Popov, Sergey Viktorovich (entrepreneur). Current publications Sergey Popov MDM Bank biography

Education

He received his higher education at the Ural Polytechnic Institute, from which he graduated in 1993 with a degree in industrial heat and power engineering.

Labor activity

After graduating from university, he went into business and became a partner in the Ural-Siberian Trade and Industrial Company (USTPC). In 1997-1999, he was a partner and commercial director at LLC Company Prodkontrakt.

In 1996, together with another businessman and now billionaire Andrei Melnichenko, on a parity basis, he co-founded the MDM Trade and Industrial Company. On its basis, by 2000, the MDM financial group arose, the core of which was MDM Bank. It was mainly businessmen who made their fortunes in this financial group. Later, in partnership, they also created the Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), one of the world's largest producers of oil and gas pipelines (together with billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky). In 2006, they sold their share to Pumpyansky and began dividing all their joint assets, which ended only in 2012 (then Sergei Viktorovich sold his remaining 17% of the SUEK coal company to his ex-companion). After the split, in December 2006, control of MDM Bank completely passed to Sergei Viktorovich (Melnichenko began to control Eurochem), but in 2008 he was forced to begin a merger with Igor Kim’s URSA Bank. The merger of the banks was completed in August 2009, resulting in the emergence of a new united MDM bank. In 2010, he exchanged his partnership share for the Latvian Trade Bank, and for this he had to pay extra with his own cash. At the end of June 2015, the BIN group of Mikhail Gutseriev and Mikail Shishkhanov announced the purchase of control from Sergei Viktorovich in MDM Bank. On November 18, 2016, the deal was completed (the sale of 58.3% of the bank’s shares was valued at $130 million), and the united credit organization continued to operate under the name Binbank.

Starting in 2010, the businessman invested his assets in the state-owned company RusHydro and received a 2% stake.

He was a member of the board of directors of RAO UES of Russia, OAO TMK, OAO Eurochem, MDM Industrial Group, OAO SUEK and others.

In recent years, the famous billionaire has withdrawn all his assets and focused on the work of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, of which he is one of the founders and benefactors.

For many years he has been one of the thirty richest entrepreneurs in Russia: for example, in 2011 he was in 18th place with a capital of 7.9 billion dollars, in 2013 - in 24th place in the ranking with a fortune of 5.8 billion dollars, and in 2015 it took 21st position with a mark of $4.6 billion.

Hobbies

Collects paintings by contemporary followers of impressionism. He is interested in music and enjoys attending concerts at the conservatory.

Family status

Single, has a son. According to Forbes, he has two children.

On March 20, American Forbes for the 31st time published a ranking of the richest people on the planet. This time it included 2,043 people, which is 13% more than a year earlier. The total estimate of their wealth is $7.67 trillion. Russian participants in the list account for $386.3 billion of this amount.

The Russian part of the rating was headed by Leonid Mikhelson, co-owner of the gas company Novatek and the petrochemical holding Sibur. His fortune was estimated at $18.4 billion. The second among Russians was the main shareholder of Severstal Alexey Mordashov ($17.5 billion), the third was the owner of the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant (NLMK) Vladimir Lisin ($16.1 billion).

Metallurgy has increased in price

Commodity prices, which fell to multi-year lows in 2015, began to rise again last year. The revival of commodity markets has affected the assessment of the fortunes of Russian entrepreneurs. First of all, metallurgists and owners of oil and gas companies won. The valuation of Vladimir Lisin's fortune increased the most - by $6.8 billion. Alexey Mordashov's assets increased in price by $6.6 billion.

The state grew at the fastest rate Suleiman Kerimov. The value of his assets in 2016 was estimated at $1.6 billion, and in 2017 their value increased to $6.3 billion.

Returning to the Forbes list

Among the Russians participating in the Forbes 2017 billionaire ranking, there are those who were previously included in the list, but dropped out of it in 2016. Now they are back. There are 16 such people in total: the owner of the Irkutsk Oil Company Nikolai Buinov (939th place, fortune $2.2 billion), co-owner of Transmashholding and Kuzbassrazrezugol Andrey Bokarev (234th place, fortune $1.7 billion), owner of the Summa group of companies Ziyavudin Magomedov (1468th place, net worth $1.4 billion) and others.

Whose fortunes have declined?

In 2017, 96 Russians were included in the Forbes list of billionaires. This is 19 people more than in 2016 - then there were 77 Russian entrepreneurs on the list.

And yet, the estimated wealth of some of the Russian participants in the list this year has become lower. In some cases - noticeably less. The president of the investment group "IST" became an "anti-leader" Alexander Nesis- he lost $500 million and dropped from 771 to 867 on the list (estimated wealth: $2.4 billion).

Former owner of Uralkali Dmitry Rybolovlev, who in 2017 parted with his last major Russian asset - the Voentorg building on Vozdvizhenka, lost $400 million, falling from 148th to 190th place in the global ranking of billionaires. His fortune is now estimated at $7.3 billion.

The main shareholder of SPI Group, Yuri Shefler, lost $300 million, moving from 959 to 1290 position in the ranking (current estimated wealth is $1.6 billion). Filaret Galchev lost $200 million last year. Farkhad Akhmedov, Leonid Boguslavsky and Elena Baturina - $100 million each.

Anastasia Lyalikova

The global list of billionaires includes 96 representatives of Russia: 19 more than in 2016

American Forbes on Monday, March 20, released its annual, 31st ranking of the world's billionaires. The list included 96 representatives of Russia, 19 more than a year earlier. The Russian economy has stabilized, and some industries are showing recovery. Oil prices rose by 25% over the year. Other commodity markets important for Russia are also showing positive dynamics. Things never came to a “thaw” in relations with the West, but the election of US President Donald Trump gives reason to look into the future with cautious optimism. The Russian part of the rating was headed - for the second time in a row - by the co-owner of Novatek and Sibur, Leonid Mikhelson. Read more about the ten richest Russians and three entrepreneurs from Russia who were included in the Forbes world ranking of billionaires for the first time in our gallery.

46. ​​Leonid Mikhelson

Net worth: $18.4 billion

Change for the year: + $4 billion

Leonid Mikhelson is one of the main shareholders of OJSC Novatek (Russia's largest private gas production company), controls almost 25% of the shares.

Mikhelson also heads the board of directors of the chemical holding Sibur. Until the end of 2014, the entrepreneur was the controlling shareholder of the holding, but in December 2015, the Chinese state-owned company Sinopec bought 10% of Sibur for $1.339 billion. After that, Mikhelson’s share was reduced to 43%, and in December another 10% of the company was sold to the Chinese Silk Investment Fund way (Silk Road Fund), after which the billionaire’s share dropped to 34%.

Leonid Mikhelson heads the Russian part of the global Forbes list for the second year in a row. In 2016, his fortune was estimated at $14.4 billion. Then he took 60th place in the global ranking.

51. Alexey Mordashov

Net worth: $17.5 billion

Change for the year: + $6.6 billion

Alexey Mordashov - Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Severstal, President and member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Steel Consortium, Deputy Chairman of the World Steel Association, non-executive director of Nord Gold N.V.

He owns the Utkonos online grocery store and is the largest shareholder of the tour operator TUI (he now owns about 30% of the company’s shares) and has been a member of the group’s Supervisory Board for almost a year.

In 2016, Mordashov took 91st place in the Forbes world ranking with a fortune of $10.9 billion. Thus, over the year his fortune grew by more than 60%.

57. Vladimir Lisin

Net worth: $16.1 billion

Change for the year: + $6.8 billion

Vladimir Lisin is the chairman of the board of directors and the owner of a controlling stake in OJSC Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant; he also owns Universal Cargo Logistics Holding B.V.

The billionaire is the head of the supervisory board of the Rumedea media holding, whose assets include the Business FM radio station.

In 2011, with a capital of $24 billion, Lisin topped the Russian Forbes list. In 2016, Lisin ranked 116th in the Forbes global ranking of billionaires with a fortune of $9.3 billion. Over the past year, his fortune grew by more than 73.1%.

59. Gennady Timchenko

Net worth: $16 billion

Change for the year: + $4.6 billion

2018-04-24 1975

He earned his first billion at the age of 32 and became the youngest in the Forbes world ranking. At 44, he resigned from all management positions, sold many assets and focused his efforts on working at Skolkovo.

 

Reference Information:

• FULL NAME: Popov Sergey Viktorovich.
• Date of Birth: August 12, 1971.
• Education: Ural Polytechnic Institute.
• Current activity: mentoring.
• Current state:$4.5 billion, according to Forbes 2018.

The name of Sergei Viktorovich Popov, a Russian entrepreneur, banker, billionaire, is associated with such financial and industrial monsters - the Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK), EuroChem and MDM Bank. For a long time he served on the boards of directors of these giants, as well as the Pipe Metallurgical Company, RAO UES, and others.

Since 2015, he has focused on his work at SKOLKOVO, the Moscow School of Management, where he became one of the founding partners in the group of Russian oligarchs, politicians, academics and activists who founded it. All management positions were left and many assets were sold.

Sergei Popov differs from many other domestic billionaires in his unusual and so brief biography that he can be called the most unknown rich man in Russia. He tried very hard to earn such fame - he even specifically hired an entire PR agency to stay away from the press, so that any information and facts about him, and especially about his personal life, the secrets of entrepreneurship, were hidden from prying eyes.

The more interesting his figure is. After all, Sergei Popov did not start his own business in the late 1980s - early 1990s, when others made fortunes quickly and without particularly choosing their means and without ceremony. And he had no cooperative experience.

But already at the age of 32 he turned out to be the youngest rich man in the world, as the American magazine Forbes testified in 2003, including the young businessman in the world ranking of dollar billionaires ($1 billion, 552nd line). And since then, according to Popov himself, “the crisis is not an obstacle to the growth of wealth” (his most famous statement), and his condition is a convincing confirmation of this.

Rice. 1. Change in S. Popov’s fortune since 2003, billion rubles
Source: Forbes Magazine

Since 2003, he has not left the world list, and in 2011, when, with a fortune of 7.9 billion, he even rose to 117th line in the world ranking (this was his best result in history), the magazine called him an eccentric, crazy and eccentric.

Rice. 2. Eccentric oligarch
Source: forbes.com

Popov is no less firmly established in the “Golden Hundred of Russia”, and according to Forbes 2018, his fortune is estimated at $4.5 billion, this is 27th place on the list.

Source: Forbes Magazine

From the generation of the first real managers

Sergei Viktorovich Popov was born on August 12, 1971 in Yekaterinburg, then it was called Sverdlovsk. At the Ural Polytechnic Institute, which he graduated in 1993, he received a higher education with a degree in industrial heat and power engineering.

He came to the Ural-Siberian commercial and industrial company, which sold pipes and metals, immediately after graduation. We noticed him quickly. Efficient, with deep knowledge, capable of applying them in real work - just yesterday he was a student, here he became one of the partners.

Over the next few years, the young engineer had the opportunity to work in various business structures, primarily related to the metallurgical industry. His areas of responsibility included issues of general marketing strategy, increasing the economic efficiency of activities and optimizing product sales in the domestic and foreign markets:

• 1996 - one of the co-founders of the MDM Trade and Industrial Company. On the basis of this very structure, the MDM industrial group was founded in 2000 (more on it later).
• 1997-1990 - commercial director and partner of Prodkontakt Company LLC, specializing in the sale of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
• In 1997-1999, he was also the commercial director at LLC Company Prodkontrakt.
• By 2003, he created three holding companies: SUEK, Eurochem and TMK. They very soon became leaders in their industries. The fact that the purchase of many industrial assets was accompanied by conflicts, often violent, is noted by many. But as a result, MDM Group turned into one of the largest domestic companies operating in the field of direct investment and management of industrial assets.

Banker

In December 2006, after the division of joint assets with Melnichenko, MDM Bank became completely controlled by Popov. For him, the bank became a strategic investment.

Rice. 3. Young banker
Source: pravdareport.com

“Interests are changing... Popov, who invested in the banking sector several years ago, now understands it very well and clearly sees the bank’s development strategy” (Vladimir Rashevsky, General Director of SUEK).

At the time of the merger, PJSC MDM Bank was among the largest private banks in Russia in terms of capital and assets.

In 2008 - merger of assets with URSA-Bank (Igor Kim).

In 2010, assets were invested in the state company RusHydro (2% of shares), and in the same year the partnership share was exchanged for the Latvian Trade Bank. They say the businessman had to pay extra in cash from his own pocket.

2015 - at the end of June, the purchase of control over MDM Bank by the BIN group of Mikhail Gutseriev and Mikail Shishkhanov was announced. In November 2016, the deal was completed with the formation of a united credit organization called B&N Bank.

Rice. 4. Sergey Popov. 2015
Source: website vdmsti.ru

And there are new plans ahead: Skolkovo is a growth-oriented business university.

History of partnership

Andrey Melnichenko, physicist by training. Sergey Popov - electrical engineer.

The partners came to the coal and mineral fertilizer markets as investment bankers: collect, beautifully package, sell at a profit. In 1996, they became co-founders of the MDM Trade and Industrial Company.

After the default of 1998, Popov convinced Melnichenko to engage in raw materials assets. And in 2000, Sergei Popov and Andrei Melnichenko established the MDM financial group on a parity basis, on which mainly young entrepreneurs made their fortunes. At first it was an investment fund, and some large private investors even contributed their funds to its development. But the tasks very soon changed, the company focused its efforts on purchasing and structuring industrial facilities. As a result, it included coal mines, steel mills, chemical enterprises and MDM Bank, which became the core of the group. Sergei Popov became the president of MDM, but with his election to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors in May 2002, he transferred the presidency to Melnichenko, and he himself concentrated on the strategic problems of the concern’s development.

In partnership with Dmitry Pumpyansky, in 2003, the partners created the Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) - today it is one of the world's largest producers of oil and gas pipelines, but already in 2006, Popov and Melnichenko sold their share to Pumpyansky.

The year 2006 became a landmark year for two businessmen. The division of their joint assets began, although the process dragged on for more than five years.

“Melnichenko’s alliance with Popov could not last long. At the stage of building the company, they needed each other because they complemented each other well, but now they had different views on how to develop individual areas of the joint business” (Vedomosti, 2006).

In December, MDM Bank came completely under the control of Sergei Viktorovich, Eurochem went to Melnichenko.

Rice. 5. Sergey Popov
Source: wikimedia.org

In 2008, the merger of two banks, MDM and Igor Kim’s URSA Bank, began and was completed in 2009, with the emergence of a new united MDM Bank.

The year 2012 was the final year in the section of joint assets. Then Popov sells to his ex-companion the last things he had left, shares of the SUEK company, the largest in terms of production in Russia, which until then had remained their last joint asset.

“Over the past ten years, I have happily taken part in the creation and development of SUEK. I am pleased with the results achieved: the company has a strong management team, highly qualified investors and clear development plans. In the future, I intend to focus on the strategic development of MDM Bank. Andrey has demonstrated tremendous success in building world-class industrial companies, and therefore I will remain a long-term investor in SUEK with full confidence that its business will continue to develop successfully” (S. Popov).

Sergey Popov and Andrey Melnichenko divided their business.

Business mentoring

Reference.“Mentoring is already a formal institution: there are well-known entrepreneurs who purposefully spend part of their time passing on experience to young people and call themselves mentors; there are entire companies and initiatives aimed at bringing together mentors and startupers; there are pools of mentors" (lookatme.ru).
“The main principle is the free transfer of business skills and experience so that the next wave of entrepreneurs can realize their potential” (Forbes).

In Russia, the first mentor communities appeared in 2012. The private foundation "Agat" is one of such communities, which for several years was looking for its own special direction, until finally, in 2012, it focused on supporting young entrepreneurs under 35 years of age. Forbes claims that the foundation is developing a mentoring program with the money of Sergei Popov. Its representative offices operate successfully in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, the billionaire’s hometown.

“Through the fund, entrepreneurs receive a two-year unsecured loan from MDM Bank in the amount of up to 750,000 rubles at a preferential rate of 11.4% per annum guaranteed by the fund, as well as advice from 30 mentors from among successful entrepreneurs in their region” (Forbes).

Business university focused on growth

After Popov retired from all management positions, he focused his efforts on the work of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo.

“Just three or four years ago, the idea of ​​free consulting, as a rule, caused bewilderment among high-level entrepreneurs” (Maxim Karpov, founder of the Skolkovo Entrepreneurial Community, 2016).

He joined the group of Russian billionaires, politicians, activists and scientists who founded it and now, together with Ruben Vardanyan, Alexander Abramov and other richest Russian businessmen-mentors, act in the Coordination Council and help hundreds of entrepreneurs with free advice.

The university - part of New Moscow - has become a territory of high technology.

About personal life and interests

Information about Sergei Popov is collected literally bit by bit. If little is known about Popov the businessman, then even less is known about Popov the man. The PR agency did their best.

Former owner of MDM Bank Sergei Popov sold a “devastated asset” to the owners of B&N Bank?

Completing the deal

At the end of December 2015, a deal to change the owners of the notorious MDM Bank was completed on the Russian banking market. On December 22, 2015, the media reported that B&N Bank shareholders Mikail Shishkhanov and Mikhail Gutseriev acquired 84.38% of MDM Bank shares from Sergei Popov and part of the minority shareholders.

It is expected that as a result, during the first half of 2016, the share of Mikail Shishkhanov and Mikhail Gutseriev in MDM Bank will reach 100%, and by the end of 2016 the legal merger of the two credit institutions will be completed.

The united financial institution with a capital of about 100 billion rubles will operate under the Binbank brand, but MDM Bank (as a separate brand) will soon disappear from the Russian financial market.

Was Shishkhanov “scared”?

The change of owner of MDM Bank took place in several stages. Thus, on June 30, 2015, B&N Bank shareholders Mikail Shishkhanov and Mikhail Gutseriev entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in MDM Bank from Sergei Popov. In July, Shishkhanov headed MDM Bank, becoming chairman of the board.

But in November 2015, it became known that Petr Morsin, who would replace Shishkhanov in this post, would become the new chairman of the board of MDM Bank. After this, experts started talking about the fact that the owner of B&N Bank was simply “afraid” to continue managing MDM Bank due to the abundance of scandals associated with it.

So Shishkhanov decided to continue managing the merged bank after the completion of the process of integration of credit institutions. In addition, things at Binbank itself also turned out to be very deplorable. For example, in October, S&P downgraded B&N Bank's rating from B to B- with a “negative” outlook due to growing pressure on capital and uncertainty associated with the takeover of other credit institutions.

MDM Bank's ratings also leave much to be desired. For example, in October 2015, MDM Bank, according to Fitch, was among the banks with the lowest potential for absorbing loan losses.

But in December 2015, the Standard & Poor's rating agency downgraded MDM Bank's long-term counterparty credit rating to "B" from "B+", confirming the short-term one at "B". The rating outlook is "negative". In addition, The bank's national scale rating was downgraded to "ruBBB+" from "ruA".

As explained, due to the reduction in the share of MDM Bank in the total assets of the Russian banking sector from 1.2% at the end of 2010 to 0.4% at the end of 2014, the agency changed its assessment of the bank’s systemic importance from medium to low.

Popov back to his old ways?

Experts say that previously MDM Bank also worked according to the “vacuum cleaner principle.” For example, on September 5, 2014, it became known that MDM Bank turned out to be the record holder for the value of deposits among large banks.

MDM Bank raised rates on retail deposits to 11.35% per annum - not a single bank from the top 50 attracts funds from the public at such an expensive rate. Against this background, suspicions arose that MDM Bank wants to use the raised money to “patch” financial “holes” that could have formed after the probable withdrawal of assets.

Mikail Shishkhanov, co-owner of Binbank

But at the same time, MDM Bank does not cease to help its shareholders. In particular, there is information that earlier (when MDM Bank was still owned by Sergei Popov), MDM transferred a portfolio worth 30.8 billion rubles to its shareholder’s fund. So, it seems that MDM Bank shareholders care mainly about their own well-being.

But MDM Bank itself, meanwhile, essentially continued to turn into a huge financial “vacuum cleaner”, withdrawing assets in the interests of its owners. In particular, in the interests of Sergei Popov. I wonder if the owners of B&N Bank asked Mr. Popov where he put the money from MDM Bank, withdrawn in the form of loans to affiliated companies?

Criminal echo?

Rumor has it that the withdrawal of assets and the legalization of so-called “black cash” have been practiced at MDM Bank for a long time. But the “cash out” process at MDM Bank has flourished since the “dashing 90s”. So, for example, earlier investigators found out that a major drug supplier from Afghanistan, a citizen of this country, Mohammed Sherkhan, laundered money from his company Sherkhan through MDM Bank.

It should be noted that while developing this operation, investigators detained a number of MDM Bank employees. In total, during the operation to eliminate the drug trafficking channel, which was carried out by Mohammed Sherkhan, about 1 billion rubles were seized.

However, despite the success of the investigators, the management of MDM Bank was not brought to justice at that time. Apparently, the then main owner of MDM, Sergei Popov, was then able to “solve all the problems” with the investigation, or, more simply put, “get rid of” his bank.

Mikhail Gutseriev, co-owner of Binbank

Over time, corrupt officials began to withdraw money through MDM Bank. For example, the former chief inspector of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, Pavel Eremeev, accused of embezzling 30 million rubles from the budget of the Republic of Buryatia, was able to transfer this money to an American company through MDM Bank.

Moreover, before withdrawing money to the USA, Eremeev transferred the stolen money to an account at MDM Bank, and then, having formally legalized it (i.e. “laundered”), he “transferred” this money to the account of an American company , opened at AsiaUniversalBank in the city of Bishkek in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, from where they were ultimately stolen.

It seems that to this day corrupt officials continue to use MDM Bank to siphon off assets.

Murder of the Auditor

Against the backdrop of the withdrawal of assets from MDM Bank, persons who testify about fraud in this credit institution often go missing. For example, on May 13, 2015, it became known that the director of the Ural Economic Arbitration-Audit, Alexander Parshin, was put on the wanted list by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the city of Kurgan.

He disappeared immediately after testifying about the withdrawal of billions through one of the banks. And before his disappearance, Parshin left a “suicide video” on the Internet, in which he revealed the entire mechanism for withdrawing assets from MDM Bank.

It is curious that (according to Parshin) among other defendants in the case of the withdrawal of 1 billion rubles. from MDM Bank, a certain Fedor Gladkov participated, who claimed that his relative works as deputy chairman of the board of MDM Bank.

It is possible that after Parshin spoke about the withdrawal of billions from MDM Bank, he was killed. It’s not hard to guess who might benefit from this murder.

Elimination of Popov's opponents?

It is worth noting that the murder of auditor Alexander Parshin is not the first case of a mysterious murder associated with MDM Bank. Here it is worth recalling the incident when MDM Bank, with the help of its connections with the former Minister of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov, was able to literally absorb Converse Bank, where money from the nuclear industry was kept, intended for financial transactions, as well as funds from a number of large corporations.

Then a major scandal occurred, which was associated with the contract killing of the chairman of the board of the commercial bank Converse Bank, Alexander Antonov, and his security guard, Alexander Komarov. The thing is that, according to rumors, Alexander Antonov had a serious conflict at that time with the main owner of MDM Bank, Sergei Popov, so it’s not difficult to guess who benefited from Antonov’s elimination.

Anton Malevsky, leader of the Izmailovo organized crime group

By the way, during the takeover of Converse Bank by MDM Bank, the command to remove MDM workers from there was rumored to have been given by Vladimir Putin himself, who wanted “Converse Bank to be state-owned, just as it was.” However, MDM Bank still continued the takeover of Converse Bank, which, according to rumors, angered the head of state.

Another “bloody episode” in the activities of MDM Bank is associated with the death of the notorious businessman Anton Malevsky. Let us recall that Mr. Malevsky died tragically under very strange circumstances in 2006. At the same time, there were rumors again that Popov and Malevsky had a conflict.

Moreover, after the mysterious death of Malevsky, the media wrote: “the true owner of MDM Bank was killed.” By the way, the late Malevsky was the leader of the Izmailovo organized crime group.

OCG in MDM Bank?

So, in the 2000s, ex-State Duma deputy from the LDPR Evgeny Ishchenko, who was called one of the founders of MDM Bank, ended up on the bunk. He was convicted of tax evasion, seizure of enterprises and transfer of assets abroad. And Ishchenko was deputy chairman of the board of directors of MDM Bank.

By the way, the new owners of MDM Bank were also involved in criminal cases at one time. For example, Mikhail Gutseriev was accused in criminal cases opened under paragraphs “a”, “b” of Part 2 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Illegal entrepreneurship committed by an organized group on an especially large scale”) and Part 4 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Legalization of funds”).

Evgeny Ishchenko, ex-State Duma deputy from the LDPR

Sergey Popov is a Russian entrepreneur, businessman, billionaire, banker, deputy chairman of the board of directors of MDM Bank. In the ranking of “Russia's Richest Businessmen” according to Forbes for 2015, he ranks 21st with a fortune of $4.6 billion. Compared to the previous year, this ranking has risen 4 positions. He is considered one of the most unusual Russian businessmen. Back in 2011, Forbes magazine called him an eccentric, crazy and eccentric. However, this does not affect the growth of Popov’s fortune in any way.

Biography of Sergei Popov

Graduated from the Ural Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Industrial Heat and Power Engineering. Immediately after graduation, he became a partner of the Ural-Siberian Trade and Industrial Company. The main specialization of this company is metal trading.

Already in 1996, he became a co-founder of the MDM Trade and Industrial Company together with Andrey Melnichenko.

In the period from 1997 to 1999, he served as commercial director of Prodkontakt Company LLC. In 2000, together with his partners, he founded the MDM Industrial Group. The main goal of this company is the purchase and structuring of industrial assets. Initially, it was positioned as an investment fund. Many private investors even contributed their funds to the development of the fund. In May 2002, Sergei Popov began to deal with strategic issues of the development of the MDM group, ceding the post of President to partner Melnichenko. Thanks to his work, Popov managed to create three holding companies, which began to occupy leading positions in their industries. By 2003, there were three of them: SUEK, Eurochem and Pipe Metallurgical Company. It should be noted that the purchase of many assets in the industrial field was accompanied by conflicts, often very violent.

However, under the leadership of the businessman, MDM Group became one of the largest companies in Russia that worked in the field of direct investment and industrial asset management.

In 2006, Popov and Melnichenko began separating assets. This division was finally completed in 2012, when Andrei Melnichenko bought the last 17% of the shares of the coal company SUEK, which belonged to Popov.

In 2008, he was forced to merge his assets with URSA Bank and its head Igor Kim. In 2010, he exchanged his partnership share for the Latvian Trade Bank. It is known that Popov paid extra for this exchange in cash from his own pocket.

In 2014, Timur Avdeenko came to the post of Chairman of the Board of MDM Bank, who returned to his position after a seven-year break. He became the businessman's right hand.

During his entrepreneurial activity, he served on the board of directors of many enterprises and companies. For example, Eurochem OJSC, Pipe Metallurgical Company OJSC, RAO UES of Russia, SUEK OJSC and others.

The main capital today is shares (58.3%) of MDM Bank. It is known that Sergei Popov and his funds bought problem loans from MDM Bank in the amount of more than 34 billion rubles. In addition, according to experts, non-core real estate of MDM Bank is worth 18 billion rubles. It was put up for sale in bulk back in 2014.

Personal life and hobbies

Single, two children. He loves music and enjoys attending concerts at the conservatory. The businessman does not like publicity, questions about his personal life and career, and rarely gives interviews. In addition, he even hired a special PR agency that controlled the process and created his brand, only so that the media would not write anything about him. And he succeeds. Not much is known about Popov's life. They say that in one day he could fire a huge number of employees without bothering to explain the reason. For which he was named one of the most eccentric entrepreneurs.

Collects paintings by contemporary followers of impressionism. He is a mentor and co-founder of the Moscow Skolkovo School of Management. It is known that, together with students, the billionaire worked to increase attendance at the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val.

Sergei Popov differs from many Russian billionaires in that he has a biography that does not fit the standard description of capital growth. He had no commercial experience, he did not make a fortune in the 1990s, he did not start his business during that difficult period in Russia when money was made quickly, but not very cleanly. And even now, during the crisis, it would seem that it must bear serious losses. After all, the banking sector is one of those areas that suffered the most during the economic crisis. But, as the businessman himself claims, no crisis is an obstacle to income growth. And, judging by the condition of Sergei Popov, this is indeed the case.