Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko (Russian: Андрей Игоревич Мельниченко, Belarusian: Андрэй Мельнічэнка, born 8 March 1972 in Gomel, Belarus) is a Russian industrialist and billionaire.
With an estimated personal wealth of $13.2 billion, in 2017 he ranked 89th in the Forbes World’s billionaires list (9th in Russia).
Early life and education
Andrey Melnichenko finished the Boarding School of the Specialized Education and Research Centre under the auspices of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, formerly known as the Boarding School at Kolmogorov Physics-and-Mathematics School #18. Upon graduation, Melnichenko was admitted in the School of Physics at Moscow State University, and later transferred to and graduated from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Career
In 1993 at the age of 21, Melnichenko co-founded the MDM Bank which grew to become one of Russia’s largest private banks within ten years. From 1993 to 1997, Andrey Melnichenko chaired the management board of MDM Bank. In 1997, Melnichenko graduated from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics with a degree in Finance and Credit. He then bought out MDM Bank shares from his partners and became the sole shareholder of the Bank.
From 2001 to 2005, he chaired MDM Bank’s board of directors. From 2001 to 2004, he was the president of the MDM Group. Between 2000 and 2001, Melnichenko co-founded the MDM Group comprising industrial assets which later formed Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) and the mineral and chemical Company EuroChem. Andrey Melnichenko also became one of the founders of TMK, Pipe and Metallurgic Company, Russia’s largest manufacturer and exporter of steel pipes. In 2004, he sold his shares in the transaction related to public placement of the company’s stock with the London Stock Exchange.
From 2004 to 2007, Andrey Melnichenko phased sale of all personally owned shares of MDM Bank to his MDM Group partner Sergei Popov, and focused on the development of industrial and energy assets: the fertiliser company EuroChem, the coal producer SUEK, and the Siberian Generating Company (SGC). In 2011, he created the SGK on the basis of electricity assets of SUEK. In 2013, Andrey Melnichenko became the primary shareholder of SUEK and SGK after he has bought his ex-partners shares. He was Chairman of Board of Directors of OJSC SUEK from March 2004 until April 2015.
Andrey Melnichenko is Chairman of the Strategy Committee (Non-executive director) of EuroChem Group AG. He is also Chairman of the Strategy Committee of SUEK LTD. He is the main beneficiary of EuroChem, SUEK and SGK.
Since 2007, Andrey Melnichenko has been Member of the Bureau of the Board of Directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), where he is Chairman of the Mining Commission.
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