Biography
Nikolai Levitsky (born on 8 August 1972) graduated from Saint-Petersburg University of Economics and Finance. Levitsky holds a PhD.
1994-1996 chairman of Komibank, an authorized bank of the Komi Republic
1996-1997 head of Finance Department of an oil company called KomiTEK
1997-1998 head of Debt-Offsetting and Liabilities Directorate of Russian Bank Imperial
1998-2000 vice president for economic and financial affairs, member of the board of joint Russian-Byelorussian oil company Slavneft
2002 deputy director general, deputy sales director of State Center for Systems Research, a state company under the RF Ministry of Economy
2000-2001 director general of Kovdorsky Ore-dressing Plant in the Murmank Region in the north of Russia
December 2001 chairman of the supervisory board of Nevinomyssk Nitrogin Open JSC
Levitsky set up and chaired Evrokhim Holding, a mineral and chemical company of MDM Group
Until Septmeber 2004, Levitsky was deputy head of the Komi Republic. Until 2008 he led Synttech Group.
Source: Kommersant
Dossier
In 2001, Evrokhim, led by Nikolai Levitsky, snapped up the assets of Nevinnomysk Nitrogin. In violation of corporate governance, a group of Nevinomyssk Nitrogin’s minority shareholders held a meeting and named Pavel Orda director general of the company. Under him Evrokhim got control of Nevinomysk Nitrogin by restructuring the company’s ownership and other murky operations.
Incidentally, previous director general of the company Viktor Ledovsky found himself behind the bars after he tried to resist the takeover of his company.
Source: Vedomosti, 2 May 2006
In August 2002, Le Baoli restaurant in the old port area of Cannes, France, hosted Come&Party event. Invitations were sent out, and it was announced that the celebration would last from 9 pm to 9 am. Come&Party was in fact a birthday party for MDM Group president Sergei Popov and Evrokhim president Nikolai Levitsky. The party was arranged and paid for by MDM-bank president Andrei Melnichenko, who was wildly tipped to spend around $2 million for the event.
Norwegian A-Ha and French Gipsy Kings performed for the guests. Japanese dishes from baked and stewed fish, mussels, oysters, shellfish were served together with premium spirits and champagne, from 160 euro for a bottle. The party was very special, and the day significant: Levitsky turned thirty, Popov turned thirty-one, and Melnichenko celebrated a 30th birthday party in Jamaica a few months ago.
For 15 minutes La Croisette rocked by the fireworks, so that the cars passing by stopped. Drives got a short explanation: “It is a Russian party”.
Young businessman invited both their peers and senior partners. They invited close friends, such as Sobibank chairman Alexandr Zanadvorov, Evrazholding head Alexandr Abramov, Moscow Oil Refinery owner Shalva Chigirinsky’s brother Alexandr, also an entrepreneur, businessman Farkhad Akhmetov, who owns a gas field in Siberia, Sergei Dzeban, and Oleg Baibakov, both Rosbank officials.
Famous director and bandit capitalism critic Nikita Mikhalkov was also present. He first sang a sorrowful Gypsy Bumblebee song, but at 3 pm he was heard singing dirty songs and behaving in parent-like style. In the morning the guest left restaurant, driven away in their Ferrari, Porsche and Benthley.
Source: Kommersant-Dengi, 17 September 2002
In 2003, Nikolai Levitsky quitted as Evrokhim president and entered politics. By that time, he had already sold his stake in Evrokhim to MDM co-owners Andrei Melnichenko and Sergei Popov. He maintained the presidential position, looking for a job offer. Soon the Komi governor Vladimir Torlopov made Nikolai Levitsky his first deputy.
Source: Kommersant-Vlast, 5 July 2004
In 2003, Alexandr Zarubin, an advisor to the governor of the Komi Republic, proposed to invite to the regional government Nikolai Levitsky, Pavel Orda and Nikolai Kabin. These people served as senior managers at Evrokhim. They were reported to arrange corporate seizures in the chemical industry.
In the government of the Komi Republic they will be pushing interests of Renova and Sual companies that are building an aluminous plant near Sosnogorsk in the Komi Republic. They will do their best to secure that the regional coffers pay for the infrastructure, necessary for the plant. Using KES company, one of TGK-9 Group companies, controlling Komenergo JSC, they will try to get control of the energy companies of the region.
They will also try to persuade the government to give considerable tax remissions on regional level to LUKOIL, a major petroleum company.
Levitsky and Orda has for long been business partners.
1) Both of them invested into a number of small oil and gas fields near Inta in the Komi Republic. The government plans to build a pipeline, which will bring oil from Yamal, through these territories. Levitsky and Orda sold several fields to the companies presumably affiliated with Rosneft JSC. In 2006, they bought Intanneft Closed JSC, engaged in oil well drilling and servicing. In 2007, Levitsky and Orda bought Severgeophysics JSC.
2) The companies controlled by Levitsky and Orda, receive lucrative construction contracts, such as renovation of the main theatre in the republic, and trade in debt securities of the Komi Republic Road Authority that they bought at discount price.
Source: solomin, 27 August 2008
In 2006, Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court issued an arrest warrant against chairman of the board of Togliattiazot Open JSC Vladimir Makhlai. At the time, Makhlai was abroad undergoing medical treatment.
In March 2006, the police opened three criminal cases against the head of Togliattiazot on charges under Articles 199.2, i.e. tax evasion, 159.4, large scale fraud, 174-1.3, i.e. laundering criminal money, of the RF Criminal Code. It might have been Renova, that orchestrated legal prosecution of Makhlai, member of the State Duma Anatoly Ivanov believes. In 2005, Renova asked Makhlai to sell the controlling stake in the company, but he refused. Renova began snapping up the minority stakes.
Renova’s daughter company Synntech Group, owned and led by Nikolai Levitsky, controls Renova’s stake in Togliattiazot. Synntech was notorious for using all means to destroy rivaling companies. When Synntech was waging war against Dmitry Mazepin’s Constructive Bureau over Galogen, the Investigative Committee under the Interior Ministry initiated probes into Mazepin’s Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant and into Constructive Bureau. A criminal case was opened as part of the investigation into Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant. Renova denied any involvement neither in Togliattiazot’s problems nor in those of Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant. Renova’s representative said that his company was just a minority shareholder and bought the shares in Togliattiazot only to get dividends, which Renova hadn’t see so far.
“The police had opened three or four criminal cases against senior managers of Togliattiazot before Renova became a shareholder. I can not see how we could be possibly involved in that,” Andrei Shtorkh said. The analysts said that Synntech Group would get the plant in the end, given that Renova owners wanted to make Togliattiazot key enterprise in its new chemical holding.
Source: Kommersant, 29 March 2006
Viktor Vekselberg’s right-hand man Nikolai Levitsky did his best to buy 9.41% of Togliattiazot, but that was it. He could not make a step further towards building chemical empire for Vekseberg.
Source: solomin, 1 March 2007
Severgeophysics JSC director general Vladimir Rostovshchikov accused certain companies of corporate takeover. Rostovshchikov said that during a month the employees of Severgeophysics sold their stakes to a number of front companies that acted in the interests of Nikolai Levitsky. Both legal and natural persons from Moscow and Saint Petersburg bought the shares. Olga Chesnokova and Denis Cherednichenko were among the natural persons. Both represented Moscow companies - Olga Chesnokova represented Luidor LLC, Denis Cherednichenko represented Korsariya LLC. Luidor and Korsariya were both affiliated with Nikolai Levitsky’s Synttech Group. The companies paid approximately 200 million roubles ($6.6 million) for the gas assets in the Komi region. Early in autumn 2007, Synttech Groups announced its plans to build a gas-processing facility near Inta.
Source: BNKomi, 23 October 2007
In 2009, conflicts emerged between businessmen Andrei Mansky and Konstantin Barinov. Each owned a 50% stake in Deka. They came to the agreement about splitting the pie: Mansky got the whole company in return for a 50% stake in Nevsky Bereg malt house. The deal did not take place, because at the last moment Mansky transferred the trademarks of Deka to his own offshore company. Barinov began a legal action against him. In autumn 2009, Barinov lost his stake in Deka after Deka’s lenders - City Invest Bank, to which Deka owed 0.384 billion roubles or $13 million, and Promsvyazbank, to which Deka owed 1.265 billion roubles or $42 million - sold the shares, land and realty that was put in pledge. Promsvyzbank sold 40% of Deka’s shares, whereas City Invest Bank sold 20% of shares. Barinov said, Andrei Mansky kept a 40% stake in Deka. It was Nikolai Levitsky who bought the remaining 60% from the lenders.
Source: Kommersant, 6 October 2011
In 2010, Luxemburg fund Volga Resources, controlled by famous Russian oil trader Gennady Timchenko, bought a 25% stake in Geotech Holding”. “The stake is being bought directly from Black River Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Geotech's senior management and also through the subscription to a new share issue. Completion is expected within the first half of this year,” the company’s press service said.
Source: Infox.ru, 3 March 2010
Integra, Schlumberger and Geotech announced the merger of its production units in the field of geophysics and seismic research into a joint company of Integra and Schlumberger - IG Seismic Services (IGSS). The former owned a 75% stake in IGSS, the latter a 25% stake. Key shareholder of Geotech Holding - Geotech Oil Services Holding Limited - contributes 99% of authorized stock of Geotech Holding to IGSS, increasing its stake to 52%. Integra decreases its stake in IGSS to 36%, Schlumberger to 12%.
Source: UralPolit.Ru, 10 November 2011
The Komi Republic government announced its plans to sign cooperation deal with Synttech Group, led by former deputy head of the republic Nikolai Levitsky. Local minister of economic development Anton Fridman refused to go into details about the deal.
Source: Sever-Media, 27 January 2012