Biography of Zakhar Smushkin
Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich – Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pulp and Paper Mill of OJSC Ilim Group.
Zakhar Smushkin is a talented leader
The story of the entrepreneur Zakhar Smushkin
Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich has gone a thorny path from a simple specialist to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the largest concern in the field of the timber industry – Ilim Group.
The starting point of Zakhar Davidovich’s impressive career ladder can be considered 1984 – it was then that he graduated from the Leningrad Technological Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry and started working. He got a job at the scientific association “Gidrolizprom” and at the same time continued his postgraduate studies.
On April 30, 1992, Smushkin, together with familiar specialists (among whom was Boris Gennadievich Zingarevich, who also graduated from LTI PPI), gave life to a new timber company – Ilim Pulp Enterprise. Four years later, Zakhar Smushkin transferred his brainchild to another form of ownership – CJSC.
Zakhar Smushkin in his youth
It was in the middle of the difficult 90s that Zakhar Smushkin’s company, under his strict guidance, grew to a federal scale. Thanks to the active implementation of modern technologies and a vertically-integrated structure, Ilim was able to successfully compete with the largest timber industry organizations in Russia and Europe.
In 2001, Zakhar Smushkin took over as chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Ilim Group. In 2003 he was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of the St. Petersburg Forestry Academy.
Zakhar Smushkin and Dmitry Medvedev at the opening of the new ILIM workshop in Bratsk
Personal life of Zakhar Smushkin
Zakhar Davidovich is married, the couple raised a son. As for Smushkin’s hobby, the entrepreneur is fond of chess and tennis, and also collects paintings.
Zakhar Smushkin now
According to Forbes, in 2016 Zakhar Smushkin ranked 114th in the list of the richest Russian businessmen. Under his leadership, the Ilim Group continues to develop even during the crisis – its enterprises produce on average 75% of all market pulp in Russia.
Each enterprise of the “ILIM” group is equipped with the latest technology
Zakhar Davidovich implements his ideas in the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, is a member of the Council of the State Technological University of Plant Polymers in St. Petersburg and the Presidium of the Confederation of Timber Industry of the North-Western District of Russia.
Zakhar Smushkin is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg and Russia
The businessman also owns a chain of building supermarkets “Domovoy”.
