Makhlai Sergey Vladimirovich: biography, activities, achievements and interesting facts

Makhlai Sergey Vladimirovich is a well-known Russian businessman. His father, Vladimir Makhlai, for a quarter of a century headed the TogliattiAzot company.

Biography of an entrepreneur

Makhlai Sergey Vladimirovich was born in a small town of Gubakha in the Perm region in 1969. His father is the oligarch Vladimir Makhlai, the ex-head of the TogliattiAzot corporation, whose fortune is estimated at $ 700 million.

Togliatti from the Perm region with his parents moved in 1985 Makhlai Sergei Vladimirovich. The family here began to rebuild their lives. He was then 16 years old. From here he was drafted into the ranks of the armed forces, served in the army and began to work in the construction sector.

He received his higher education in the Tolyatti Polytechnic Institute. Acquired a specialty related to chemical production, construction of enterprises and patent science.

In 1994, Makhlai Sergei Vladimirovich left Russia for the United States. He worked in the field of sales of equipment intended for the chemical industry, and also traded real estate. According to unconfirmed reports, he became a citizen of America.

In 2003, he received another higher education at the University of North Carolina.

Homecoming

In 2000, Makhlai Sergey Vladimirovich returned to Russia. In 2011, he replaced his father at the head of the company "TogliattiAzot". A year later he was re-elected to this post.

The reason for this decision was told by Makhlai himself. According to him, the father went on a well-deserved rest and had nothing to do with the enterprise. However, the media adhered to a different theory, which is different from what Sergey Vladimirovich Makhlai said. TASS stated that the resignation of the businessman's father was forced. Just in 2011, Rostekhnadzor revealed numerous violations at the enterprise. Protocols were compiled for half a thousand gross violations in the sphere of industrial safety and labor protection. Then criminal cases were opened against the company's leaders .

Company "TogliattiAzot"

Open Joint-Stock Company TogliattiAzot is one of the ten largest producers of ammonia in the world. It is located in the Samara region.

The construction of the plant began in 1974. The partners were the American company Ixidental Petroleum. Part of the money for the appearance of the company was allocated by American businessman Armand Hammer, who supported the Soviet Union and personally was friends with Lenin.

The construction was announced by the All-Union Komsomol construction and was completed in record time. Vladimir Makhlai headed the company since 1985, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was registered as a joint-stock company. In modern Russia, the production line has expanded. At the plant, ceramic tiles, bricks were launched, furniture manufacture was opened, and even video equipment was assembled.

The number of the enterprise is more than five thousand people. The annual turnover is over 60 billion rubles .

Political statements

Unlike his father, Sergei Vladimirovich Makhlai often appeared in public, commented on the developments.

In particular, in 2013 he actively spoke about demonstrations in Moscow for fair elections, criticizing the position of Western media. According to him, foreign journalists are presenting a 20-thousand-strong demonstration in the Russian capital, on which no economic slogan has been put forward, as the beginning of the collapse of the regime. While in Europe hundreds of thousands of people come to the streets, for example, in Greece or Spain, but this is called a vivid example of democracy.

In his opinion, the West is craving and is doing everything possible to ensure that a coup d'état takes place in Russia, which should bring the country to understandable standards. However, this can not be tolerated, asserted Makhlai .

Criminal case

In 2013, it was announced that a criminal case had been opened against the management of TogliattiAzot, as well as its majority shareholders. According to the investigative committee for the Samara region, they were engaged in the withdrawal of the company's assets abroad.

Despite this, in the spring of 2014, Sergei Makhlai, whose activities at the head of the company did not satisfy many, planned to purchase a football club from Liechtenstein "Vaduz". This is a frequent participant in European competition, but serious success, in addition to the domestic championship, never achieved.

According to journalists, a lot of money was going to be paid by Makhlai Sergey Vladimirovich. The newspaper Vedomosti writes that the amount could be about 40 million euros.

At the very end of 2014, the Moscow Basmanny Court decided to arrest in absentia the father and son Makhlaev. They were both announced on the international wanted list on suspicion of fraud in a particularly large amount. They are charged with the damage of three billion dollars, which they inflicted on the TogliattiAzot company, when they made out contracts for the export of the products of the chemical enterprise .

The new owner of the chemical enterprise

After the institution of the criminal case against Makhlayev, the former president of Kalmykia and the international chess federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, became the new owners of the controlling stake in TogliattiAzot. However, many experts believe that in the near future, he can get rid of them. Among the main contenders for the purchase of the company is called Arcadia Rothenberg, a well-known billionaire in Russia.

At the same time, the criminal case against Makhla was soon forgotten, and in 2015 he was even presented with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh for his contribution to the reconstruction of the church on the Transfiguration Square of the capital. Sergei Makhlai made such a recognition in the Orthodox environment. Biography, the awards of this businessman say that he knows how to negotiate with the right people.

At the same time, the domestic media in connection with this actively wrote that for the first time in history a high confessional award was decided not to be handed to a businessman or a politician, but to a criminal.

American citizenship

According to unofficial data, Sergei Makhlai has already had American citizenship for many years. And in the US, he took on a new name - McLeich. On it, he opens his company and registers transactions for real estate. Because of this, many have long been perplexed how he manages to combine US citizenship and leadership with one of the strategic domestic enterprises.

In 2014, during a coup in Ukraine, Makhlaya was openly accused of actively financing the Maidan and is in collusion with American capital.

In the evidence of his relations with the United States, experts quote the history of the privatization of the port plant in Odessa and the ammonia pipeline Togliatti-Odessa. The fact is that the Russian part of the pipeline was already under his control, while the Ukrainian part belonged to the state. These interests of the businessman are named among the main reasons that prompted Makhlai to finance the coup in Ukraine. And these assets are named among what was promised to him by the new Ukrainian authorities, as well as by the American party involved in the process .

Money offshore

In 2012, during searches at the Tolyattiazot company, among other things, they found documentary evidence confirming the withdrawal of hundreds of millions of dollars to offshore offshore companies. Moreover, the Office for Combating Economic Crimes found a US citizen, Donald Knapp, who was the vice-president of the TogliattiAzot company.

Sergei Vladimirovich Makhlai, whose biography is closely connected with the United States, has a long-standing relationship with Knapp. The true purpose of his work at the plant became clear after he had held talks with the head of the CIA in Kiev, John Brennon.

Mysterious figures in the company's management

Another citizen of Switzerland, Andreas Tsivi, remains a mysterious and ambiguous figure at the head of the TogliattiAzot company. Firms in which he is listed as a leader, have repeatedly been suspected of conducting questionable operations in Eastern Europe and North Africa. He is constantly in conflict with environmentalists, local residents and even UN staff.

He maximally eschews publicity and communication with the press. However, several years ago, Swiss law enforcement authorities suspected him of fraud in Libya. In particular, it was assumed that he was giving bribes to local high-ranking officials. In total, around one and a half million dollars. All this took place just before the American operation against Muammar Gaddafi.

Such a person is a member of the board of Togliattiazot.

Record indicators

Against this background, TogliattiAzot demonstrates a good financial momentum. So, when the company was at the head of the company, Sergei Makhlai, payments on dividends increased significantly. For example, if in 2009 they were not paid at all, and in 2010 slightly exceeded half a billion, then in 2011, TogliattiAzot transferred almost three billion rubles to its investors.

And the criminal prosecution against himself and his father Makhlai connects with the attempts of the raider seizure of the company. According to him, they began in the mid-90's. Good financial indicators are expected in the future. Its role in this, of course, was played by production growth and the fall in the ruble exchange rate (most of the products are exported, receiving dollars for it).

At the same time, the siloviki adhere to a different position. From their point of view, there is no question of any raider capture. The Investigative Committee suspects that Makhlai with partners in gray schemes withdraws money through off-shores and Swiss intermediaries. They sell goods at a lower cost, and they already resell it at a market price.

Public position and personal life

The TogliattiAzot company got to the front pages of the newspapers during the criminal investigation of the punk band Pussy Riot, who was accused of insulting the feelings of believers. The factory reacted. A mass meeting took place, at which the participants of the group were invited to come to TogliattiAzot to re-educate them here. Workers of the plant intended to hold an action to protect traditional Russian Orthodox values.

Currently lives in the US Makhlai Sergei Vladimirovich. The biography and family of the hero of our article are such that he will most likely remain there in the near future. The head of TogliattiAzot has a wife. They bring up two daughters.

At the same time, the businessman insists that his company was never a foreign company. The plant remains today one of the city-forming for the entire Samara region. In the region, it is one of the three largest taxpayers, who dedicate significant funds to the regional treasury.