Biography of Arkady Rotenberg
Arkady Romanovich Rotenberg is a major entrepreneur, owner of a billion dollar fortune, an honored coach of the country.
For more than half a century, he has been on friendly terms with Vladimir Putin. In childhood, they were engaged in the same sports section of the Japanese martial art – judo and the domestic martial arts – sambo.
Forbes has repeatedly declared the judoka businessman to be the peremptory leader of state orders. In the period 2008-2013. The firms controlled by the oligarch and his brother Boris received contracts, financed from budgetary appropriations, in an amount commensurate with the annual budget of the Russian capital, namely more than one trillion rubles.
According to the same authoritative financial and economic publication, published in 2015, the Rotenberg family, with a combined income of $ 2.95 billion, ranked second in the ranking of the wealthiest Russian clans in terms of the value of their business. The Gutseriev family was recognized as the leader of the list with the result of 3.85 corresponding monetary units, the Ananievs were in third place, their assets – $ 2.7 billion.
The childhood of Arkady Rotenberg
The current billionaire was born on December 15, 1951, in an intelligent Jewish family in the Northern capital. Parents took care of the physical development of their first child – from childhood he was fond of acrobatics, from the age of 12 – judo.
His mentor Anatoly Rakhlin noted that as a wrestler, the teenager showed great promise, had excellent mobility, energy, and confidently won city championships. According to the coach, Arkady could have achieved the title of champion of the country, but after serving in the army in one of the sports companies in Leningrad, he took up coaching.
While training with Rakhlin, Arkady met Vladimir Putin, who was a year younger than him. They competed in the same weight category, often paired with each other on the tatami, went to competitions together, and as they matured, they became especially close.
Business of Arkady Rotenberg
After school, the young man entered the Leningrad State University of Physical Education. After graduating from the university, since 1978 he worked as a coach in city sports sections. He devoted 15 years of his life to this work.
In 1991, he created a cooperative specializing in holding competitions in various types of martial arts, and also constantly paired up with Putin, who at that time worked in the mayor’s office of their hometown, in judo training at the school of higher sportsmanship.
Later, Arkady participated in the creation of a number of security firms, including Shield. On the advice of Putin, in 1998, in collaboration with the novice oil trader Gennady Timchenko, he organized the Yavara-Neva judo club. Its honorary head was the author of the idea – Putin.
Since 2000, the young entrepreneur was a member of the management and featured as a co-owner of a number of companies and banking institutions, including Talion, Northern Sea Route, Multibanka (Latvia), Investcapital (Ufa), Rostelecom , “Gaztaged”, “Pipe metal rolling”.
The main profit he received from the partnership with the corporation “Gazprom”. In 2008, he created Stroygazmontazh on the basis of 5 construction contractors purchased from Gazprom. The holding received orders from the corporation for the construction of a part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok, and the Sochi facilities.
The entrepreneur had interests in various areas of business, in particular, he acquired a stake from the offshore company Kadina Ltd., the main holder of securities of the Novorossiysk Sea Commercial Port, and established the company “SMP-insurance”.
Personal life of Arkady Rotenberg
The billionaire is divorced. From his first marriage with his wife Galina, he has children – Igor and Lilia. The son (born in 1973) gave his parents three grandchildren.
Igor is a co-owner and owner of several energy, road construction and gas companies, including Glosav, Mostotrest, Gazprom Burenie, TPS-Nedvizhimost. Igor’s fortune in 2015 was estimated by Forbes at $ 470 million (his father – at $ 1.55 billion).
The second wife of the oligarch from 2005 to 2013 was a girl named Natalya. The couple have a daughter and a son – Varvara and Arkady. Together with their mother, they live in the UK.
Due to the current situation around Ukraine and the sanctions that the oligarch fell under, it became impossible to pay him child support in Britain. By law, his remittances must now be frozen. Experts believe that a solution to the issue will be possible no earlier than 2016, upon completion of the ongoing legal action in connection with the property claims put forward against Rotenberg by the ex-wife.
The billionaire’s main business partner is his younger brother. Many analysts are of the opinion that family business is solely a trade in important ties. However, the entrepreneur himself categorically denies the president’s assistance in the formation of his business empire.
Arkady Rotenberg today
In 2010, Arkady acquired the Northern European Pipe Project, TEK Mosenergo. He and his delegates entered the management of 9 distilleries. The businessman became a co-owner of the leading company in the field of road infrastructure creation OJSC “Mostotrest”, enterprises-developers of the Moscow-Petersburg high-speed highway.
In 2011, the company Laguz Management Limited controlled by the businessman bought a new asset – the largest producer of mineral fertilizers, OJSC Minudobreniya, located in Rossosh.
Also, the entrepreneur became one of the owners of the Moskva Hotel, the Paritet construction company specializing in the construction of monolithic buildings.
The billionaire is the vice-head of the Judo Federation of the Russian Federation, the International Fund for the development of this type of martial art. He was awarded the President’s Certificate of Honor, the Order of Friendship, and the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
The Stroygazmontazh holding owned by Rotenberg (he bought Boris’s share in 2014) received a general contract for the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, which will connect the Kuban with the Crimean Peninsula. The project cost is 228 billion rubles.
Almost simultaneously with his brother Boris, who left the post of President of FC Dynamo, in 2015 Arkady announced his resignation from the post of head of the same hockey club. He decided to focus on the development of children’s hockey and increasing its mass.
Rotenberg came under the sanctions of the EU countries, the USA and Australia due to the situation around Ukraine. In Italy, an arrest was imposed on the property of an oligarch (companies, apartments, villas) with a total value of about 30 million euros. As a result, the State Duma passed a law “on Rotenberg’s villas.” According to the document, the Russians affected by the sanctions have the right to compensation for the damage caused, which will be paid from the federal budget.