Svetlana Bortsova is a Russian millionaire with an estimated wealth of $250 million as of February 2020. Bortsova has been listed in Forbes as one of the wealthiest women in Russia several times over. She achieved her substantial wealth through inheritance from her late husband.
Early Life and Education
Svetlana Bortsova was born in 1970. Besides reports by Progress Capital OJSC that she has achieved a secondary education, not much else is publically known about Bortsova’s early life and education.
Career
After Bortsova’s husband died, she inherited a majority stake in his companies and so became a millionaire. She owns the largest stake in Progress Capital OJSC which owns companies like Lipetsky Byuvet, a leading Russian mineral water company and FrutoNyanya, Russia’s top baby food production company.
A Family Company
The Bortsov family first became involved with the Minplodoovoschkhoz USSR Canning Plant when Nikolay Bortsov was the director of the plant, which was originally built in 1967. The company was privatised in 1992 and Nikolay Bortsov’s son Yuri Bortsov, Bortsova’s late husband, took over product sales. Eventually, the family gained control over the cannery with majority shares.
Launching Lebedyansky and Progress
The family and business partners including Olga Belyavtseva launched a juice manufacturing company called Lebedyansky at the plant. The Bortsov family-owned over 65% of the company at the time and the company acquired a 75% stake in the Progress plant which consisted of a baby food company called FrutoNyanya and a mineral water company called Lipetsky Byuvet.
Potential Sales
Lebedyansky was subsequently acquired by PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Group but Progress Capital OJSC was not included in the deal. In late 2018, the Russian media reported that Danone was exploring options to acquire Progress. It was later announced that the deal would not be concluded and so Bortsova continues to be the majority stakeholder in the company.
Wealth Over the Years
In 2014, Bortsova was listed in Forbes magazine as the 13th wealthiest woman in Russia with a fortune of $135 million. In 2015 her position dropped to 25th place when her fortune decreased to around $90 million. Over the next year there wasn’t much movement for Bortsova in terms of wealth as it was still estimated at $90 million. However, her position of the Forbes list moved up to 20th place. In 2017, Bortsova’s wealth once again increased as did her position on the list. She attained an 18th position with a fortune of $150 million. By 2018 her wealth considerably increased to $260 million and she was listed as the 15th wealthiest woman in Russia. The following year she dropped to 19th place and her estimated wealth decreased by $10 million to $250 million.
Personal Life
Svetlana Bortsova is a widow and the mother of four children. She was married to Yuri Bortsov who passed away suddenly in 2010 aged only 40. He was the co-founder of Progress Capital OJSC and also of Lebedyansky.