Biography:
Born October 3, 1966 in Moscow. Father - a builder, mother – a chemical engineer.
In 1989 he graduated from the M.I. Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology (MKhTI) (currently is the Chemical Technology University), specializing in “chemical engineering”. At the same time together with the institute fellow Evteev Sergei, Yevgeny Balakin and Mikhail Vlasov created a firm Moscow International House “East and West”, which first project was organization of an amusement park in CPKiO of A.M. Gorky. In 1989 - 1991 he worked in publishing house "IMA-Press" (youth edition of the youth department in the press agency “Novosti").
In 1991 Kusnirovich founded a group Bosco di Ciliegi (JSC "Group of Companies" Moscow International House “East and West"(a trademark of Bosco di Ciliegi) which now manages more than 80 single-brand boutiques (Etro, Kenzo, Jean Paul Gaultier, and others); and multibrand boutiques ( BoscoFamily, BoscoScarpa, and others); and produces sports clothing under the brand BoscoSport. This group also includes perfumery and cosmetics shops Articoli, jewelry and watch boutique Sublime by Bosco, beauty salons, cafes and restaurants, dental clinics and pharmacies. GC "East and West” is the main shareholder of OAO "Trade House GUM”, the main tenant in which is the Bosco di Ciliegi.
The building of the shop owned by the Government of Moscow is leased by the GUM till 2042. According to the data of 2007, company Bosco di Ciliegi by Mikhail Kusnirovich controlled more than 75% stake in GUM. The group’s shops are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Kemerovo, Perm, Krasnoyarsk, Chelyabinsk, and Milan. Since 2001 the Bosco has been organizing the Festival of Arts "Cherry Wood"; since 2002 – the Official Outfitter of the Olympic team of Russia. The main owner is Michael Kusnirovich. According to "SPARK-Interfax”, by 2002 he owned 50,2% of LTD, 16,6% owned equally by Sergei Evteeva and Eugene Balakin, and Michael Vlasov.
On October12, 2006 Mikhail Kusnirovich was awarded the Order of Honorary Commander of the Italian Republic "- the highest Italian award.
He is married. His wife Catherine Moiseeva is a head of the department of retail chain and is a member of the board of directors of the company Bosco di Ciliegi. They bring up a son. All the family can speak Italian fluently.
Source: www.glomu.ru, «Kommersant» № 214 (4269) on 17/11/2009
Dossier:
The media has noted the relationship between Michael Kusnirovich and Vladimir Yevtushenkov (AFK "System"). According to the official data, in 1997 “System” together with the Olympic Committee of Russia (CBR) established a company "Olympic system", specializing in creation and management of sports facilities, equipping sports facilities with the necessary equipment and uniforms. In the press there is evidence that under a license agreement between the Russian Olympic Committee and the Olympic system, the company dressed the team during the XXVIII Olympiad 2004 in Athens, XX Olympic Winter Games 2006 in Turin, as well as the XXIV Olympiad 2008in Beijing. Bosco di Ciliegi Mikhail Kusnirovich has rights to product the Olympic gear. They wrote in the media: the vague license agreement covered the fact that the "Olympic system", ie Yevtushenkov, owns the rights to manage probably the most lucrative sports brand - the Olympic rings. That is, the five world-famous Olympic rings symbolizing the friendship of the five continents are the property of Mr. Yevtushenkov in Russia. As reported, the consequence of this is that the owner of Bosco di Ciliegi Mikhail Kusnirovich pays to Olympic Committee about 6 million dollars for the use of Olympic symbols annually; And another 500 thousand - directly to the Olympic system.
Source: Vsluh.Ru on 30/11/2005
In the media Kusnirovich appears as the main party of several scandals related to the Olympic Games 2006 in Tirine.
In 2001 the first contract was signed between the Bosco di Ciliegi and Olympic Committee of Russia. Bosco di Ciliegi acted as an exclusive supplier of gear for Olympic team of Russia at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, 2002. Then the media reported that the Olympic Committee of Russia (OCR) and a group of companies Bosco di Ciliegi officially announced the signing of partnership agreement for the period of the XXVIII Olympiad, 2004 in Athens and the XX Olympic Winter Games, 2006 in Turin. Under this agreement Bosco di Ciliegi also acted as the exclusive supplier of gear for the Olympic team of Russia, as well as a general sponsor of the OCR.
The first scandal: One Olympic uniforms element for the Olympiad in Turin, namely – heat-insulated snickers from the shoe company Bosco designed in traditional red and white color scheme, aroused criticism of athletes. As written in the media, members of the teams on three sports complained that the shoes were very uncomfortable; they compressed strongly, and just in a couple of hours walk began to "fade". As the press was writing, athletes called them wooden.
The second Scandal. According to media reports, during the Olympiad in Turin representatives of the "Bosco" presented the Olympic Committee of Russia a claim of $ 1 million. Sponsors were reported to have been closely monitoring the clothing athletes appeared in in front of the press and award ceremonies, they recorded the slightest violations of agreements and for the first nine days of the Olympics there had been several dozen non-compliance of the rules of equipment. As they wrote in the media, the Olympic Committee did not refuse to pay, but promised to put a counterclaim. ROC claims were related to untimely, incomplete and poor quality of the teams’ equipment. They reported of injuries received by athletes because of the uncomfortable shoes. Vice-president of the ROC, President of the Federation of ski racing Vladimir Loginov told the edition "Time of news" that sponsors demanded the impossible: they wanted athletes to walk, to train and even to eat and sleep in their clothes: "But ... why should the skier change his clothes twice -to walk a couple of meters from the bus to the start, first wearing the "Bosco", and then wearing a sweat suit and a special shoe. To sum up, what have our athletes arrived to Turin for – promoting "Bosco", or wining medals? ", raged Loginov.
As reported by RIA Novosti, Mikhail Kusnirovich declaired that the only official outfitter of the Russian team was a firm "Bosco-sport". And the perpetrator - the company Addidas - was trying to interest athletes to come out in an unofficial outfit.
One of the leaders of the official delegation of Russia at the Games in Turin, as media reported, recalled that Bosco’s claims against the team to Russia totaled about 400 thousand dollars for the Summer Olympics in Athens 2004. "Of course, we did not pay anything, but it was the amount which Kusnirovich did not transfer under the contract for the Games-2006", - said one of the editions of the source.
The third scandal: Media wrote about the statement of Russian officials that the company "Bosco" abused the rendered confidence at the Olympiad in Turin. "I would say more explicitly – they have become arrogant. Olympiad is the most crucial start of the four-year period, and nothing should interfere with the athletes to get prepared, and to make them distracted from the start. All the coaches are very unhappy with the situation around the "Bosco". And we have accumulated a sufficient number of claims that we can bring to it ", Vladimir Loginov told the press.
The coaches’ claims to "Bosco" came to particularly excessive obsession of the sponsor in relation to the athletes. It was reported that at a meeting of the operational headquarters of the Olympic team of Russia the federation winter sports presidents appealed to the President of Olympic Committee of Russia, head of the official delegation of Russia in the Turin, Leonid Tyagachyov and head of the Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sport Vyacheslav Fetisov, with a request to protect the athletes from the obsessive attention of Mikhail Kusnirovich .
Leonid Tyagachev was no less emotional while communicating with the press, and declared: "Hands off the champions. I will not allow to interfere in the affairs of the team. At the moment athletes are extremely strung up. And they are distracted by the various presentations and immediately after the competition are drag to the "Russian House" ... We will return to this issue after the Games, and meanwhile I banned to let athletes go in the "Russian House" during the starts. We have taken into account the sad experience of the Athens Olympics, when almost all the athletes were brought to Bosco House after the competitions... They were there supposed to have a rest and relax. But in fact they didn’t. The constant obsessive attention of arts and culture celebrities, inability to withdraw into themselves, to analyze calmly the success or failure strained the guyes, who had to go for a start some time after.
However, in the press there are reports that the initiative not to allow athletes to go to the "Russian House" came not from the Russian officials, but from Kusnirovich, who reportedly got offended by the ROC. Kusnirovich did not let in the "Russian House" not only athletes, but also journalists. Moreover, it was not about banquets, but about the press conferences. It was reported that clerks of "Bosco" asserted their exclusive right to "give access to the body of Champions" for reporters.
In continuation of the conflict, as written in the press, the company Bosco banned the Olympic Committee of Russia to place banners with advertising of other sponsors in the "Russian House", which was a part of Bosco Village. Despite the agreement reached, as claimed the representatives of the ROC, according to which other sponsors’ advertisement could be placed in the "Russian House", Kusnirovich prohibited to place banners of the ROC’s sponsors, such as Lukoil, Rosgosstrakh, Sberbank, Gazprom, Samsung and others. Kusnirovich’s argument was simple: I paid for rent, I am the master here, so everything will happen as I say.
The fourth scandal: According to media reports, during the Olympics in Turin Mikhail Kusnirovich managed to enter even into the room for doping control. Citing to sources at the operational headquarters of the Olympic team of Russia, the press wrote: Immediately after the end of the tournament in sporting pairs figure skating, where the Russians Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won the gold medal, Kusnirovich took advantage of his formal Russian team accreditation and the knowledge of Italian language in order to receive a special card, he entered the room for doping control, where Totmianina was at that time. Finding a stranger in a room for doping control could result in unpredictable consequences up to disqualification, as they wrote in the press. It is prohibited by all regulations in force at the Olympics. After a protest of the Russian team doctor Viktor Anikanov Kusnirovich was taken out of the room. He reportedly handed over his card to some journalist, and ordered him to arrange the visit of Tatiana Totmianina to “Bosco Village".
The fifth scandal: Representatives of the International Olympic Committee accused the supplier of dress uniforms for the Russian team Bosco Sport of too aggressive advertising and violation of the rules of equipment. Under the rules of the Olympic Charter, advertising manufacturer may be mentioned only at once, so "extra" advertising is prohibited in all the team sports. Representatives of the International Olympic Committee counted on equipping of our athletes more sponsor's logos han the rules allowed. The media immediately reported that the Russian Olympians could prematurely be sent home. As reported in the press, Bosco justified they did not know about the new requirements of the IOC and just wanted to make the most beautiful uniform. As a result, an extravagant solution was found: they simply stuck down the extra labels with plaster. Thus the Russian team had been saved from disqualification.
The scandal, as written in the press, did not affect the behavior of the "Bosco" representatives too much. In all Olympic sites pert young people as usually tried to give Cheburashka to every Russian winner. Even foreigners got accustomed to the long-eared beast and thought it was the "Bosco" company logo.
Later the media reported the scandal played into Kusnirovich’s hands: the name of Bosco, a trader of luxury goods, was not widely known before him. But after the name had been repeatedly uttered in the leading Russian and international media, its visibility soared at times.
The sixth scandal: During the Olympics in Turin the company "Bosco", as written in the media, distinguished itself in one more story. It managed to get on the wrong side of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which expressed dissatisfaction with excessive consumption of black caviar in the house of "Bosco". Environmentalists reportedly claimed that the Russians brought to the Olympics a hundredweight delicacy in circumvention of the existing laws, in other words – it was smuggling.
In the media there is evidence that the ROC and "Bosco" intended to clarify their relations after the Olympics in Turin, already in Russia. But, according to reports, the scandal faded away. On the contrary, the leaders of the ROC declared that "Bosco" was going to have a slight advantage over competitors at the conclusion of new sponsorship deals for the next Olympic cycle.
Source: The Gazette of 17.02.2006, www.newsru.com dated 23 October 2003 "Time of news" from 21.02.2005, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" from 21.02.2005, Gazeta.Ru from 21.02.2005, www.newsru.com of 9.02. 2006, "Regnum" of 21.02.2005, www.newsru.com from 14.02.2006, www.newsru.com from 15.02.2006, www.newsru.com from 15.02.2006, Gazeta.Ru from 15.02.2006, www.newsru.com from 20.02.2006
In 2007, the name of Mikhail Kusnirovich appeared in the press in connection with the scandal, which had been initiated by the famous fashion designer Pierre Cardin. It all started with the fact that two companies competed for the right to equip the Olympic team of Russia at the Games-2008 and -2010 - Bosco Sport company, and House of Pierre Cardin, which offered, as reported by the media, 13 million 325 thousand and 19 million 500 thousand dollars accordingly. However, on April 9, 2007 the Executive Committee of the Olympic Committee of Russia, voted with one against and one abstain to contract with Bosco Sport (Incidentally, the decision confirmed the promise given by the leaders of the ROC who said after the Olympic Games in Turin that Bosco " was going to have a slight advantage over competitors at the conclusion of new sponsorship deals for the next Olympic cycle”). On April 22, 2007 the ROC’s President Leonid Tyagachev and the head of Bosco Sport Mikhail Kusnirovich signed a contract. Pierre Cardin being a creative person reacted emotionally. The media reported that on April 23 the legendary couturier signed an official communique, in which he expressed his attitude towards the election results of official equipping of the Olympic team of Russia, consisting of the fact that the Olympic Committee of Russia (COR) preferred the company Bosco Sport to House of Pierre Cardin despite the fact that House of Pierre Cardin offered a contract for 6 million dollars more. According to media reports, director of House of Pierre Cardin in Russia and CIS, Jeff Knipper-Chekhov forwarded the Cardin’s communique to the Agency of Sport Information "All Sport". The text was released without any cuts:
"Dear Sirs,
Upon acknowledging the decision of the Executive Committee of the ROC on selecting a group of companies Bosco to be a sponsor of outfitting, I tender them my congratulations and wishes for a successful implementation of their plans.
I hope that their new collection will not have any quality problems like it had had at the previous Olympics, and the collection will be worthy of Russia's Olympic team.
I have participated in various tenders and I know how to win and to lose.
I know exactly who never loses in the tender - its organizer.
I am very happy for my friend Leonid Tyagachev; that he was able to raise the ROC sponsorship bar so high and to build relationships skillfully with all project participants.
I am confident that there is certainly my contribution to this noble cause.
I know that Russia wants to get 2014 Winter Olympics into their territory - in Sochi.
I sincerely wish you win!
With respect and best wishes.
Pierre Cardin.
PARIS, April 23, 2007.
Source: www.ski.ru of 26. 04.2007
Mikhail Kusnirovich was mentioned in the press in connection with the attack of cyberblackmailers at GUM department store. In autumn 2007 someone launched a website www.gum-online.ru which on behalf of the Finance Director of the Firm, Alexei Skvortsov the privatization of the department store challenged. Hackers urged to hand over the shop to the "true masters" - to the heirs of the Upper Trading Rows owners. For termination of the "subversive" activities they demanded Bosco di Ciliegi which controlled GUM to pay ? 80 thousand.
In the press wrote that the demands were put forward at a sibling of the original site of GUM (gum.ru). The home page gum-online.ru opened with a photo and a statement of the financial department director Alexei Skvortsov. The "Fake" of Skvortsov was saying that " the privatization of GUM carried out in the 90’s allowed a handful of officials to seize control of the building which had never belonged to them." As a result, as it was claimed by the message, the department store went to "aliens", including - the head of Bosco di Ciliegi Mikhail Kusnirovich and CEO of X5 Retail Group Lev Khasis. According to the message, owners and managers of the GUM department store had been "indefatigably thinking out uncomplicated schemes of evading from taxation of the profit which came from the subletting space of the building, legally owned by Russia." Then a call came to descendants of "eminent noblemen" to unite and restore the “rightful” building. The fund of returning historical property rights was supposed to organize the event, which was allegedly headed by Skvortsov again. The letter author named the Board of Trustees members: those were, in particular, the RF Duma Deputy Gennady Zyazikov, Advisor to the Chairman of Gazprom Sergei Lykov, Adviser to the President of Russia Svyatoslav Samsonov, and others. But, according to journalists, deputy Zyazikov was not found in the database of the State Duma, and they knew nothing about the advisor Lykov at Gazprom.
The actual financial director of GUM Alexei Skvortsov said to "Kommersant" that neither trading house, nor he personally had any relation to the attacks of blackmailers. But still, as they reported in the media, GUM conducted an internal inspection. Skvortsov’s involvement into those unpleasant events was not confirmed. According to journalists, in GUM they had learned about site creating a month before the scandal broke out in the letter, which contained a requirement to pay ? 80 thousand for the closure of the portal. But no contacts were specified in the letter. According to the press reports, law enforcement agencies tried to investigate the situation. However, judging by the lack of information in the media about continuation of this history, they did not achieve any great successes.
Mikhail Kusnirovich expressed confidence that a sibling site was not associated with competitors or raiders of Bosco, and was created solely for the purpose of extortion.
In the media there are assumptions that the site creation could be initiated by a former employee of the Firm, perhaps, a minority shareholder outraged at the strategy of Bosco, according to which the proceeds had been invested in the store development, while dividends had not been paid to its shareholders (15 thousand people, consisted of individuals mostly). According to press reports, the labor collective of GUM on various estimates owned between 4% and 10% of shares (the exact structure of the beneficiaries was not disclosed). One article published an opinion of Deutche UFG analytic Alexei Krivoshapko who declared that several before that Bosco had offered him to buy up to 10% of the shares of minority shareholders. He managed to purchase only 2,7%. "In 2007, according to media reports, GUM shares were traded on MICEX, RTS and Germanic stock exchanges. At that time the daily volume of transactions in shares on Russian exchanges did not exceed 1.8 million rubles, while the foreign one - dozens of thousands of euros.
Source: "Kommersant" dated 30.08.2007, the newspaper "Vedomosti" on 30/08/2007
In late 2007 a scandal with construction of the rink on Palace Square in St. Petersburg burst. It had been planned to be opened on December 1st for three months. According to media reports, the initiative came from the Committee for Physical Culture and Sport. They planned to build it around the Alexander Column; as well as to accommodate restaurants, cafes, changing rooms, toilets at the same place. Authors of the draft were not even embarrassed by the problem of electricity, the Palace Square was not provided with it. Press wrote that the head of "Bosco di Ciliegi” Mikhail Kusnirovich leaded the deal with the rink construction (by that time he had built a similar rink in Moscow).
The project supported the governor, Valentina Matvienko, referring to the previous year experience in Moscow, where the rink had been built on Red Square, as well as to the international experience, saying that "all public squares work for people."
“Construction of the rink on Palace Square will be a complete loss of taste for those who conceived it. The rink is going to mutilate the area "- said Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Hermitage director. Piotrovsky put it in the press in the sense that “plans to organize a skating rink was a tendency to turn the historical Palace Square into a usual stadium", and that " skating rink would not be consistent with the spirit of the cultural city." However, the head of the museum did not go into open conflict with the governor, apparently, he did not dare to. After all Valentina Matvienko, reportedly said,"This area is for people, not for individuals and leaders of individual institutions", and the"ice rink will let the St Petersburg citizens to" enjoy mentally the ride in this beauty. "
Mikhail Kusnirovich reacted philosophically, linking the presence of the rink with the lack of rebellious sentiments typical to the city on the Neva: "this untroubled state about the theoretical possibility of a revolutionary situation inculcated from childhood - dictates our actions. As soon as there is a skating rink on the Red Square, a revolutionary situation will not occur on the Palace Square. Revolutionary soldiers and sailors have nowhere else to go - the place is occupied, it is called a rink. While there is a skating rink, there is no sense to beat the showcases. And there is no sense to organize intervention of Entente, while the country is ready to open its main areas for the citizens - young, mature, or old in order to let them circling, "- said Kusnirovich to journalists.
A few days after the opening press reported that the ice rink got inflated and reared because of the frosty (!) weather, according to the official version... Journalists reported that bumps and holes appeared in the ice. it was risky skate because there was a real danger to break one’s neck. On January 5 the rink was closed; however, just for a day. Special machines - ice harvesters were saving the situation. As reported, they quickly stamped surface, and the rink got reopened to the public.
The scandal surrounding the rink got continued by a claim to the Kuibyshev district court. The claim was filed by the executive director of the Association of Small and Medium Business, Sergei Vesnovo, and by members of the public movement "Living City" - Alexander Makarov and Julia Minutina. They made claims to the organizations responsible for the preservation of cultural heritage in St. Petersburg - Committee on state control, use and protection of monuments (KGIOP) and Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service management in St. Petersburg. The plaintiffs complained that the ice structure built by "Bosco" infringed "the right of access to cultural heritage sites, in particular - to the Alexander Column.
At trial the defendants acknowledged that access to the Alexander Column had been "temporarily hampered, but they did not see any violation of civil rights. Chief Inspector of the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, Alexander Lardugin presented a letter from the company "BoskoNeva (representative of the" Bosco "in St. Petersburg), in which the company noted that directly across the ice rink there was a free passage to the Alexander Column arranged. The court found that, on the order of the committee for architecture and urban planning of the city, Alexander Viktorov the construction of the rink was to be no closer than 10 meters from the objects of cultural heritage, and the rostrum was to be located not less than 50 meters from the Alexander Column. As it turned out, "BoskoNeva" did not fulfill the requirements.
In the end, as the press wrote, the plaintiffs successfully sued for inaction of Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service’s officials, as well as the Committee’s for Protection of Monuments officials. The judge ordered the defendants to verify the legality of construction of the rink on the Palace Square, and issued an order to remove obstacles to cultural heritage sites for the citizens’ access - the Palace Square and Alexander Column.
Source: Rosbalt of 02.10.2007, "Around the news" of 30. 04.2008, www.vokrugnovostei.ru of 11.01.2008, "Kommersant» № 18 (3835) on 06.02.2008, Gazeta.Ru on 19.03.08, "Business Petersburg» № 50 (2616) on 21/03/2008