victor Rashnikov who was CEO of the MMK. Sharipov opposed to enslaving loan, the collateral for it was 30% stake in the FIG. Sharipov realized it was impossible to repay and thus he wrote off the shares of the MMK in favor of the companies controlled by businessman Iskander Makhmudov. Rashnikov ruled the transaction null and void through the court — he had been assisted by the prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region Anatol Bragin. Sharipov was prosecuted on charges of fraud. Later, the nominal holder of 30% stake in FPG became the company “A Capital”.

Source: www.ko.ru

In May 2002, Rashnikov tried to hold amendments to rge combine chapter through the Board of Directors in order to reinforce positions of the MMK leadership. The amendments provided an additional issue of shares and possibility of the preferred shares conversation into the voting. However, the State and the Southern Kuzbass, which shares in the the MMK could be diluted as a result of this additional issue, joined their voices and blocked the initiative of Rashnikov.

Source: Vedomosti 06.08.2002

In August 2002, OAO “Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine” issued consolidated financial statements according to the international standards. As declared in the paper, some members of the family of Victor Rashnikova had a serious financial interest in ZAO “Profit” which provided 85% of scrappage supply to the plant. In 2001 alone the plant purchased scrappage for 63 million dollars from “Profit” .

Source: “Kommersant” # 172 [3256 dated 14.09.2005

The name of Rashnikov was often mentioned in connection with the Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko. Based on materials from the media Viktor Khristenko is known to own a large stake in the MMK. In December 2004 at the auction of state-owned stake in the MMK Viktor Khristenko and Victor Rashnikov bought the stake through the third parties.

Source: Vedomosti 09.02.2005

Rashnikov stayed in the headlines in 2005 when an auction had been held on the sale of a state stake in the MMK. The management of the MMK participated at the auction along with Steel Group “Mechel”, which owned about 17% stake in MMK, Novolipetsk Steel, etc. As a result, the auction of the state-owned shares in the combine was won by U.F.G.I.S. Structured Holdings, which bought the stake at a starting price of 790 million dollars, while another company of the group UFG – UFGIS Trading Ltd bought up the stake of “Mechel” for 780 million dollars. Another $ 90 million “Mechel” received as compensation for the waiver of any claims to the management and shareholders of Magnitka. The companies – buyers of the state-owned stake acted in the interests of Rashnikov.

Source: Vedomosti # 16 (1790) on 31.01.2007

Rashnikov’s name appeared in the press in early 2007, when the reporting data of FFMS had been published . Based on the documents it was found out that Rashnikov and key managers had no shares of the MMK. In October 2006, 20.71% shares of the MMK was in trust of “Settlement and Funds Centre; 42.27% – in trust of OOO “Mecom”, 33.93% – of UFG Structured Holdings Ltd. The reports provided to the Federal Financial Markets Service stated that in 2002 the company Steelnet Investment Management SA became a shareholder of ZAO “A-Capital”, which in April 2003 was the owner of 22,30% shares of the MMK. At the time Andrey Morozov, vice-president of the company that managed the MMK appeared to be among the main partners of Rashnikov.

Source: www.newsru.com on August 23, 2007

In 2007 the MMK was in the sphere of interests of Rosoboronexport. Rosoboronexport was planning to build a holding of special steels and the MMK had to pass under the control of ZAO “RusSpetsStal”. The public-private partnership was proposed as a form of interaction. But the MMK had a strong lobby on behalf of Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, so he was able to abandon the proposal to enter into the public-private partnership with RusSpetsStal. With Khristenko’s assistance Rashnikov managed to evade the deals with “Gazmetall” by Alisher Usmanov and with “Evrazgrupp”.

Source: newspaper “version” from 21.01.2008

Rashnikov along with Alexei Mordashov (“Severstal”) lobbied amendments to the Tax Code, on which the implementation of scrappage became a subject to VAT. The collectors of scrappage turned out to be the failed side, in particular, the biggest company-collector “MAIR” of Victor Makushin. In the Duma Rashnikov’s interest was supported by Deputy Pavel Krasheninnikov.

Source: “Stringer” from 18.06.2008

Rashnikov’s name appeared in the press once again, when retirees and veterans of the MMK took to the streets of Magnitogorsk with placards and accusations of fraud against Rashnikov. They appealed to the law enforcement agencies to initiate a criminal case, as at the end of the 90’s Rashnikov made workers of the MMK transfer their shares in trust of the company “Mekom”, and in 2003 the workers were told that their shares had been sold. According to the statements of aged people, their signatures on the transfer documents had been forged.

Source: RIA “New Region” from 22.08.2008

Victor Rashnikov is ranked among the partners on investment projects of the owner of “ST Development” by Shalva Chigirinsky. Journalists predicted financial losses to Rashnikov in connection with his investments in the reconstruction of the hotel “Russia”, which was held by Chigirinsky. In 2008,the Supreme Court made a ruling invalidating the investment contract of OOO “ST Development” on the hotel reconstruction; then they immediately started talking about the fact that the losses incurred by Chigirinsky would impact on his relations with investors. In particular, they rumored that for Rashnikov the connection with Chigirinsky could turn into reputational and financial losses.