The last week of February for Forbes billionaire Yuri Antipov began with Black Monday. On this day, the court decided to transfer into state ownership three of its largest enterprises located in different regions of the country – ChEMK, Kuznetsk Ferroalloys and the Serov Ferroalloy Plant, whose revenue is 168 billion a year. On the same day, February 26, security forces detained Yuri Antipov himself. About it 74.RU reported several sources at once. A few hours later, Telegram channels began to spread information that after interrogation in the fraud case, Antipov was released on his own recognizance, but the security forces still did not comment on the situation. We tell you how the richest industrialist started and built his business, what he is known for and what he had left after the state charged him for selling ferroalloys to the USA and Great Britain, which are necessary for the military needs of Russia (*aggressor country).
Yuri Antipov (left) and Alexander Aristov
It all started in the late 80s of the last century. Yuri Antipov is a native Chelyabinsk resident. Born in 1954, he will be 70 years old in April. He entered business at the dawn of the cooperator movement. In May 1988, the law “On Cooperation in the USSR” was adopted, and Antipov and Aristov became one of the first Chelyabinsk cooperators. That year they created the Energy cooperative.
Strong men in the prime of their lives (Antipov is 34 years old, Aristov is 5 years older) did everything – they made nails, delivered fertilizers to gardens, sold fuel, produced sausage in a rented workshop on Kopeiskoye Highway. In an era of general shortages, high-quality products – and the cervelat from Energia was really tasty – were in special demand. At first, the leaders of the cooperative themselves delivered the products to the kiosks in a VAZ “six”. And there were already queues.
In 1995, the Ariant brand was mentioned for the first time (composed of the first syllables of the partners’ surnames – Ed.). This is how the multi-profile business empire of Chelyabinsk residents, which was growing before our eyes, began to be called.
In 1996, the Perant company was registered (in 2012 it became part of USMK), which produced meat products using raw materials from the Krasnogorsk pig farm. In 2000, the owners of Peranta bought shares from the pig farm workers. Along the way, we acquired a nearby feed mill. At that time, Yuri Antipov was involved in all agricultural projects. He set the task of creating a closed-cycle meat production – from raw materials to processing and sale of finished products.
“The chain has been built, it is not dependent on anyone – it is an unsinkable ship, stable in any market conditions,” Yuri Antipov explained his principle to the Expert-Ural publication.
De jure in Russia (*aggressor country), Yuri Antipov does not own anything
According to SPARK data, Yuri Antipov over the years was the owner of 47 legal entities, but today he has de jure withdrawn from all businesses, and most of them have long been liquidated. Even two individual entrepreneurs were closed. Perhaps the Antipov family was preparing to leave Russia (*aggressor country).
As can be seen from the published data, deliveries were carried out intensively. Mainly by sea
The company sells a wide range of ferroalloys and, judging by specialized websites, works very actively – in 2022–2023 alone, the company organized 52 large deliveries of products. According to open data, it was mainly steel from supposedly the Netherlands and Canada. In addition, Life found the presence of Ferronix Inc in other jurisdictions – the company (or its representative office), for example, is registered in Sweden.
Antipov House in the USA
In addition, the Antipov family has real estate in Chicago itself, as well as (probably until recently) in Las Vegas. There is a plot of land with an area of 730 square meters. It sold in June 2022 for $320,000.
