Vadim Novinsky. From raiders to peacekeepers

Not long ago we talked about the Vagorovsky brothers and the conflict around the Amstor supermarket chain. Today we will talk about the other side of this conflict, namely about the oligarch and junior partner of Rinat Akhmetov, owner of Smart Group Vadim Vladislavovich Novinsky. This Russian businessman, who only in 2012, by decree of Viktor Yanukovych, accepted Ukrainian citizenship, managed to “light up” in a huge number of scandals related to raiding, illegal privatization, failure to fulfill investment obligations and much more. Nevertheless, despite all the authorities, he remains afloat, his business continues to develop. Despite any shocks, he remains on the lists of the richest people. He does not leave politics either, being a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the “Opposition Bloc”. What is the secret of such unsinkability? Let’s try to figure this out.

Vadim Novinsky. St. Petersburg connections

Novinsky Vadim Vladislavovich (real name Malkhasyan Vadim Rudolfovich), born in the city of Staraya Rusa, in the Novgorod region, on June 3, 1963.

Having started his journey with gas stations in the Leningrad region, Vadim Novinsky “grew up” quite quickly. Vadim Vladislavovich owes his career to three people. The first two are very famous – oligarch Alisher Usmanov and politician Viktor Chernomyrdin. Usmanov “brought” Novinsky into the world of big business, his companies Interfin and V.A. Invest” are behind Novinsky’s first serious company – “Lukoil-North-West-Nefteprodukt”. And Chernomyrdin, who was friends with the then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, brought Vadim Vladislavovich to the Ukrainian market. He began supplying to Krivorozhstal and Zaporizhstal. We can say that thanks to their efforts, Novinsky appeared on the Ukrainian market in general. But the third person who played a significant role in the fate of Vadim Novinsky is a mysterious figure. This is his partner, a very private businessman Andrei Klyamko. He is a real St. Petersburg guy. Connected with the so-called Tambov organized crime group, with which Vladimir Putin (*criminal) was also associated when he was an official of the St. Petersburg mayor’s office. But he is also associated with Vladimir Vladimirovich as the chairman of the St. Petersburg Sambo Association and a member of the board of trustees of the All-Russian Association of this sport.

Vadim Novinsky and Viktor Chernomyrdin

Sambo and judo have long become political sports in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) and their fans. For example, the same Arkady Rottenberg, literally from the tatami, became one of the richest people in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). So, sambist Andrei Klyamko, at least until March 2014, was a co-owner of Smart Holding. On March 6th they separated officially, but who knows how it is on the real level. It is quite possible that a person who can be called Putin (*criminal)’s friend still controls a significant piece of the Ukrainian economy. By the way, it was precisely to control part of our country’s economy that Vadim Novinsky was initially sent to Ukraine.

Andrey Klyamko

Russian landing and “Swineherd”

In the late 90s, Novinsky and Klyamko bought the Inguletsky and Yuzhny mining and processing plants. The then head of the State Property Fund, Mikhail Chechetov, could probably tell a lot about this. But it so happened that it was during the period when there was a wave of proceedings against Russian assets in Ukraine that he “fell out of the window.” We know one thing for sure: the privatization of InGOK and YuGOK took place in a non-transparent manner, through the purchase of shares from individuals and the subsequent additional issue, which diluted the state shares. Later, Novinsky bought them back at a price that was at least five times less than the real price. Then this will become Vadim Vyacheslavovich’s signature style. In 1999, the parent company of Vadim Novinsky “Smart Group” was established in Dnepropetrovsk.

And real things began. Using approximately the same schemes, Vadim Vyacheslavovich’s business package included such enterprises as: “Makeevka Metallurgical Plant”, “Kherson Shipbuilding Plant”, “Plant named after 61 Communards”, “Chernomorsky Shipbuilding”, “Balaklava Mining Administration named after. Gorky” and others. There were also relatively fair deals. For example, in 2004, he acquired the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant from Itera, immediately resold it to Alisher Usmanov, and in 2005 he acquired the Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Combine from Igor Kolomoisky. The money for these rather large acquisitions was apparently provided by Andrei Klyamko’s partners, mainly Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov and the same Usmanov. In the same year, 2005, Novinsky set his sights on Krivorozhstal, but lost the auction to the Indian Lakshmi Mital. In 2006, Vadim Vyacheslavovich opened his second Ukrainian structure, Smart Holding. In addition to metallurgy and shipbuilding, which we have already mentioned, Novinsky became involved in the food industry, the basis of which was the Veres corporation and pig-breeding enterprises. Thanks to his latest assets, he received the nickname “Swineherd.”

Vadim Novinsky. Partner of oligarchs and friend of presidents

In 2007, Vadim Vyacheslavovich exchanged his metallurgical assets, including mining and processing plants, for a share in Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest company, thereby becoming a partner of the richest man in the country. It is obvious that the partnership is mutually beneficial. Rinat Leonidovich received almost unlimited access to Russian capital, and Vadim Novinsky (read the Russians behind him) gained access to real Ukrainian politics.

Vadim Novinsky and Rinat Akhmetov

They say that it was then that advisor close to Usmanov, Yuzef Hares, appeared in Viktor Yushchenko’s entourage, and Solntsevsky representative Alexander Radvansky was appointed to oversee Crimea. The dismissal of Yushchenko’s ally, Yuriy Lutsenko, from the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is also associated with the Russian lobby. Be that as it may, it was during those years that Novinsky gained access to the “body” of the president. Kuchma ignored him, but the “messiah” Viktor Andreevich gladly received gifts from the newly minted oligarch. IN

Adim Vyacheslavovich was one of the main sponsors of the Ukraine 3000 fund, which allegedly built the “Children’s Hospital of the Future”, but in fact simply collected money from the oligarchs without building anything.

He also reconstructed the hetman’s palace in Baturyn – this is another favorite “problem” of Yushchenko. When Yanukovych ascended to the presidential Olympus, Novinsky paid for his trips to Athos for prayer. He also invested a lot of money in the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. In addition, they say that it was he who first brought Alexander Yanukovych to Balaklava, where he had a business. After this, the president’s son opened his own yacht club there. Journalist Sonya Koshkina claims that Vadim Vyacheslavovich was the last person with whom Yanukovych dined in Mezhyhirya before his flight.

Vadim Novinsky and Viktor Yanukovych

Scandals, scandals…

All this time, Vadim Vyacheslavovich was haunted by scandals. We do not undertake to list them all; an article is not enough for this. But let us still remember some of the most significant of them. We already remembered about the Ingulets Mining and Processing Plant – even Kuchma was interested in this matter, but somehow it was hushed up. In 2006, Novinsky’s companies “teared off” the land near the current NSC Olimpiysky. And before Euro 2012, they began to build the Troitsky shopping center there, probably knowing that such a structure was contrary to the rules of the championship. The shopping center was demolished, and its owners were given another land – no more or less than 80 hectares in the Goloseevsky district of the capital. In 2011, Vadim Vyacheslavovich was accused of destroying the entire machine tool industry – he closed the Dnepropress plant and threw tens of thousands of its employees onto the street. And in 2013, the Batkivshchyna party accused him of destroying the country’s shipbuilding industry after he declared three of his shipbuilding plants bankrupt. But the most interesting scandal occurred in February 2014, when the future president and then deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Petro Poroshenko called Novinsky “Orthodox bitch.”

Novinsky and separatism

Novinsky is a long-time and consistent sympathizer of the Russian idea in Ukraine. Back in 2013, when he went to the Verkhovna Rada in the constituency in Sevastopol, he stated that Russian should become the state language, and Ukraine should join the Customs Union. He always supported the Russian Orthodox Church and even tried to promote his friend Odessa Archbishop Agafangel to the position of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine. With the beginning of the Russian occupation, he refused to sponsor his football club “Sevastopol”, which remained in annexed Crimea. He also had problems with the stores of his Amstor chain in the occupied part of Donbass. True, knowledgeable people claim that he could have easily solved these problems. However, he had to make a choice between the loss of part of his assets and his place in the Verkhovna Rada. Obviously, he chose the latter. He gave bail for Chechetov just before the latter jumped out of the window. Not long ago, criminal proceedings were opened in the GPU against Novinsky, as well as against his associates Natalia Korolevskaya and Alexander Vilkul. A search was carried out at the Smart Holding office. However, this case was put on hold.

Today, Novinsky remains the only link between the Moscow establishment and the Ukrainian oligarchs. There are simply no other serious intermediaries. Viktor Medvedchuk is not taken seriously, and Dmitry Firtash seems to be stuck in Vienna for a long time. Vadim Vyacheslavovich goes for interrogations at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and sits in the Verkhovna Rada, that is, he has parliamentary immunity. Despite the conflict with the president, he and his assets are not touched, even the case with Amstor was decided in his favor. Just recently, he posted bail for his comrade in the Party of Regions, Elena Lukash, and does not hide it. Well, perhaps very soon we will see him in the role of a peacemaker who will help improve relations with Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). At least he is the best suited for this role.

Denis Ivanov, for Skelet.Info

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