Andrei Molchanov: biography, career, political activity

Molchanov Andrey Yurievich is a Russian businessman, chairman and former president of the LSR Group. He was appointed Assistant Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, but later left the post. According to Forbes for 2013, his fortune was $ 1.65 billion.

short biography

Andrei Molchanov was born in Leningrad in 1971. After school, he entered St. Petersburg State University, at the Faculty of Economics, which he graduated in 1993. Then he studied at the Academy of Civil Service and five years later became a specialist in the field of state and municipal government.

In 1993 he founded OJSC LSR Group - an industrial construction company, which he managed until 2007, until he became an assistant to the minister. In 2008 he was elected a member of the Federation Council from the Leningrad region. At the moment, Andrei Molchanov, his wife and two children live in Moscow.

He has many awards and letters. Among them - the medal "For Service to the Fatherland", II degree, certificates from the Federation Council of the Leningrad region and the medal "In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg".

Projects in St. Petersburg

Molchanov Andrey Yuryevich has a huge influence on the construction business in St. Petersburg. He has quite influential friends who help to achieve goals.

One example of ambiguous projects is the government's decree of 2002, which allowed the transfer of a large forest plot near St. Petersburg to non-forest land. Almost 193 hectares of forest were transferred to expand the granite quarry and further develop the deposit "Kuznechnoe", as well as several other quarries.

The development was necessary for construction needs in St. Petersburg, but many considered this to be unjustified on the social-ecological catastrophe. They began to believe that Andrei Molchanov (contacts of LSR Group on the official website, a single number: 8-800-770-75-77) contacted the right people and launched a project that largely took into account the interests of his company.

Right Friends

Andrei Molchanov helped Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the Federation Council, to strengthen his position in the AP. After the 90's, they worked in the same company and became good friends. Molchanov conducted work with the deputies, helping them to decide on the choice after Yakovlev's resignation. As a result, the businessman and the deputy controlled almost half of the AP and influenced the adoption of important legislative decisions.

In 2007, Molchanov actively financed the election campaign of "Fair Russia". In 2007, largely thanks to this assistance, Sergei Kuzmin began to monitor its activities. Sergei is the former general director of OAO Granit-Kuznechnoe, a firm that depended on Molchanov's LSR Group.

The situation in the construction market of St. Petersburg

The biography of Andrei Molchanov is full of ambiguous events. After 2007, the market for building materials was tested. Prices skyrocketed, and given that the cost of housing is half forming building materials, the crisis overtook the real estate market. The price per square meter was higher than ever, the program "Affordable Housing" began to seem unrealizable and unprofitable.

Everyone knew that the building materials market in St. Petersburg is controlled by one company, the LSR Group, Andrei Molchanov. The entrepreneur began to seize the market long before the crisis. He was the leader of one of the very first voucher investment funds. These funds were created to help the population of Russia invest vouchers. Andrei Molchanov bought shares of the Stroydetal plant at the check auction, which produced building materials.

Over the years, the company flourished and eventually became the main player in the market, controlling 70% of brick production, 70% of sand and almost half of other construction materials. At the same time, LSR Group built 25% of elite housing in St. Petersburg. In some areas, it was a monopoly and set prices for housing. The city became dependent on one firm.

"LSR Group" began to lose interest in the city, paying attention to Moscow and the Moscow region. St. Petersburg faced a threat of shortage of construction materials. Andrei Molchanov moved to the capital, opened his office there and began transferring money to Moscow.

About how successful the year 2007 was for an entrepreneur, you can judge by rating Forbes. According to him, under the control of Molchanov, there were assets worth $ 660 million.

Political activity

In 2007, Andrei Molchanov decides to leave the career of an entrepreneur and receives a job in the Ministry of Health as an assistant to Mikhail Zurabov. He was helped in many ways by long-standing ties with deputies, including Mironov.

In 2008, Forbes summed up his entrepreneurial activity, placing him in the first place in the ranking of the richest businessmen in St. Petersburg. At that time, his condition was $ 4.9 billion. However, a year later this figure decreased several times and was equal to $ 0.45 billion.

Renunciation of "Fair Russia"

In 2010, the governor Valery Serdyukov was predicted by many to resign. Andrei Molchanov wanted to fight for his chair, but he understood that the Social Democrat was not very suitable for this. It was necessary to publicly renounce the "Fair Russia". Moreover, Andrey Molchanov, whose photo often flashed in the media, said not only about the termination of the party's funding, but also about the possible entry into the "United Russia".

Molchanov planned everything in such a way that he could get another career advancement in the Leningrad Region, for which he had big plans. About them became known in a few years.

Profitable projects

In 2012, "LSR Group" made a loud statement about the start of a new project of a multifunctional complex for the Military Medical Academy. The Academy moved to the resort town of Sestroretsk, the cost was estimated at $ 10 billion, many called large sums.

There were a lot of rumors that Lev Vinnik, deputy general director of LSR Group, helped to get the order. Previously, Lev worked under the administration of St. Petersburg and designed land for building. By 2007, he became an advisor to Anatoly Serdyukov, head of the Federal Tax Service and the Russian defense minister. According to many, it was thanks to Vinnik's contacts that he was able to initiate the relocation of the academy to Sestroretsk.

Molchanov Andrey Yurievich, whose biography shows the importance of right acquaintances, did not forget about politics. In 2012, from the party "United Russia" was nominated 3 candidates for the governor of the Leningrad region, but the president chose Alexander Drozdenko.

In the same year, Andrei Molchanov and former State Duma deputy Eduard Yanakov bought out the Riga-based Russian-language newspapers. Local authorities were worried that the Russian-language press of Latvia was under the influence of businessmen, but they could not do anything about it.

Back to business

In 2013, Andrei Molchanov decides to return to business and leave politics. It's no wonder, after all, last year he lost more than $ 50 million. Andrew returns to his firm "LSR Group" and heads the board of directors.

Later, in the same year, an investigation was conducted in St. Petersburg in the case of supplying 40,000 substandard reinforced concrete slabs throughout Russia. The amount of damage was estimated at more than a billion rubles, which went to Molchanov's subsidiary LSR-Stroy. According to the conclusion, the supplied plates did not comply with GOSTs. The criminal case did not concern the company itself, the accusation was brought against the officers who received the materials.

In August 2013, LSR Group bought out the Royal Garden Hotel. This company had the right to reconstruct a blockade substation at: Fontanka, 3, and build a hotel on this site.

The project met with active resistance from the city planners. The building existed since the Great Patriotic War and fed trams in the besieged city. For blockade workers, it became a symbol of victory. However, according to the expertise carried out by Art-Deco, the building did not have much value, and the company received permission to install a construction fence.

By 2015, disputes over the construction do not cease, the businessman asked the governor to protect him from hail protectors. Andrew Molchanov, whose family - this is the wife of Elizabeth and six children - worries about the failure of the project.