Svyazinvest

OJSC Svyazinvest

Company type	Open joint stock company
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	November 1994
Defunct	October 1, 2013
Headquarters	103375 Tverskaya St. 7, Moscow
Key people	Chairman of the Board of Directors: Leonid Reiman, CEO: Alexander Kiselyov
Products	Telecommunications, Internet services, Cable television
Revenue	~
Number of employees	~
Website	http://eng.svyazinvest.ru/

OJSC Svyazinvest (Russian: ОАО Связьинвест) was Russia's largest telecommunications holding company. Based in Moscow, it was founded according to Order №1297 of the Russian government on November 25, 1994, and was registered on September 18, 1995. It was an entirely state-owned company until some shares were privatized in the late 1990s. Its operation including brand and subsidiaries were fully incorporated to Rostelecom, the former long-distance telephony monopoly. In late September 2013, Rostelecom completed the final stage of its reorganization, under which the state-run telecom holding Svyazinvest and 20 other firms were integrated into Rostelecom. The government's combined common stake in the merged company amounted to 51.12% after the reorganization.^[1]

American financier George Soros invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the company. He later called it "the worst investment he's ever made".^[2]

History

The company was founded in accordance with Presidential Decree №1989 "On Specific Features of State Management of the Public Switched Network in the Russian Federation" dated October 10, 1994, and Government Resolution №1297 dated November 25, 1994, and Government Resolution №742 dated July 24, 1995. Svyazinvest's charter capital was formed by consolidating state-owned stakes in 85 joint stock telecommunications companies. Svyazinvest passed official state registration on September 18, 1995.^[3]

In accordance with Resolution №618 issued by the Russian government on May 23, 1997, the Russian Federal Property Fund and the State Committee of the Russian Federation for State Property Management put up for sale an interest equaling 25% + 1 share in Svyazinvest at a cash auction without any investment terms.^[4]

In November 1999 Svyazinvest's board of directors amended the company charter and turned it into a management company.^[5] As part of the measures to assign the status of a management company to Svyazinvest work got under way to improve procedures to manage associates, specifically by consolidating companies located in one region.

In 2004, George Soros sold his stake in Svyazinvest to Len Blavatnik for $650 million.^[2][6]

In April 2011, Svyazinvest subsidiaries were transferred to Rostelecom.^[7]

In May 2011 with Igor Shchyogolev's support, Alexander Trubetskoy became chairman of the board and Vadim Semyonov, who is a citizen of both Canada and Russia, became CEO of Svyazinvest on 3 November 2010 replacing Evgeny Yurchenko because Yurchenko refused to support Konstantin Malofeev's decisions calling Malofeev "Russia's great raider" (Russian: «великим рейдером России»).^{[7][8][9][a][b]}

Subsidiaries

• OJSC Central Telegraph (80%)
• OJSC Rostelecom (45.28%)
• OJSC Giprosvyaz (59.99%)
• OJSC Kostroma GTS (37%)
• OJSC Bashinformsvyaz (29.31%)
• OJSC Chukotkasvyazinform (100%)
• OJSC Ingushelectrosvyaz (100%)
• OJSC Moscow mezhdugorodnaya telephone station N9 (50.67%)

Svyazinvest is three-quarters owned by Rosproperty and one-quarter owned by Rostelecom.

Management

Directors general

• Alexander Lipatov (August 1995–March 1996)
• Nail Ismailov (March 1996–April 1999)
• Oleg Belov (April 1999–October 1999)
• Valery Yashin (October 21, 1999–?)
• Alexander Kiselyov [ru] (June 29, 2006–present)

Chairman of the Board

• Nikolay Pozhitkov (until April 1999)
• Boris Ponomarenko (April 1999–July 1999)
• Russia's Minister of Science and Technology Vladimir Bulgak (July 15, 1999–June 2000)
• Russia's Minister of Communication and Informatization Leonid Reiman (June 26, 2000–present)

As of June 29, 2006, Svyazinvest's Board of Directors included the following as members:

• Leonid Reiman, Chairman – Minister for Information Technologies and Communications
• Boris Antonyuk – Deputy Minister for Information Technologies and Communications
• Kirill Androsov – Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade
• Vadim Stepanov – Secretary of State, Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Protection Service
• Lyudmila Pridanova – Deputy Head of Rosimushchestvo
• Karen Markaryan – Assistant Deputy Head of the RF Government Executive Office
• Vasiliy Popick – Assistant of the RF President's Expert Department
• Anatoly Akimenko – Representative, Mustcom Ltd.
• Sergei Karpukhovich – Representative, Mustcom Ltd.

As of June 29, 2006, the Management Board included the following as members:

• Alexander Kiselyov, Chairman – Director General
• Stanislav Panchenko (Deputy Director General)
• Konstantin Belyaev (Deputy Director General)
• Evgeny Chechelnitsky (Deputy Director General)
• Vladimir Zhelonkin (Deputy Director General)

See also

• Quantum Group of Funds

Notes

1. Alexander Alexandrovich Trubetskoy (Russian: Александр Александрович Трубецкой; born 1947 Paris, France) is close to both Igor Shchyogolev and Konstantin Malofeev of the Marshall Capital Fund.^[8] Trubetskoy's parents Prince Alexander Trubetskoy and Princess Alexandra Golitsyna are White Russians who lived in Paris, France following the Russian Civil War.^[10] Beginning in 1972, Trubetskoy supplied equipment for oil fields in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.^[10] From 1975 to 1994, Trubetskoy worked at Thomson CSF, sold computers and communications equipment to Gazprom, Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, RAO UES, Igor Shchyogolev, and TASS, and was working at Thomson CSF when Vladimir Vetrov defected to the West.^{[7][8][10][11]}
2. Vadim Viktorovich Semyonov (Russian: Вадим Викторович Семёнов), a citizen of both Canada and Russia, was CEO of Svyazinvest from October 2011 until 2013. He attended school with both Dmitry Medvedev and Yevgeny Trubin (Russian: Евгений Трубин) who had been general director of Lenizdat.^[7][8][12]

References

1. "Russian ministry seeking organizers for Rostelecom privatization". Prime business news agency. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
2. Korchagina, Valeria (18 March 2004). "Did Soros Finally Exit Svyazinvest?". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
3. Новости, Р. И. А. (2011-07-25). "Борьба олигархов за "Связьинвест". Справка". РИА Новости (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-19.
4. "Государство опять на связи". Interfax (in Russian). 2009. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
5. ""Связьинвест" повернулся к мелким акционерам". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 1999-11-19. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
6. "Как приватизировали "Связьинвест"". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
7. "Министра Щеголева в Связьинвесте сменит французский князь" [Minister Shchegolev in Svyazinvest will be replaced by a French prince]. peoples.ru (in Russian). 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
8. Шлейнов, Роман (Shleynov, Roman) (15 August 2011). "Как князя Александра Трубецкого завербовали в «Связьинвест»: Потомок русских эмигрантов гражданин Франции князь Александр Трубецкой неспроста попал в список кандидатов в совет директоров «Связьинвеста». Князь – соратник, проверенный временем: он торговал еще с СССР" [How Prince Alexander Trubetskoy was recruited into Svyazinvest: A descendant of Russian emigrants, a French citizen, Prince Alexander Trubetskoy, ended up on the list of candidates for the board of directors of Svyazinvest for a reason. The prince is a comrade-in-arms, time-tested: he traded with the USSR]. Kommersant (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
9. Цуканов, Игорь (Tsukanov, Igor); Сальманов, Олег (Salmanov, Oleg); Дзядко, Тимофей (Dzyadko, Timofey) (5 October 2010). "Смена власти в «Связьинвесте» произошла в экстренном порядке: Акционеры не стали ждать 3 ноября, чтобы утвердить увольнение Евгения Юрченко и назначить на его место однокурсника Дмитрия Медведева" [The change of power in Svyazinvest took place on an emergency basis: Shareholders did not wait for November 3 to approve the dismissal of Yevgeny Yurchenko and appoint Dmitry Medvedev, a classmate, to take his place.]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved 29 March 2022.
10. Северцев, Николай (Severtsev, Nikolay) (18 October 2011). "Count "Schegolev-Trubetskoy"" [Граф "Щеголев-Трубецкой"]. The Moscow Post (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
11. Belton 2020, p. 562 see note 80.
12. "Журналисты "Эха Москвы" объяснили перестановки в совете директоров" [Journalists of "Echo of Moscow" explained the reshuffle in the board of directors]. Lenta.ru (in Russian). 14 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

• Belton, Catherine (23 June 2020). Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. ISBN 978-0374238711.

External links

• Media related to Svyazinvest at Wikimedia Commons
• Official Svyazinvest website—(in Russian)
• History of the JSC Svyazinvest company—(in Russian)