Alexander Nesis
Encyclopedia
Alexander Nesis is the founder, president and CEO of the ICT Group
, a private equity firm headquartered in Moscow
, Russia
, which invests mainly in the finance
, precious metals and engineering
sectors.
at the prestigious Leningrad Institute of Technology. After graduation he worked as master supervisor at the Baltic Shipbuilding Yard
(the largest and one of the oldest in Russia, est. 1856), which produced a variety of ships including nuclear icebreakers and submarines.
In the early 1990s, Nesis left the shipyard to set out as an entrepreneur, opting to work for himself rather than for the state.
Together with a small group of business partners, he first concentrated on the production of materials derived from uranium
deposits located in the deserts of Uzbekistan
.
In 1991, the same group of entrepreneurs embarked upon a new venture to invest in the shipbuilding and metals industries.
In 1993, their company became known as the ICT Group. In the same year, having made his fortune, Nesis returned to the Baltic Shipbuilding Yards as its controlling shareholder and Chairman of the Board.
, precious metal production, heavy engineering, logistics
, construction
and development.
At present, the portfolio of assets under the Group's management includes such recognized leaders in their respective industries as NOMOS-BANK
, Khanty-Mansi Bank, Polymetal
and Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant. The Group also holds large equity stakes in the potash
producer Uralkali
and Baltic Leasing.
The group's assets are located primarily in Russia, but it also has interests in Khazakhstan. According to ICT’s website, the total value of its assets under management stands at $8 billion.
producers, and is the largest silver and fifth largest gold
producer in Russia.
Polymetal owns gold and silver mines and carries out exploration activities in four regions of Russia (the Magadan Region, the Khabarovsk Territory
, the Sverdlovsk Region
and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
) and in Kazakhstan
. Its portfolio of projects contains 45 licenses covering a territory of over 8,800 sq. km.
In 2005, the company was sold to the Nafta-Moskva Group (owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov) but was bought back by ICT in 2008.
In October 2011, Polymetal successfully completed the placing of £491m of shares on the London Stock Exchange
, valuing the company at £3.55bn and making it the first Russian-founded company to obtain a premium listing at the LSE. Polymetal is expected to become a FTSE 100 company by the end of 2011.
Alexander Nesis has said that he wants the company's work to remain focused on Russia and Kazakhstan. In July 2011 he told an interviewer that '[This region's] so big and there's so much potential for geological discovery – it's not necessary to go elsewhere.'
The bank managed to survive the Russian banking crisis of 1998 before developing into an independent bank.
Nomos is a leading privately-owned Russian universal bank offering a wide range of banking products and services to corporate, small business and retail clients, as well as investment banking services, across the most economically developed regions of Russia. Following the results of 2010, Nomos is ranked as the 2nd largest privately-owned and 7th largest banking group in Russia in terms of assets.
Nomos floated on the London Stock Exchange
in April 2011, raising $718 million and making it the largest IPO of a privately owned Russian bank.
The bank now has market capitalization of roughly $2.6 billion (1h 2011), with Nesis himself owning 17.54pc.
The float was the first involving a Russian commercial bank, and despite the fact that Eastern European issues had formerly struggled, Nomos represented a notable success.
To date, $1.2 billion has been invested in the plant.
The construction of the plant began in 2008 in the remote monastery town of Tikhvin, roughly 125 miles east of St. Petersburg and continued in spite of the global economic crisis of 2008-9.
The railcar project at TVZF is aimed at making freight cars that can replace the aging Soviet-made railcar. Describing his business idea of investing in rail industry, Nesis told Bloomberg News: "We reckon upon a simple thing […] Russia has one of the largest fleets in the world, and the majority of these are old and need to be replaced soon."
Nesis also invested $200 million in the construction in Tikhvin of 2,000 apartments to attract high qualified work force to TVSZ from all over Russia.
He said at the time: "We decided to spend $200 million on building apartments in Tikhvin to attract workers from other regions. We are offering them houses, mortgage loans and the work that allows them to repay these loans."
Furthermore, three owners of the ICT Group - Nesis, Nikolai Dobrinov and Alexei Gudaitis — injected millions of dollars into the local budget by registering themselves as residents of Tikhvin. As a result, they paid more than 3 billion rubles ($106 million) in federal taxes, meaning that the city received more than 1.7 billion rubles for its annual budget over three years. That money went toward items such as infrastructure, schools and repair of a local hospital.
producer Uralkali
. The company has merged with Silvinit
; Nesis has a 12.16% stake in the combined entity, which has a 20% world market share of potash.
In terms of engineering, he places a strong emphasis on the design stage: "If you make a mistake at the design stage, that's very difficult to repair. If you make a mistake at the construction page, it's easier to repair […] it's very important to find the right technology solution."
ICT Group (Russia)
-Precious Metals & Mining:PolymetalPolymetal was established by ICT in 1998 and is now one of the top five primary silver producers in the world...
, a private equity firm headquartered in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, which invests mainly in the finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, precious metals and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
sectors.
Biography
Born in Leningrad in 1962, Nesis studied radiochemistryRadiochemistry
Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes...
at the prestigious Leningrad Institute of Technology. After graduation he worked as master supervisor at the Baltic Shipbuilding Yard
Baltic Shipyard
The Baltic Shipyard is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia. It is located in Saint Petersburg in the south-western part of the Vasilievsky Island. It is one of the three shipyards active in Saint Petersburg...
(the largest and one of the oldest in Russia, est. 1856), which produced a variety of ships including nuclear icebreakers and submarines.
In the early 1990s, Nesis left the shipyard to set out as an entrepreneur, opting to work for himself rather than for the state.
Together with a small group of business partners, he first concentrated on the production of materials derived from uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
deposits located in the deserts of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
.
In 1991, the same group of entrepreneurs embarked upon a new venture to invest in the shipbuilding and metals industries.
In 1993, their company became known as the ICT Group. In the same year, having made his fortune, Nesis returned to the Baltic Shipbuilding Yards as its controlling shareholder and Chairman of the Board.
ICT Group
The ICT ('Investments, Construction, Technologies') Group is one of the largest privately-owned investment and industrial companies in Russia. It is headquartered in Moscow and has a large office in St. Petersburg. It invests in, develops and manages assets in wide range of industries, including the banking and financial industry, metals and miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, precious metal production, heavy engineering, logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
, construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
and development.
At present, the portfolio of assets under the Group's management includes such recognized leaders in their respective industries as NOMOS-BANK
NOMOS-BANK
OJSC NOMOS-BANK is one of Russia's largest private listed banks. It has 21 branches and 31 representative offices in Russia. It was co-founded by Igor Finogenov, now CEO of the Eurasian Development Bank...
, Khanty-Mansi Bank, Polymetal
OJSC Polymetal
Polymetal is a precious metals mining company based in Russia.The company is the third global primary silver producer, the largest silver and the fourth gold producer in Russia....
and Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant. The Group also holds large equity stakes in the potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
producer Uralkali
Uralkali
Uralkali is a Russian potash fertilizer company. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange using the symbol, URKA. and its largest shareholder is billionaire Suleyman Kerimov. The company is based in Perm Krai, Russia....
and Baltic Leasing.
The group's assets are located primarily in Russia, but it also has interests in Khazakhstan. According to ICT’s website, the total value of its assets under management stands at $8 billion.
Polymetal
Polymetal was established in 1998 in St. Petersburg by the ICT Group and is a leading precious metals mining company. The Company is amongst the top five global primary silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
producers, and is the largest silver and fifth largest gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
producer in Russia.
Polymetal owns gold and silver mines and carries out exploration activities in four regions of Russia (the Magadan Region, the Khabarovsk Territory
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
, the Sverdlovsk Region
Sverdlovsk Oblast
Sverdlovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in the Urals Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg formerly known as Sverdlovsk. Population: -Geography:...
and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...
) and in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. Its portfolio of projects contains 45 licenses covering a territory of over 8,800 sq. km.
In 2005, the company was sold to the Nafta-Moskva Group (owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov) but was bought back by ICT in 2008.
In October 2011, Polymetal successfully completed the placing of £491m of shares on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
, valuing the company at £3.55bn and making it the first Russian-founded company to obtain a premium listing at the LSE. Polymetal is expected to become a FTSE 100 company by the end of 2011.
Alexander Nesis has said that he wants the company's work to remain focused on Russia and Kazakhstan. In July 2011 he told an interviewer that '[This region's] so big and there's so much potential for geological discovery – it's not necessary to go elsewhere.'
NOMOS-BANK
Nomos was one of the first businesses to be established following the creation of ICT, and was initially used to manage the assets of the group's founders.The bank managed to survive the Russian banking crisis of 1998 before developing into an independent bank.
Nomos is a leading privately-owned Russian universal bank offering a wide range of banking products and services to corporate, small business and retail clients, as well as investment banking services, across the most economically developed regions of Russia. Following the results of 2010, Nomos is ranked as the 2nd largest privately-owned and 7th largest banking group in Russia in terms of assets.
Nomos floated on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in April 2011, raising $718 million and making it the largest IPO of a privately owned Russian bank.
The bank now has market capitalization of roughly $2.6 billion (1h 2011), with Nesis himself owning 17.54pc.
The float was the first involving a Russian commercial bank, and despite the fact that Eastern European issues had formerly struggled, Nomos represented a notable success.
Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant
Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant (TVSZ) is a manufacturer of freight cars for the rail industry and is considered to be one of the largest industrial facilities currently under construction in Europe in the machine building industry.To date, $1.2 billion has been invested in the plant.
The construction of the plant began in 2008 in the remote monastery town of Tikhvin, roughly 125 miles east of St. Petersburg and continued in spite of the global economic crisis of 2008-9.
The railcar project at TVZF is aimed at making freight cars that can replace the aging Soviet-made railcar. Describing his business idea of investing in rail industry, Nesis told Bloomberg News: "We reckon upon a simple thing […] Russia has one of the largest fleets in the world, and the majority of these are old and need to be replaced soon."
Nesis also invested $200 million in the construction in Tikhvin of 2,000 apartments to attract high qualified work force to TVSZ from all over Russia.
He said at the time: "We decided to spend $200 million on building apartments in Tikhvin to attract workers from other regions. We are offering them houses, mortgage loans and the work that allows them to repay these loans."
Furthermore, three owners of the ICT Group - Nesis, Nikolai Dobrinov and Alexei Gudaitis — injected millions of dollars into the local budget by registering themselves as residents of Tikhvin. As a result, they paid more than 3 billion rubles ($106 million) in federal taxes, meaning that the city received more than 1.7 billion rubles for its annual budget over three years. That money went toward items such as infrastructure, schools and repair of a local hospital.
Uralkali
In 2010, with billionaires Suleiman Kerimov and Filaret Galchev, Nesis bought a 53% stake in fertilizerFertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
producer Uralkali
Uralkali
Uralkali is a Russian potash fertilizer company. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange using the symbol, URKA. and its largest shareholder is billionaire Suleyman Kerimov. The company is based in Perm Krai, Russia....
. The company has merged with Silvinit
Silvinit
Sil'vinit is a Russian company involved in the production of mineral fertilizes. The company delivers its products to all regions of Russia and to over more than 50 countries worldwide, including Brazil, China, India, United States, East-South Asia and Latin America, among others. It manages its...
; Nesis has a 12.16% stake in the combined entity, which has a 20% world market share of potash.
Corporate Governance Roles
- President of the ICT Group
- Member of the Board of Directors at OAO Uralkali (2010-present)
- General Director and a member of the Board of Directors at Polymetal (1998-2003)
- Chairman of the Board of Directors at OAO Baltiysky Zavod (1993-1998 and 2002-2005)
Business Approach
Nesis and the ICT Group's preferred business strategy is to set up a project and grow it until it can be run independently. ICT has been described as a kind of incubator, which holds on to investments while they are in the design or technical research stage before spinning them out separately when they have reached a critical mass.In terms of engineering, he places a strong emphasis on the design stage: "If you make a mistake at the design stage, that's very difficult to repair. If you make a mistake at the construction page, it's easier to repair […] it's very important to find the right technology solution."