home » For the New Year » How rich people live in Belarus. Are there dollar millionaires in Belarus? If yes, then how did they achieve this and who is the Chief?! Type of activity: real estate, retail and leisure

How rich people live in Belarus. Are there dollar millionaires in Belarus? If yes, then how did they achieve this and who is the Chief?! Type of activity: real estate, retail and leisure

The richest people in Belarus they are not yet able to be included by experts in the rankings of the world's richest people. The incomes of rich Belarusians are significantly lower than their “colleagues” in neighboring countries, but this does not make them less visible figures. Initially, this country did not like the rich as a class, so it was not customary here to advertise high profits. Many influential people born in Belarus had to leave the republic and change their citizenship.

Fifth place - Vyacheslav Zarenkov - $0.5 billion

A native of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus. Successfully graduated from the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute:

Candidate of Technical Sciences;
Doctor of Economic Sciences;
PhD in Architecture;
Professor of the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering;
full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences;
honorary academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
author of several patented inventions and monographs;
author of more than 100 scientific articles;
Honored Builder.

From 1973 to 1986 he worked at Glavzapstroy, moving from a fitter to a department head.

Takes part in the construction of more than 100 residential and industrial projects.

In 1987, he created and headed JSC LenSpetsSMU (currently a large construction association, which accounts for up to 20% of the total volume of housing construction).

Fourth place – Mikhail Abyzov – $1 billion

M. Abyzov’s deposit – Minsk city. Has a reputation as a successful anti-crisis manager, thanks to the resolution of the non-payment crisis in the energy industry. Currently he holds the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of E4 Group, a leading engineering company that includes 13 holdings. Image is a tough manager.

Previously, he worked as a top manager at RAO UES, responsible for energy reform.

After leaving RAO, he heads the Kuzbassrazrezugol company, and then starts own business. My first job was as a slinger in a construction team.

Abyzov is the owner of a controlling stake in Novosibirskenergo, the British Power Fuel, the SibirEnergo holding and several coal mines.
He is a member of the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a laureate of a prize in the field of science and technology.
He spends his free time in extreme rallies in the mountains and deserts (Gobi, Sahara, Karakum, Kyzylkum).
Married, has a daughter and two sons.

Third place – Dmitry Mazepin – $1.4 billion

Dmitry Mazepin (Minsk, Belarus) is one of richest people, at the same time completely non-public, so few facts are known about his personality.

First leadership position Mazepin receives at the age of 28, becoming vice-president of the Tyumen Oil Company.

It is in TNCs that the qualities that subsequently lead to the formation of their successful business are manifested.

Mazepin's ever-growing fortune is ensured by his Uralchem holding, which specializes in the production of mineral fertilizers. The holding in the “chemical” sector was one of the last to be formed, therefore it has effectively pushed aside its competitors.

At some time it seemed that Mazepin’s enterprise would not survive, but today all the difficulties are behind us - the company has excellent results.

The brainchild of an oligarch excellent prospects, and 12 thousand employees feel great.

Today, Uralchem is the world's second largest producer of ammonium nitrate and urea.

From this article you learned about the fortunes of Belarusians, from the link above about Russians, but how many billionaires does Ukraine have? The editors of the site u B iznes.ru found this out and presented it in the material

Second place – Andrey Klyamko – $1.9 billion

Co-owner of the Smart Holding group and private investor. In the mid-90s, with his partner V. Novinsky, he acquired the Inguletsky GOK, and in March 2011, Smart Holding bought a controlling stake from Regal Petroleum (an English oil and gas company with assets in Ukraine).

A native of Novogrudok (Belarus) is:

President of the Sambo Federation of St. Petersburg;
First Vice-President of the International Amateur Sambo Federation (FIAS);
Member of the Board of Trustees of the All-Russian Sambo Federation.

An interesting fact is that Klyamko’s assets are concentrated in Ukraine, and his business partner Novinsky is closely connected with Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. In turn, the Belarusian also runs an agricultural business (Veres and Harwest), has a stake in the port of Ochakov and a number of shipyards on the Black Sea. In Crimea, the Klyamko company owns the Balaklava Mining Administration, the Saki and Evpatoria building materials plants.

First place - Andrey Melnichenko - $11.4 billion

Today is one of the richest people in Belarus. In the early 1990s, a native of Gomel, as a student, decided to open a travel company together with friends. The profit received was invested in a new area of business at that time - currency exchange. At that time it was a profitable occupation, but in 1992 a law was passed prohibiting this type of activity.

To continue the business, Melnichenko decides to open MDM Bank, where he becomes its co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Over time, he buys out all the shares from his partners and takes the post of President of the MDM group.

Unexpectedly, in 2004, the oligarch sold his bank shares and got involved in another business (industry), which brought in a good income.

The lion's share of profits today comes from OJSC SUEK and OJSC Eurochem.

In his personal life, Melnichenko is happily married to a former Yugoslav singer, who supports him even in the most difficult moments of his life.

Video: Belarus through the eyes of a Russian

The ranking includes 25 names. The businessmen who were included in the list showed themselves in entrepreneurship in the period from 1992 to 2017. These bright personalities were at the origins of the formation of new companies, technologies, and industries. These are large taxpayers and employers. Through their activities, they in one way or another influenced the development of the country’s economy.

The authors of the rating are the portal “Daily” and Idea Bank. This project reflects the history of entrepreneurship in Belarus. The businessmen themselves, representatives social movements, journalists from other media.

The rating is replete with famous and high-profile names. We'll start with the top three finalists. Third line took Oleg KHUSAENOV (known from Zubr Capital and Atlant-M). His story begins with... window cleaning in the 90s. Later, while studying at the Moscow Institute of Engineers civil aviation opened one of the largest car dealer companies in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine - the Atlant-M holding. In 2010, Khusaenov left the automobile business and started investment activities. The company he heads, Zubr Capital, manages the first private equity funds in Belarus - SMH and Zubr Capital Fund I.

Silver went to Arkady DOBKIN (EPAM Systems). After leaving the Institute of Powder Metallurgy, he founded a software production cooperative. In the early 90s, Arkady Dobkin emigrated to the USA, and a couple of years later he created EPAM Systems. An important boost to the software development business was the contract for SAP. In 2012, Arkady Dobkin and his partners brought EPAM Systems to New York stock exchange, over the building of which the flag of Belarus appeared for the first time in history.

And the first line and the title “The Best” went to Alexander MOSHENSKY. (“Santa Impex Brest”, “Santa Bremor”, “Savushkin Product”, “Russian Sea”). A graduate of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of BSU did not go to graduate school, but chose family business. Together with my father I went from small company one of the leaders in the food market of the former Union. In 2000, Alexander Moshensky became the head of the business and launched the Santa Bremor plant in Brest. In 2012, the businessman acquired a large fish processing plant in Russia - Russian Sea. Since 2006, he has been the owner of a controlling stake in Savushkina Product.

Then in this top ten the names appear in this order:

-Valentin BAIKO(“Conte Spa”, Brest Hosiery Factory, Turov Dairy Factory). Initially worked as a teacher primary classes, then together with his family he sold cosmetics and household chemicals.

- Yuri CHIZH(“Triple”, FC “Dynamo-Minsk”, ProStore, “Kvartsmelprom”, Berezovsky Plant of Silicate Products, “Danprod”, “Aquatriple”, Minsk Sparkling Wine Factory). The USSR Master of Sports in Greco-Roman wrestling started his business in the 90s with the production of double-glazed windows and soft drinks.

- Alexander PUPEYKO(“Puchet”, “Olympus”). He is a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. The Pushe brand existed for less than 10 years, but was remembered by many.

- Vitaly ARBUZOV(Fenox Automative Components, Fenox Venture Capital, Preston). The young engineer concluded good deal with Siemens, having actually bought from him the entire East German Bremse Hydraulik plant.

- Alexander CENTER(“A-100”). A mechanical engineer in the 90s started from a niche that was difficult for that time. However, now the A-100 gas station network is the largest private gas station business in Belarus.

11. Alexey Zhukov (Alutech, Guenther Tore Systems).
12 Evgeniy Baskin (“Servolux Agro”, “Smolevichi Broiler”, “Ekomol”, “Agrolink”, “Unimit”, “Belatmit”).
13. Victor Prokopenya (VP Capital, Viaden Media).
14. Alexander Shakutin (Amkodor, Saleo, Interservice, PMI Group, Spamash Group, Absolutbank, Shanter, Iskamed, Oil Bitumen Plant, Kupalovskoye).
15. Pavel Topuzidis (“Tabak-Invest”).
16. Sergey Litvin (“Eurotorg”, Minsk Grape Wine Factory, “Statusbank”).
17. Yuri Zisser (“TUT BY Media”).
18. Mikhail Moshensky (“Nila”, “Santa Impex Brest”, “Santa Bremor”).
19. Yuri Gursky (Haxus, Viaden Media).
20. Vladimir Vasilko (“Eurotorg”, Minsk Grape Wine Factory, “Statusbank”).
21. Pyotr Martsev (“Marat”).
22. Evgeny Shigalov (Trading house “Zhdanovichi”).
23. Nikolai Martynov (“Marco”, “Dvinsky Brovar”).
24. Adam Palyukhovich (“Dainova”).
25. Vladimir Peftiev (“Beltechexport”, “Beltech Holding”, “Mobile digital communications”, “ Business network", "Sports betting", "BT Telecommunications").

Vladimir Matikevich

Over 7.5 billion rubles (about 3.8 million dollars) entered the treasury of the Republic of Belarus as a result of declaring the total annual income for last year. This is almost a billion more than the previous one! Such data were presented by Deputy Minister of Taxes and Duties, Mr. Alexander Doroshenko, at a press conference at the National Press Center. Almost 160 thousand citizens reported their income to the state, of which more than 70 thousand were individual entrepreneurs.

The declaration of dollar millionaires did not reveal. Only 3,698 applicants received income taxed at the maximum rate of 30%. The average percentage of withdrawals to taxable income, as reported at a press conference by the head of the department individuals MNS, Mrs. Galina Radyukevich, - 13.7%. At the same time, he complained; our earnings are not so great...

However, according to unofficial data from the same ministry, today there are more than one hundred dollar millionaires living in the Republic of Belarus, whose total capital amounts to more than 14 billion dollars, or 3.5 of the Budget of Belarus.

Such amounts were earned on the transit of gas, oil, “correct” customs clearance of goods and the sale of confiscated goods, construction, in the alcohol and tobacco business, the sale of weapons, the food market, the flower market, the sale of timber, fertilizers, land and the “protection protection” of the entire criminal business - “excuse ", hitting competitors, tearing up contracts and 10% of the implementation of these contracts, obtaining licenses or depriving them, carrying out planned and unscheduled inspections and so on and so forth. Among the underground millionaires, the lion's share consists of officials and those who job responsibilities must stop such squandering of people's goods. However, the official salary in this category does not exceed $500 per month. Naturally, from data earned through back-breaking labor Money, no taxes were charged.

So, who are they, the richest people in Belarus?

1. Alexander Lukashenko - President of Belarus - $11.4 billion.

2. Vladimir Peftiev - businessman - $900 million.

3. Ivan Titenkov - former Presidential Administration Manager - $420 million.

4. Viktor Sheiman - Prosecutor General - $397 million.

5. Mikhail Myasnikovich - President of the Academy of Sciences - $290 million.

6. Viktor Lagvinets - businessman - $175 million.

7. Filaret - Patriarchal Exarch of Belarus - 47.3 million dollars.

8. Yuri Chizh - businessman - $46.0 million.

9. Mikhail Borovoy - Minister of Transport and Communications - $26.3 million.

10. Alexey Vaganov - deputy - businessman - $23.6 million.

11. Vladimir Alexandrovich general director. “Itera - Bel” - $21.9 million.

12. Galina Zhuravkova - former Presidential Administration Manager - $21.6 million.

13. Georgy Kashkan - former employee of the Administrative Department - $19.4 million.

14. Pyotr Prokopovich - head of the National Bank - $18.8 million.

15. Sergei Sidorsky - Prime Minister - $16.7 million.

16. Tamara Vinnikova - ex-head of the National Bank - $15.8 million.

17. Vladimir Konoplev - Deputy Speaker of Parliament - $14.3 million.

18. Alexander Shpilevsky - head of the State Customs Committee - $12.4 million.

19. Peter Rooster - director. Beltransgaz 10.6 million dollars.

20. Alexander Lyakhov - director. "Belarusneft" 10.2 million dollars.

21. Leonid Kozik - Chairman of Trade Unions - $9.9 million.

22. Sergey Kostyuchenko - Priorbank - $9.3 million.

23. Yuri Matusevich - “ White Rus'" - 8.3 million dollars.

24. Nikolai Domashkevich - governor of the Minsk region. - 8.1 million dollars

25. Vladimir Andreichenko - governor of the Vitebsk region. - 7.9 million dollars

26. Anatoly Tozik - director. State control - 7.5 million dollars.

27. Vladimir Savchenko - governor of the Grodno region. - 7.3 million dollars

28. Sergey Litvin - businessman - $7.3 million.

29. Vasily Dolgolev - former. Goober. Brest region - 7.2 million dollars.

30. Leonid Erin - Chairman of the KGB - 6.9 million dollars.

31. Yuri Sivakov - Minister of Sports - $6.7 million.

32. Roman Vnuchko - former banker and deputy prime minister - $6.7 million.

33. Leonid Getsenok - Khimvolokno - 6.3 million dollars.

34. Konstantin Gisyak - Khimvolokno - 6.3 million dollars.

35. Nikolai Korbut - Minister of Finance - $5.3 million.

36. Valery Langov - “Nitrogen” - 6.2 million dollars.

37. Viktor Kamenkov - pres. higher economics ships - 6.2 million dollars.

38. Valentin Gurinovich - director of MAZ - 6.2 million dollars.

39. Leonid Glukhovsky - prev. Investigation Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 6.1 million dollars.

40. Leonid Kalugin - President of Atlant CJSC - $6.1 million.

41. Victor Moroz - gene. Director of Belshin - $6.1 million.

42. Vladimir Semashko - Deputy Prime Minister - $6.1 million.

43. Mikhail Pavlov - mayor of Minsk - $6.1 million.

44. Viktor Rakhmanko - former. hands Bel. zhel. roads - 6.0 million dollars.

45. Leonid Kucheryavyi - gene. director of "Crystal" - 6.0 million dollars.

46. Vladimir Grigoriev - Ambassador of Belarus to Russia - $5.9 million.

47. Vladimir Goncharenko - Minister of Communications - $5.6 million.

48. Nikolay Skutov - deputy - businessman - 5.5 million dollars.

49. Pavel Yakubovich - ch. editor of “Sovetskaya Belarus” - $4.7 million.

50. Ivan Bambiza - Deputy Prime Minister - $4.6 million.

51. Vladimir Boyko - former. prev Higher Economics Vessels - 4.6 million dollars.

52. Andrey Klimov - businessman - $4.5 million.

53. Nikolai Korotkevich - deputy. Secretary of the Security Council - $3.8 million.

54. Stepan Sukharenko - trans. deputy Chairman of the KGB - 3.7 million dollars.

55. Egor Rybakov - former. hands national state television and radiocomp. - 3.6 million dollars

56. Sergei Gaidukevich - chairman of the LDPB - $3.4 million. [...]

Lukashenko's oligarchs or how do the richest people in Belarus earn money?

Stepan Sukhovenko

Top 13 Belarusian oligarchy

And who in Belarus today makes up the small “class” of the richest people? All friends and associates of President Lukashenko. After all, as has already been said, only the presidential will and the corresponding decree open the way to real wealth. Among the national oligarchs it is impossible to find representatives of the corps of directors (although the “anti-corruption” machine fights precisely against them) and representatives of the political opposition (although government media regularly tell “horror stories” about foreign multimillion-dollar grant funding for the opposition). Let us allow ourselves to make a rating of real Belarusian oligarchs.

Galina Anisimovna Zhuravkova, ex-head of the Presidential Administration. Now I have just left the KGB pre-trial detention center, where I was housed on charges of large-scale abuses, fraud, and bribes. Zhuravkova came to “big power” in 2001 and in a matter of months managed to redistribute many profitable markets in her favor. Thus, her “guys” took control of the wholesale markets of grain, coal, timber, and fish. Zhuravkova had a network of its own stores, selling, among other things, confiscated goods. She quickly claimed her oil quota. And later it turned out that Galina Anisimovna legally owns 0.9% of the shares of the transit enterprise Beltransgaz. And that was just the beginning. She almost managed to persuade Lukashenko to “nomenklatura privatization” of oil refining enterprises in order to subsequently resell these enterprises to Russians at a significantly higher price. But this active person did not at all take into account the needs of other “oligarch favorites” from the president’s entourage. Which is why she got burned, despite the trusting relationship with Lukashenko himself and his women.

Victor Vladimirovich Sheiman, Prosecutor General of Belarus. The president's oldest ally. His confidant. Legal education received in absentia, already being the country's chief prosecutor. But intelligence and erudition have never been Sheiman’s virtues. But the ability to take control of a specific business and turn it into a well-functioning “gray scheme” cannot be taken away from Viktor Vladimirovich. His interests are extremely multifaceted. Through Beltechexport, Sheiman controlled the entire Belarusian (legal and not so legal) arms trade. Has an interest in the profits of the mobile operator MCS. Actively operates in the markets for energy offsets, scrap supplies metallurgical plant, food supplies to the capital. He is actively developing, through his brother and himself personally, a cross-border network of trade in confiscated goods.

Ivan Ivanovich Titenkov, ex-head of the Presidential Administration. Nowadays he lives in the Russian capital and is extremely dissatisfied with the behavior of his former partner Lukashenko. Why would Titenkov be dissatisfied? Before the era of Lukashenko, Ivan Ivanovich himself was a failed businessman mediocre. And only with the help of Alexander Grigorievich he reached unimaginable heights. It has taken over many consumer markets, the tourism sector, trade in tobacco and alcohol products, and the capital's real estate and office space market. Through his department, there was distribution of space for stores in the capital, as well as quotas for the supply of certain categories of goods. Again, in the end, he went too far and was forced to shamefully flee to Moscow.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Konoplev, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. A modest and quiet rural local police officer, who was not even trusted with a pistol, suddenly gained access to serious resources. It quickly took one of the main places in the market building materials and medicines. And also in the market for the construction of prestigious facilities in Minsk. Taking advantage of the opportunity to travel abroad as part of parliamentary delegations, he established contacts with adventurous European businessmen (especially from Belgium). Sometimes, however, he delved into the pharmaceutical market. But he quickly realized that the current Minister of Health Lyudmila Postoyalko is much closer to the president than Konoplev himself. Therefore, he transferred part of his “pharmaceutical” ambitions to the provincial minister.

Victor Logvinets, owner of the trade and financial holding Konto-group. Confidant of Ivan Titenkov. Logvints' holding was developing dozens of profitable directions: supplies of construction materials, automotive equipment, food products, etc. For a long time provided the president’s considerable personal needs for clothing and food. He escaped from Belarus along with Ivan Titenkov when the latter fell into disgrace.

Vladimir Pavlovich Peftiev, the constant curator of Beltechexport, the main operator of all trade and arms transactions in Belarus, Sheiman’s closest partner. Peftiev made money from selling weapons even when Lukashenko unsuccessfully managed the Gorodets state farm. Alexander Grigorievich, immediately after winning the presidential elections in 1994, wanted to exchange Peftiev for his own man, but quickly realized that Sergei Petrovich’s companions could shoot him for such a thing. After which the “new friends” sat down at the negotiating table and worked out a profit sharing scheme.

Yuri Chizh, owner of the multi-profile holding company Triple. He regularly plays hockey with the president. At the request of the latter, he actively finances the Belarusian national football team and the Dynamo football club. Regularly fights for oil and gas quotas. Works in the food market. He constantly replenishes the “president’s common fund”, as well as his real estate and deposits.

Vladimir Alexandrovich, ex-deputy of the National Assembly, “owner” of the once high-profile company “Itera-Bel”. For a long time it was a kind of monopolist in the “gas speculation” market. Until a conflict broke out with the president of the Russian Itera, Igor Viktorovich Makarov. But Aleksandrovich quickly regained his position, and is now actively attacking not only the gas market, but also the oil and confiscated markets. He is one of the president's closest friends.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Myasnikovich, ex-chief of administration of President Lukashenko. Today he heads the National Academy of Sciences. He always had a specific material interest in banking, trading and transit and raw materials (oil) businesses. For a long time he acted as an intermediary for a number of Russian shadow industrial and financial groups, representing their interests in Belarus. That’s why Lukashenko was never “eaten.” Although he posed a considerable threat to Alexander Grigorievich, since he oversaw the nomenklatura, had significant money and had access to Russia. But Mikhail Vladimirovich is an extremely subtle opportunist, and therefore he managed to come to an agreement with Lukashenko.

Irina Abelskaya, former personal doctor president. Today her status has increased significantly. She is no longer just a personal doctor, but also the closest, let’s say, friend of Alexander Grigorievich. Officially, he is the head of a special clinic for serving senior government officials. In reality, he has much greater influence on Belarusian politics. According to some information, it is through Abelskaya that the purchase of real estate abroad is carried out for the future quiet life of Lukashenko in retirement. Abelskaya is also active in the markets for paid medical services (especially, she is interested in such a profitable industry as cosmetology) and pharmaceuticals.

Alexey Vaganov, current member of the National Assembly, owner of the group trading companies. He actively worked in the Iraqi direction “oil in exchange for...” A typical example of a Belarusian secretive businessman who received the opportunity to work in the domestic market in exchange for a mandatory deduction of a “percentage of transactions.” This percentage goes to the president's special fund. The president himself is indifferent to such people, Vaganov, but demands regular payments for the right to work.

Alexander Shpilevsky, Head of the State Customs Committee. He sharply increased the “profitability” of the State Customs Committee, literally flooded the republic with confiscated goods, and quarreled Belarus with all the countries that transited through Belarusian territory. Personally or through intermediaries, he participates in all “gray” cross-border transactions. He turned the State Customs Committee into a “confiscation machine” that regularly replenishes the personal safe and the president’s safe with income from stolen goods. Fulfills special orders of high-ranking officials to provide their wives and children with confiscated expensive goods (at a cost of at least 75 thousand dollars) motor vehicles. In terms of the number of respectable foreign cars, Minsk will give Moscow a head start. But the owners are all around the dad.

And finally, the most important oligarch of Belarus - Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko. This man periodically makes statements that he lives only on his salary and is the most honest and pure (morally) president in the world. At the same time, he also manages to transfer most of his salary to orphanages. If you want to believe it, believe it. But in fact, he receives interest from all - legal and criminal - transactions. Resale of Russian gas within Belarus, re-export of products from oil refineries, sales of food products, tobacco products without paying taxes, trade in confiscated goods, any cargo transit, arms deals around the world, sales of stakes in state-owned enterprises - only Lukashenko can give permission for all this. He doesn’t hide the fact that he built a system in which decisions are made by one person. This means that in order to bring a carload of alcohol to Belarus and sell it without paying taxes, you need the signature of the president. And you have to pay for the signature. This is the law of nature. Why should we doubt this and why should we believe in the crystal honesty of a man named Lukashenko? As a rule, Lukashenko prefers to keep his money in cash in a home safe. Some of the money is in the safes of foreign banks. Something else is hidden in Cuba, where his children, “friend” Abelskaya and “comrade-in-arms” Sheiman periodically fly for private visits. There is no doubt, only one thing - it is Lukashenko who owns the largest Belarusian fortune.

It is not difficult to answer the question in the title. In Belarus, you can make good money only by being close to President Lukashenko. If you play hockey with him or ride together alpine skiing, then after some time you will definitely receive your piece of “state property” into “perpetual possession.” Earn money yourself, regularly pay your dues to the boss, and most importantly, keep quiet...

Belarus has its own oligarchs. Naturally, the government press does not write about them. They are not included in the Forbes "billionaire" rankings. They cannot make statements and buy English football clubs.

But they are very influential and have very decent fortunes. Influential Belarusians have a lot of free money. True, unlike their Russian colleagues, who invest all their available funds in production assets, buy raw materials deposits, and build financial and production holdings, Belarusian oligarchs keep all their fortunes in “cache” or in other people’s “sleeping” accounts. This is "dead" money. Only entertainment, underground holidays abroad and haute couture clothes for wives/daughters. Ambition and intelligence are clearly lacking.

In Belarus, unlike Russia, real “oligarchic capitalism” has been built. A small group of people has, on the one hand, full political and economic power, and on the other, it controls all financial flows and production and transit capacities of the republic. The redistribution of influence and resources within Belarus occurred quickly and fell within just one “five-year plan”. Having proposed the concept of “strong presidential power,” Lukashenko immediately got the opportunity, through direct presidential decrees, to provide his “partners” with tidbits of state property, transit highways, consumer markets, and construction projects. Behind the scenes, of course. And the whole point is in the development strategy of the national oligarchy. For example, in Russia, local oligarchs not only actively built their “raw materials empires”, but also tried to influence public opinion, abundantly and aggressively buying electronic and print media. In Belarus, all media eventually ended up in the same hands - the government took strict control of public opinion. To build “oligarchic communities,” monopolization of the media is vital, and therefore Lukashenko’s fight against independent newspapers was part of a forward-looking strategy. After all, what happened in Russia? there in large quantities the so-called “information wars” began, when the newspapers of one oligarch depicted in great detail the secret affairs and luxurious lifestyle of oligarch No. 2. These wars greatly electrified public opinion, which also knew by heart the names of 30-50 oligarchs allegedly responsible for the impoverishment of the bulk of the Russian population. In Belarus, the “new oligarchs” did not say a word about each other publicly. As a rule, they transferred the showdown to Lukashenko’s office or home residence. And only in these two sacred places was there a real calculation of who earned and how much, and it also became clear how much the president himself was deceived. [...]

Classic Belarusian “spiders”

In Belarus, the oligarchy developed along a more traditional path. In this country, there was also a redistribution of property and a behind-the-scenes distribution of attractive production assets among “our own people.” But all this was done not just secretly, but absolutely silently. In complete darkness and with the deathly silence of the media. The Belarusian oligarchs did not need to corrupt the state apparatus - they were the basis, the foundation of this apparatus. Oligarchs in Belarus are officials. Could this not be considered the pinnacle of the development of the national oligarchy? One hand signs the permit, the other counts the profits. Local oligarchs, we must give them their due, quickly developed four mandatory “rules of behavior” that guarantee complete security for the “court business.” Failure to comply with these rules leads to expulsion from the “untouchable caste.” Something similar has already happened to a friend and the first “president’s wallet” Ivan Titenkov. And now the procedure for “expelling the traitor” has been launched in relation to the second “president’s wallet” Galina Zhuravka. Well, sometimes the untouchables get too carried away. And their public purge adds points in Lukashenko’s never-ending fight against corruption (usually self-inflicted).

So, the Belarusian oligarchs have developed the following security measures.

The first rule of the oligarchy: the boss (Lukashenko) is always right. You can't be offended by him. And he should regularly receive his share from any, even the most insignificant, transaction.

Rule two: you need to live in the shadows. No public revelations or verbal altercations. No leaking of incriminating evidence to newspapers. Although this happens sometimes. But the bloodiest fights between oligarchs take place on the sidelines. Analytical notes and denunciations of each other, followed by a challenge to the president’s dark cherry carpet - everyday real life new elite. Zhuravkova too brazenly crushed other people’s “property” - the republican markets of tobacco, alcohol, sugar, fish, coal - and therefore was mercilessly eaten up by other oligarchs.

Third rule: society should naively believe that all large production and transit facilities in the country remain in state (people's) ownership. For this it was necessary to recreate a gigantic propaganda apparatus. Do you no longer believe that the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant belongs to the people? Then we come to you with our agitators, political informants, ideologists, television commentators and a personal message from the president on this issue.

Rule four: there should be no alternative political or financial-production groups in the country. Belarusian oligarchs are especially afraid of the arrival of their Russian oligarch colleagues in Belarus. After all, the Russians are much more professional and aggressive, and therefore will probably push the Belarusian “little brothers” into the margins in a matter of months. Here she is the real reason Lukashenko’s hysterical conflict with the Russian concerns Baltika, LUKoil, Gazprom and others. Dwarf oligarchs are afraid of oligarchs with Russian passports.

And one more thing about the difference between the two types of oligarchy. Russian oligarchs invest their money in production, increase their turnover, build a strategic business, and think about increasing the capitalization of their business. They started out as criminals, but are trying to become respectable and legalized on world business markets. Belarusian oligarchs keep money in home safes and absolutely do not want to let it into real job. The typical behavior of “spiders” is to drink other people’s juices, to extract the last profits from rapidly becoming obsolete Belarusian industries. While they are still producing something that can be sold. Our oligarchs make money from special presidential decrees, but this is not a business. This is classic corruption. And this money is not for modernizing production, but for meeting personal needs - trips to Slovenian ski resorts, acquisition of property in Spain, ownership of a personal “night club” in Minsk. Belarusian oligarchs are completely mediocre, and therefore are only able to receive money through criminal schemes. Unlike Russians, they do not want to legalize their income and do not want to be recognized. [...]

But all of the above people have something to lose. Only in this system, when everything is done in the shadows, opaquely and on the personal orders of the president, can they make fabulous profits. And they are not afraid that public opinion will find out about anything. Their habitat is a muddy pond. That's why they hold on to power so stubbornly. After all, the arrival of a new president or the strengthening of the parliament’s position will inevitably lead to an investigation into their financial crimes.

Business in the Republic of Belarus has developed rapidly over the past 25 years. Of course, the richest people in Belarus prefer not to advertise their income, so most of them choose to live outside their homeland. In this state with a population of 9.5 million people there are more than 10 thousand millionaires.

Andrey Melnichenko

The ranking of the wealthiest people in Belarus is headed by Andrei Melnichenko. Despite his Russian citizenship, Forbes magazine ranks Andrei Igorevich among Belarusian businessmen, because he was born in the city of Gomel. His capital is $10.1 billion as of 2016.

Mr. Melnichenko began his career in 1991, as a student at Moscow State University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Then he created the travel company Sputnik. Now Andrei Igorevich has 90% of the shares of the Eurochem company, the same percentage of shares of the Siberian Coal Energy Company and the Siberian Generating Company. All 3 enterprises have enormous influence in Russia and the world.

Over the past year, the businessman has slightly lost his position in the global Forbes ranking. Andrey Melnichenko is ranked 139th in the world compared to 137th last year.

Dmitry Mazepin ranks second in the ranking of the richest people in Belarus with a capital of $1.4 billion. A native of Minsk also has Russian citizenship. In addition, he was a deputy of the Kirov Regional Assembly for 2 years (2012-2014).

Dmitry Mazepin

Dmitry Arkadyevich has 2 higher educations: Minsk Suvorov Military School, MGIMO and Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg University. Mr. Mazepin began his business career in 1992 with the insurance company Infinstrakh. Today he owns 95% of the shares of Uralkhima, 20% of Uralkali and 20% of Onexim. The businessman is also known for being included in the top list of Russian billionaire philanthropists, taking 7th place.

Other billionaires

A native Minsk resident, Viktor Kisly, is known to the world community as the president of the Wargaming.net company. Without changing his Belarusian citizenship, he moved to Cyprus, from where he conducts his business. Children's hobby computer games brought the businessman a fortune of $1.5 billion.

Today, Victor is the youngest billionaire in Belarus, he is 39 years old. A physicist by training, Kislyi began doing business in 1998, when he founded the company Wargaming.net. The company's most successful product was the game "World of tanks". By 2012, the company had acquired shares in many other American and European gaming firms. In the world list of Forbes magazine, Viktor Kisly occupies 701st place.

Mikhail Abyzov, a native of the Belarusian capital, entered the ranking of the richest people in Belarus, being a prominent politician of the Russian Federation and at the same time a US citizen. His fortune is estimated at $1.2 billion.

Mikhail Abyzov

Mikhail Anatolyevich organized his first company when he was still a freshman at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow State University in 1990. Then he was engaged in the trade of Turkish consumer goods. Today, Mr. Abyzov has assets in large companies in the energy sector (Elsib, Sibeco), agriculture(“Kopitanie”) and construction (“Dalmostostroy”).

Having analyzed the data of the first thirty businessmen of the Top 200, journalists compiled a portrait of the average Belarusian rich man.

in the photo (from left to right): Pavel Topuzidis, Alexander Tsenter, Arkady Dobkin

Let us remind you that the portal’s editors have been preparing a list of wealthy people in the country since 2007.

The leader of the latest rating is 47-year-old Alexander Moshensky, the “dairy king” from Brest, owner of Savushkin Product and Santa Impex Brest. He moved the country's main "tanker" Viktor Kisly, who topped the rating two, from first place last year. Now Viktor Kisly is only fourth.

It is not known whether there are dollar billionaires like Bill Gates or, at worst, Roman Abramovich in Belarus. In 2010, the Ukrainian economic magazine Delo named Vladimir Peftiev the richest man in Belarus - according to the magazine, he had a billion dollars.

There is no longer a “weapons king” in the current rating, but there is Viktor Kisly - in 2016, the authoritative agency Bloomberg named the 39-year-old IT specialist a dollar millionaire - he is the one at the helm of the Wargaming company - the same one that created computer “tanks”. In this year's ranking, Kisly takes fourth place.

After analyzing the data of the first thirty Top 200 businessmen, Komsomolskaya Pravda calculated what a typical Belarusian billionaire. This is a 51-year-old Minsk resident who is mainly involved in real estate, retail or IT, married, two children.

Gender: male

Age: 51 years

We calculated the average age of a Belarusian top entrepreneur simply: we added up the lived years of all businessmen and divided them by their number, 30.

The youngest participant in the top 30 is 34-year-old IT specialist Viktor Prokopenya (12th place). His company is developing artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies, and together with Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev, he is engaged in venture investments.

The oldest participant in the top thirty was 62-year-old IT specialist Sergei Levteev (23rd place) - he runs the IBA company, which develops and promotes IT services and products.

Marital status: married, two children

20 of the 30 richest businessmen are married, for another ten there is no exact information. The average number of children per businessman is 2.4. The record holder is Oleg Khusaenov (19th place), who has four sons and a daughter. Alexander Tsenter (8th place), Alexey Zhukov (20th place) and Sergei Gvardeytsev (29th place) have four children.

Place of birth: Minsk

Not all businessmen have information about their place of birth. But in cases where this is known, the majority turned out to be from Minsk, and many from the regions. Although in general the geography is quite wide. For example, Pavel Topuzidis (3rd place) was born in Abkhazia, Alexey Zhukov (20th place) and Sergey Levteev (23rd place) were born in Russia, Nikolay Vorobey (17th place) in Ukraine. Oleg Khusaenov (19th place) is a native of Kazakhstan.

Current place of residence: Minsk

The vast majority of businessmen from the top thirty live in the Belarusian capital. Three live and work in Cyprus, two more each in Grodno and Monaco, one businessman each in Luxembourg, Brest, Mogilev, Novopolotsk, Moscow, Prague and Riga.

Education: higher technical

It is known that four businessmen from the top thirty graduated from the Minsk Polytechnic University, now the Belarusian National Technical University. Six graduated from BSU - usually from the Faculty of Physics or Mechanics and Mathematics. The education of four more is related to aviation; they studied in Leningrad, Riga and Moscow.

Thus, the education of the majority of Belarusian rich people is higher technical. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, Alexander Shakutin (15th place) is a general practitioner, he graduated from the Minsk Medical Institute. Nikolay Martynov (21st place) majoring in political science - studied at the Institute of Political Science and social management Communist Party of the BSSR.

Nikolai Vorobey (17th place) is a historian, and the owner of the Conte Spa plant, Valentin Bayko, is a primary school teacher.

Date of business start: 1993

Most Belarusian top businessmen began their careers during the collapse of the USSR and in the “roaring nineties”. Sergei Levteev (23rd place) was the first to get his bearings from the top thirty. The then 30-year-old electronics engineer started his business in 1985, that is, back in Soviet times. Two decades later, his company IBA has become one of the most successful businesses for development and distribution software in the world.

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