Why does Grigory Guselnikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Norvik Banking Group, play with numbers?

Alexander Sedunov

Kirov "Vyatka-Bank", one of many in Russia, is known primarily due to its chairman of the board of directors Grigory Guselnikov- a regular participant in the TV show “What? Where? When?”, the keeper of the traditions of the club of experts, and so on and so forth. A slightly less wide circle of people knows Vyatka as the project on the basis of which the Norvik banking group was created. This happened after Grigory Guselnikov, among other things, the owner of the London investment fund, became the main shareholder of the Latvian Norvik Bank in 2014.

The news of this deal caused a real explosion of enthusiasm in Kirov. This is approximately how this news was presented in the regional press - of course, at the height of economic crisis, against the backdrop of an aggravated crisis in relations between Russia and the West, Vyatka business receives a real “window to Europe”, etc. and so on.

However, the decision made at the bank’s board of directors, held on March 16, 2015, makes one, at a minimum, doubt the reality of the prospects drawn by Kirov journalists with the assistance of the bank’s press service. To begin with, a quote from the minutes of the meeting: “Increase the authorized capital of JSCB Vyatka-Bank OJSC by placing additional ordinary shares registered shares in uncertificated form in the amount of 3,783,783,784 (three billion seven hundred eighty-three million seven hundred eighty-three thousand seven hundred eighty-four) pieces with a nominal value of 0.37 (thirty-seven hundredths) rubles. each for a total nominal value of 1,400,000,000 rubles 08 kopecks (one billion four hundred million rubles and eight kopecks), by closed subscription among a certain circle of persons.”

The main reason for doubt is precisely the “certain circle of persons” mentioned in the protocol. Maybe, we're talking about about certain “biological assets” mentioned in the presentation of the consolidation of Norvik Banka and Vyatka Bank, presented to investors in May 2014. Then, a year ago, investors were guaranteed the inevitable growth of these same assets in the event of a merger of the Kirov and Latvian banks. Well, the minutes of the board meeting mentioned earlier contain a list of shareholders banking group. So, the placement of shares in the form of a private subscription was carried out among the following shareholders: AO NORVIK BANKA, Guselnikov A.V., Guselnikov G.A., Guselnikova N.A. (maiden name Bulkhova), Kholtobina Svetlana Viktorovna (Barnaul), Bulkhova Tatyana Aleksandrovna (Barnaul), Tabakova Olga Leonidovna, Smolin I.E. Tuvalkin S.G., Danilenko A.V. and others.

What unites these people? They are united by the figure of the chairman of the board of directors, Grigory Guselnikov - in addition to his longtime friend and associate Smolin, team members at Norvik Banka Gorashchenko and Danilenko, the list includes father and mother, paternal and maternal aunts. As for JSC NORVIK BANKA, today it is controlled by a Cyprus holding (Opidius Holdings), behind which stands the same Grigory Guselnikov. He owns 50% plus one share of a Latvian bank. It is worth noting that the entrepreneur’s wife, Yulia, who lives in a luxurious London apartment, controls 9.99% of NORVIK BANKA shares.

With all this, the European bank, which until recently was on the verge of bankruptcy and known in Latvia as a “laundromat” for laundering the shadow income of Russian businessmen, owns 97.75% of the shares of the Russian bank. Of course, Vyatka Bank is in no way one of the leaders in the Russian banking sector, but in its region it stands firmly on its feet and is one of the most important elements financial policy Kirov region. Perhaps Grigory Guselnikov’s close friendly and business relations with Russia’s only opposition governor Nikita Belykh The reason for this is that many regional structures, including security forces, are long-time clients of the credit institution.

Considering all these circumstances, the regulator’s policy looks very strange - according to the current legislation central bank significantly limits the activities of European subsidiaries in Russia in order to reduce competitive pressure on domestic banks. In our case, Elvira Nabiullina’s subordinates turned a blind eye to the law and, contrary to obvious circumstances, allowed the acquisition of Vyatka Bank by a foreign credit institution. What is the reason for such a strange decision?

Perhaps, employees of the Central Bank of Russia, as well as some Kirov journalists, believed that after the merger of banks, Kirov business would have access to inexpensive European loans, and the Vyatka province itself would become a financial oasis, a reserve of prosperity and progress. I would like to believe that the regulator was guided by precisely these considerations, because in addition to the Kirov business, the Russian opposition, Grigory Guselnikov is known for his long-standing friendship with whose leaders, also gets access to European money. A friendship so close that his name appears in the materials of the scandalous criminal case, initiated on the fact of theft of property of the state enterprise "Kirovles".

From the presentation “Consolidation of NORVIK BANKA and Vyatka-Bank” presented to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, it follows that a certain “group of minority shareholders” is expected to be given 25% + 1 share of the Latvian bank, and this, no less, is a deal worth 100 million US dollars. Who is hiding behind this formulation - whether Guselnikov himself or people close to him, or even a third party in general - is not known for certain. But it is obvious that Grigory Guselnikov’s banking group needed, and perhaps still needs, investments in the amount of $100 million. The need is acute and urgent. First of all, because according to the public reports of the banking group, its share capital should be equivalent to the amount of 400 million US dollars. However, in the same presentation for shareholders (and, as we have already seen, there are no “strangers” among them), the following data is provided: the authorized capital of NORVIK BANKA is 53 million euros. After consolidation with Vyatka-Bank, this figure doubles exactly - to 106 million euros.

Even if one wants to, this does not amount to $400 million. And even the movement of funds within the Guselnikov family, carried out under the guise of increasing authorized capital banking group is in no way capable of correcting this sad indicator. The practice of banking in Russia suggests that paying for the manipulations of the keeper of the traditions of the club “What? Where? When?" will have to those who are not part of the “certain circle of people.”

Financier Grigory Guselnikov, who has been living in London for the last few years, has long wanted to get rid of Russian business. In particular, in 2012, he sold his Norvik Bank (formerly Vyatka Bank with its head office in Kirov) to financier Vladimir Antonov. But he changed his mind in time, since the businessman’s empire collapsed a few years later. Then the desire to sell the bank was associated with politics - the activities of Guselnikov’s bank were interested in the Central Bank and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which checked the bank accounts of companies associated with political leader Alexei Navalny and ex-governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh. Four people in the banking market told Forbes that since the end of last year, Guselnikov resumed negotiations with buyers at Norvik Bank. “The bank has been up for sale for a long time,” says a Forbes source. “But many had questions about the quality of assets.” Guselnikov himself, through a representative, told Forbes that the bank is not for sale, but may be put up for sale in the future.

Guselnikov still won’t have to sell Norvik Bank. On Friday, April 7, Novaya Gazeta reported that the former Vyatka Bank will be transferred to Sberbank as part of a cash-free deal to sell its Ukrainian subsidiary to a consortium of investors, which, in addition to Guselnikov, includes the Belarusian structure of Said Gutseriev, the son of Mikhail Gutseriev. Guselnikov has known the Gutserievs for a long time - in 2001-2008 he worked at B&N Bank, and since 2008 he has been its president.

After the transaction, Sberbank Ukraine will become part of Guselnikov’s Latvian Norvik Bank group and will operate under this brand. The media estimated the cost of the deal at $130 million, Guselnikov’s share will be 45%. Earlier, in an interview with the Ukrainian Hromadsky TV, Guselnikov said: “There will be an exchange of assets in this transaction. Norvik will change Russian bank into Ukrainian." According to Novaya Gazeta, Guselnikov’s deal will also include real estate: land in the Moscow region and hotels with the Hilton operator in Yekaterinburg and Mozhaisk.

“In accordance with the agreements regarding the concluded deal, we do not have the right to disclose its terms,” Guselnikov’s representative told Forbes. “The information published by Novaya Gazeta is completely untrue, so we cannot comment on it.” The day before the publication, Guselnikov, in a commentary to Forbes, stated that Norvik Bank was not put up for sale, but this could be “a matter of the probable future.”

“The information that there is no monetary component in the transaction for the sale of Sberbank PJSC (Ukraine) does not correspond to reality,” said the press service of Sberbank, but they did not deny the transfer of Norvik Bank and real estate to the bank. “All other things being equal, Norvik Bank compares favorably with many other regional banks due to its increased margin of safety, the high quality of its portfolio and the level of services provided and the role it plays in the regional economy,” Guselnikov’s representative reported his words. – If we go into detail, the bank’s portfolio of instant liquid securities – Lombard list bonds – has only slightly less obligations to depositors. That is, in fact, the bank can return all deposits in one month. There is no other bank like it in Russia, and it could become a very desirable acquisition for any investor.”

The need for Sberbank to sell its Ukrainian subsidiary arose after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko imposed sanctions on Russian banks, including Sberbank, in March 2017. At the same time, Ukrainian nationalists actually blocked the work of the local Sberbank, concreted the entrances to its branches in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine. At the same time, as the media reported, Sberbank had been negotiating the sale of Ukrainian assets since 2016, claiming an amount exceeding that which it would receive from the structures of Gutseriev and Guselnikov.

The Russian investor, businessman, main shareholder of Norvik Bank considers it wrong that his family lives not in their homeland, but in the UK, however, he and his wife made this choice themselves, believing that their children would receive such an education and upbringing there, which they cannot be given in Russia. Wife of Grigory Guselnikov Julia has English citizenship and, together with his children - daughter Aglaya and sons Alexander and Peter, live permanently in the UK and, most likely, are only happy about it.

One of Gregory’s sons is studying at a boarding school, which both English princes graduated from. Guselnikov says that this boarding school has all the conditions for receiving an excellent education and development, but the living conditions there are quite ascetic. He is afraid to even imagine that his children would have to communicate with their peers in their native Moscow, where they could pick up ugly manners. The businessman says that his son is growing up very independent and knows the value of money well. Grigory Guselnikov’s wife supports her husband’s views on raising children. She is pleased that her husband devotes a lot of time to raising children, they all travel together, and as soon as his eldest son has free time on the schedule, they are going to some corner of the world.

In the photo is the wife of Grigory Guselnikov

Guselnikov can afford such a lifestyle, because the fortune that he was able to earn by the age of forty makes it possible to do this. It is not for nothing that for two years in a row - in 2007 and 2008, he was among the thirty most successful young people in Russia. Biography of Grigory Alexandrovich at the very beginning life path developed like many other children of his generation - he was born in Novosibirsk into a family of engineers, in 1992 he graduated from high school in Barnaul with a silver medal, entered the Tomsk Polytechnic University at the Faculty of Economics, and received an internship while receiving higher education took place in the UK and USA.

Career in banking sector he started in 1996 and since then he has been able to achieve great success in this field. From the position of deputy head of the HR department of Inkombank, he reached the post of president of Binbank, after which he concentrated on the development of Vyatka Bank, and two years ago he became the main shareholder of the Latvian Norvik banka. He is credited with owning one of the most expensive London real estate complexes in one of the most prestigious areas - One Hyde Park. He is the founder financial project Single, London-based investment fund G2Capital.

Grigory Aleksandrovich does not limit himself only to professional activities - he finds time for other activities - since 2002 he has become a regular member of the TV club “What? Where? When?”, and since 2010 he has become the custodian of its traditions and the constant independent referee of the TV game “Brain Ring. Grigory Guselnikov prefers not to advertise his personal life and relationship with his wife. Some time ago, rumors appeared in the media that he had an affair with the common-law wife of businessman Lebedev, model Elena Perminova, but these relationships, if they actually existed, were never demonstrative, so it is unlikely that Grigory Alexandrovich will decide to destroy his family for the sake of passion, because he loves children so much and does not want to traumatize their psyche. It is unknown how his wife reacted to this unpleasant news, but so far there has been no information in the press that the relationship between them has deteriorated.

Sberbank is selling its Ukrainian subsidiary to a consortium of investors that includes Latvian Norvik Banka and an unnamed Belarusian company. The agreement was signed on Monday, March 27. “The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2017 after receiving approval of the transaction by financial and antimonopoly regulators in the relevant jurisdictions, including Latvia and Ukraine,” Sberbank said in a statement.

Sberbank hopes that the decision to sell will facilitate the unblocking of its offices and the resumption of “normal work.” “An accelerated sale of the bank will lead to recording a loss on investments in the capital of a subsidiary bank, which will be reflected in the reporting of Sberbank PJSC under RAS. At the same time, at the level of the consolidated statements of the Sberbank group, the impact of the transaction on reporting under IFRS will not be material,” noted the Russian credit institution.

British citizen Said Gutseriev became the majority shareholder of the consortium, according to a press release from Norvik Banka. “This transaction will allow us to offer Ukrainian clients a service built on European principles of quality, transparency and accessibility, while maintaining the technological level of the bank created by Sberbank of Russia,” the Latvian bank said. It is clarified that the main shareholder of the credit institution is British citizen Grigory Guselnikov.

The majority owners of the Sberbank subsidiary in Ukraine will be two British citizens, Said Gutseriev (son of businessman Mikhalia Gutseriev) and Grigory Guselnikov (player in “What? Where? When?”).

Their companies have formed a consortium that enters into a purchase and sale transaction with a Russian bank.

“Today AS Norvik Banka and its main shareholder, British citizen Grigory Guselnikov, signed an agreement to participate in an investment consortium to acquire the Ukrainian branch of the Russian Sberbank. The majority shareholder of the new consortium was British citizen Said Gutseriev and his Belarusian company,” says a message on the Norvik Banka website https://www.norvik.eu/ru/intl/consortium.

Gutseriev noted that the Sberbank subsidiary has an excellent infrastructure in which considerable funds have been invested. “My experience suggests that, having decided to participate in it, all participants in the consortium do a very far-sighted and profitable investment

“, - the bank quotes Said Gutseriev.

Let us recall that on March 27, Ukrainian media reported that radicals from the National Corps temporarily lifted the blockade of Sberbank branches in Ukraine so that depositors could withdraw their money. After this, they intend to begin an “even stricter blockade” of all Sberbank offices. After Russian Sberbank

announced the start of servicing clients using passports of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, the Ukrainian authorities introduced sanctions against all banks with Russian state capital.

now who are these people who bought the box office in Ukraine

Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriev (father of Said Gutseriev)

Russian entrepreneur Russian entrepreneur, doctor economic sciences , poet, member of the Russian Writers' Union. Owner of the companies JSC NK RussNeft, JSC Russian Coal, PJSC Mospromstroy, PJSC Binbank, as well as the British company GCM Global Energy Inc. with an annual turnover of $1 billion. Controls large assets

• in the real estate industry. Member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Wikipedia
• Born March 9, 1958 (age 59), Astana, Kazakh SSR, USSR

• LDPR Party

Net worth: $6.32 billion Said Gutseriev

twenty-eight-year-old Russian businessman.

Nowadays, only the lazy do not discuss the wedding of the century, which made a sensation all over the world. The restaurant where the celebration was celebrated turned into a flower greenhouse, its walls lined with colorful hydrangeas. And the bride's outfits and gifts for the guests also cost a tidy sum.

Said married a student from Ingushetia, Khadija Uzhakhova. The wedding took place in the Moscow restaurant Safisa and for several days now all the media have been discussing how much it cost the Russian oligarch - the owner of the British GCM Global Energy Inc., NK RussNeft, OJSC Russian Coal and other companies.

And you know, it seems to me that the wedding, which attracted so much attention, made people slander the young people, envy, and sometimes even be indignant, and discuss not their happiness, but wealth and luxury, against the background of the poverty of the majority of the country’s inhabitants, not always can lead to a happy married life.

What is known about Said himself? He was born in 1988.

Studied in Britain. Initially he studied at a prestigious private school

Harrow, graduated from Oxford University.

Said lived in England for 17 years.

He worked for Glencore, his annual salary was 4.1 million rubles, without bonuses.

But Said always dreamed of working in the family business, and as soon as he received an offer from his father to head ForteInvest and take the post of general director, he immediately returned to Russia.

In addition to his share in his father’s company, Said Gutseriev is the owner of twenty percent of the Cypriot Doneler Finance.

It was previously reported that buyers of subsidiaries of Russian state banks in Ukraine are rushing to take advantage of the aggravation of the situation around them in the hope of purchasing assets cheaper. As Kommersant learned last week, the price offer from potential buyers of VTB (Ukraine) dropped to $50 million, and biggest deal the sale of Ukrainian structures of Sberbank fell through at the last moment.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Guselnikov

Russian businessman

Russian investor, businessman, main shareholder of Norvik Banka with representative offices in Latvia, Russia and the UK, member of the board of directors of the Russian PJSC Norvik Bank, Guselnikov is a regular participant in the TV show “What? Where? When?" since 2002, and since 2010 - “Keeper of Traditions” of the “What? Where? When?". Wikipedia

Born in Novosibirsk on February 25, 1976. Gregory's parents were then simple Soviet engineers. School years it was held in Barnaul. In 1998, he became a certified economist, graduating from Tomsk Polytechnic University. Internship took place in the UK and USA. He started working in the banking sector in 1996. A year later, he received the position of deputy head of department at Inkombank Unitary Enterprise. Since 1999, he worked as the head of the corporate development department at Guta Bank. In 2000, he worked as head of the labor and motivation department of Rosbank.

At the beginning of 2001, Grigory Guselnikov moved to Binbank, where he became a member of the board and managed the retail business department. A year later he became senior vice president, and later first vice president. In 2008, he received the post of president of Binbank, and two years later he left there. Since 2010 he has been a co-owner of the English company Alcantara. Today Guselnikov is a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of JSCB Vyatka Bank, the founder of the new financial project Single, the London investment fund G2Capital, and the holder of 83.63% of shares in Norvik Banka (a Latvian bank). The public attributes the banker with ownership of the One Hyde Park property complex in a prestigious London area. -

Among journalists, the banker became famous for his manner of communication on the verge of hysteria. Each negative publication in the press causes a number of threats from Vyatka Bank lawyers. In 2015 financial institution filed a lawsuit against the publication Local Time for material about the bankruptcy of Ecoprombank. Moral compensation was also demanded. Grigory Guselnikov. Family Recently, the banker has been traveling a lot, traveling from Russia to England. He believes more in foreign countries and values ​​the decent upbringing and education that this country can provide. Believes that there are many negative uncontrollable factors in Russia. Nevertheless, Grigory Guselnikov, whose wife and children live in England, considers living in a foreign country a bleak and wrong circumstance. He is pleased that his son has been brought up since the age of seven in the democratic, but at the same time harsh, spartan conditions of a boarding school. He knows how to value money, is independent and does not grow up to be a barchuk. The school has luxurious equipment, a swimming pool, football fields, musical instruments, but the rooms have an ascetic atmosphere. Both English princes studied at this boarding school.

PS Now I think the Ukrainians are very unlucky with the new owners of the former Sberbank branch in Ukraine. What we strived for, we achieved.

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Why does the "expert" banking schemes Ukrainian Sberbank?

As a correspondent of The Moscow Post reports, another contender has appeared among the contenders for the purchase of the Ukrainian branch of Sberbank. The founder of the investment company VP Capital, Viktor Prokopenya, announced his intentions to fight for the Ukrainian branch.

At the same time, he does not exclude the possibility that he may join forces with another person who wants to acquire a bank of Ukraine, the son of the owner of Russneft, Mikhial Gutseriev, Said, who in turn is the owner of one of the large Belarusian companies.

If this really happens, it will be very difficult for the third participant - the owner of the Latvian Norvik Bank, Grigory Guselnikov, who, in fact, became the first public person who wanted to take over the Ukrainian subsidiary of Sberbank.

The price of the issue, apparently, will now increase. And although no one has named specific amounts yet, we can talk about billions of dollars. Knowing the head of Sberbank, German Gref, he will not give away such a tasty morsel as the Ukrainian branch for cheap.

Here, probably, we really need to unite with someone. But Guselnikov has no allies in this regard yet. And does he want any alliances himself? Apparently, not very much. Then what own resources is he counting?

Or does he again want to get the coveted piece through some gray schemes? And Grigory Guselnikov has proven this more than once, and not twice.

Heir to Mavrodi

Grigory Guselnikov, honestly, if we take the very original methods of conducting financial business, is compared with the king of fraud Sergei Mavrodi. Let us recall that Norvik Bank smoothly outgrew Vyatka Bank, which was owned by Grigory Guselnikov in the Kirov region.

There, credit organisation I felt great. She was reputed to be perhaps its main sponsor, giving endless loans to the budget. Only there is one “but”. These loans were issued at a simply extortionate 25 percent per annum.

And this, I must say, is a very significant burden for the not very rich regional budget. There, on the banks of the Vyatka, Guselnikov enjoyed the full support of the then governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh (now in jail on suspicion of taking a bribe) and Belykh’s adviser Alexei Navalny (now convicted of controversial affairs in the region, in particular with its flight wealth).

After the scandals with Navalny and Belykh, Guselnikov apparently decided not to tempt fate and renamed Vyatka Bank to Norvik Bank. Moreover, he registered it in Latvia, although Vyatka Bank was under the official jurisdiction of the Cyprus offshore Opidius Holdings Ltd.

But even in Latvia, Grigory Guselnikov very quickly managed to get into the public eye. Thus, journalists discovered that the owner of Norvik Bank may be involved in large-scale money laundering, both in Russia and in the Baltic republic.

An incredible amount of withdrawal from bank accounts was mentioned - 2.5 billion euros.

According to Latvian media, the head of the Prosecutor General's Office, Erik Kalmneier, has already received the agency's report. Moreover, this document was copied and sent to police officers working with economic crimes. Interestingly, the Latvian Prime Minister and the Ambassador of the United States of America to Latvia also received a copy of the letter.

The scandal threatened to grow to very indecent proportions. Laundering was immediately associated not with anyone, but with Laimdoda Straukom. The fact is that her son was an employee of Norvik Bank. Consequently, his interests could well be lobbied by an influential mother.

As it turned out, the Latvian Norvik banka began to actively lend to a number of LLCs. But these same LLCs, “by a strange coincidence,” were registered shortly before Guselnikov joined the board of directors.

It seems that 2.5 billion euros were withdrawn through these LLCs at the final stage of the fraud. By the way, Grigory Guselnikov also owns Norvik Bank indirectly. His favorite island of Cyprus is involved here again. The local company Opidius Holdings owns controlling interest shares, or, more precisely, 50 percent, plus one share.

The bank's share also includes Guselnikov's beloved wife Yulia. And the share is not so small. This is actually 10 percent of bank securities.

And this is not the only surname consonant with the head of the bank. Among the shareholders are also Guselnikov A.V., Guselnikov G.A., Guselnikova N.A.

Observers banking market There is no doubt that with the help of the family clan, Grigory Guselnikov can skillfully carry out all his operations, which he himself invented. And the question of how legal they are is, apparently, not worth it for him.

By the way, it seems that money could have been withdrawn from Norvik Bank in the Kirov region.

Through these shell companies, registered to people close to Guselnikov, investors’ money could easily be withdrawn. And this is almost 10 billion rubles. And here is Grigory Guselnikov, by the way, a well-known member of the country’s popular club of experts What? Where? When?, I decided to buy into the Ukrainian branch of Sberbank.

To withdraw money from there too?

But at whose expense? Isn't it time for the clients of Guselnikov's current bank to ask themselves the same questions as the popular game? And don’t run headlong to collect your deposits. Unless, of course, it's already too late...