Mikhail Gutseriev (Михаил Гуцериев) is a Russian, Ingush entrepreneur and avid poet. Gutseriev built his fortune by founding Grozny Bank, CHIITAL furniture manufacturer, Russneft and BIN Bank. In recent years, the entrepreneur diversified his portfolio to include hotels, shopping centers and real estate in Moscow. He also became active in politics as a member of the Russian Federation State Duma. Since 2002, Gutseriev has been consistently included in the annual Forbes list of 200 Richest Russians. In September 2014, Forbes estimated Mikhail Gutseriev’s wealth to be $3.3 billion down from $6.7 billion in 2012. With a surge in the number of multibillionaires, Gutseriev was pushed to 517th highest net worth in the world as of September 2014, from 458th, in 2013. Gutseriev‘s net worth was ranked 141st, in 2012, at the height of his fortune. At the time he was the 33rd richest Russian. In 2019, with a net worth of $3.7 billion, Gutseriev was ranked in 28th place and also as the 568th richest man in the world.
Early Life and Education
Mikhail Gutseriev was born in Akmolinsk, Kazakhstan, on March 9, 1958, to a large Ingush family who was residing in Kazakhstan. After completing his basic secondary education in Grozny, at the Chechen-Ingushskaya ASSR, Gutseriev worked for several years while continuing his education.
He received degrees from Dzhambul Sky Technology Institute in Chemical Engineering, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Saint Petersburg Law Institute and Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics with a PhD in Economics. Gutseriev received multiple honors as a student and wrote five monographs and many scholarly articles during his studies.
Early Career
Mikhail Gutseriev began working as a loader at an import company in Grozny in 1975. The following year he took on the role of reel operator of a silk-screening workshop before being appointed as supervising foreman at the same factory. During this time he spent his evenings pursuing a degree at the Chemical Processing Faculty of the Institute of Technology, Dzhambul, Kazakh SSR. In 1982 He began working at the RSFSR Ministry of Local Industry, Grozny as a process engineer and was soon promoted to being a senior process engineer of Grozny Production Association. In only four years Gutseriev progressed to hold the position of CEO of the Association. This achievement made him the youngest CEO in the Russian manufacturing enterprises of the time.
Soviet Grozny Bank
In 1988, the year that cooperatives licenses were first permitted in the USSR, Mikhail Gutseriev founded Grozny Bank.
BIN Bank
In 1992, Mikhail Gutseriev founded BIN Bank. In 2014, Gutseriev’s partner Mikhail Shishkhanov owns a controlling share of BIN Bank.
Russneft
Gutseriev has long been a major investor in oil and gas. He served as President of NGK Slavneft OAO. In 2002, he founded Russneft. After five years of exponential growth, Russneft was among the ten largest oil companies in Russia and had the most affiliate gas stations. In 2007, he sold Russneft to Oleg Deripaska due to political opposition, alleged tax evasion and business license violations and moved to London. The charges were dropped. Since returning to Moscow he has bought and sold Russneft a couple of times.
GCM Global Energy Plc and Slavkaly
Gutseriev owns a stake in GMC Global Energy, a British based potash company and founded Slavkaly in Belarus. GMC Global Energy has recently signed on a few major mining projects in Belarus. Gutseriev made an offer to buy Suleiman Kerimov’s stake in Uralkali the largest potash miner in the world.
Branching out to the Real Estate Market
In the last few years, Mikhail Gutseriev has invested in Moscow real estate and development. In 2012, he bought Summit and Lux luxury hotels from Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s former Prime Minister. Gutseriev also bought the National Hotel From Elena Baturina, the richest woman in Russia. In 2013, Victor Vekselberg sold Multinational Logistics Partnership (MLP) and its almost 1 million meters in storage space to Gutseriev.
Entering the Cryptocurrency Market
In 2017, a decree was passed pertaining to the development of the digital economy of the region and allowing trade in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Because of this decree, it was possible to launch the first digital currency exchange in the CIS countries. Mikhail Gutseriev was an active participant in getting the decree approved and the most significant investor in the exchange. Named currency.com, the exchange is the first professional cryptocurrency company in Russia.
Politics and Public Service
In 1994, Mikhail Gutseriev was elected head of the Ingushetia zone within the Russian Federation. In 1995, he was elected as Deputy Chairman in the State Duma. As an independent, he served on the State Duma again in 1999 for District 12. He also served as President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He is known to have negotiated to resolve several national crises in Russia, including the Chechen Crisis. He was involved in committees for Industries, Education and Religious issues.
Personal Life and Interest in Music and Poetry
Mikhail Gutseriev is has been married three times and has two sons and two daughters. He also has custody over a former wife’s children. In his free time, Gutseriev enjoys composing songs and poems and plays the violin and piano. Some of his songs have been performed in public and some of his poems have been published and featured in films.
Philanthropic Activities
Mikhail Gutseriev has made several philanthropic contributions to religious, cultural, business and educational interests and has funded educational, sports, cultural and healthcare programs, including the construction of a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities. Some of Gutseriev’s most significant charitable projects are:
- The Izhevsk Rehabilitation Center, one of Russia’s largest health centers with space for up to 1,600 children and youth who are disabled.
- Construction of the Orthodox Church of Holy Trinity in Yukamenskaya village on the site where the old church was destroyed in the 1930s.
- Construction of a building consisting of five storeys and 40 residences which were developed and given to the residents of the town of Luyban in the Minsk region of Belarus.
Awards and Prizes
Mikhail Gutseriev has been given several local and international, government and private awards and prizes over the years, including:
- The ‘Hasten to Do Good Medal’ from the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation.
- The honorary memorial ‘Order of Bethlehem Star’ badge and the ‘Vasily Nikolaevich Khitrovo Medal’ by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
- The ‘Honor’, ‘For Labor Merit’ and ‘For Distinguished Labor’ medals from the USSR.
- The ‘Order of Friendship’, ‘Order of Honor’, ‘Russian Federation Certificate of Honor’ and the ‘Eminent Economist of the Russian Federation’ awards and titles from the Russian Federation.
- The ‘Fellowship’ order from the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the CIS.
- The ‘Order for Merits and Distinguishes’ from the Palestinian National Administration.
- Gutseriev was also given the honorable titles of Honorable oilman and Honorable worker of fuel and energy complex and had streets in Goyti village and Grozny in the Chechen Republic named after him in September 2005.