Andrey Kosogov:
date of birth – March 15, 1961;
place of birth – city of Sillamäe, Estonian SSR.
Andrey Kosogov rarely grants interviews and prefers to keep the details of his private life confidential, so there is little information about his childhood. However, it is known that after graduating from high school the young man served in the army and after demobilization he worked for a year as an engineer.
In 1987, Andrey received a degree in thermal physics engineering and graduated with honors from MPEI (Moscow Power Engineering Institute), after which he enrolled in graduate school. At the same time, Kosogov served as secretary of the institute’s Komsomol committee.
Kosogov is married, has three children (daughters Olga and Alina, son Yaroslav), enjoys sport fishing, hockey and bodybuilding..
First steps in business
After completing his postgraduate studies and receiving his degree, Kosogov returned to his department as a junior engineer, where he worked for a year. At that time, the Center for Automation of Thermophysical Research (CATR, ЦАТИ) was established at the department, and Kosogov became its commercial director.
The small company supplied computers and equipment to Hewlett-Packard, and his work there became the future billionaire’s first steps into big business. The center is still in operation and currently produces measurement and computing complexes, sensors and software.
Starting his Alfa Group career
September 1992 was a turning point in the life of thermal physicist Kosogov. At that time he happened to read an advertisement in the newspaper Moskovskie Novosti for a director of a group of companies. After calling the listed number, the future billionaire spoke with Mikhail Fridman, who was interested in the fact that the young man had read Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson’s two-volume book “Economics” without any economic background.
The personal meeting between Friedman and Kosogov lasted more than an hour and a half and ended with the decision to hire the young man at a salary of $200, which was four times what he was earning in his department. The young man was placed on the board of directors of Alfa Group, reporting directly to Mikhail Fridman.
The key area of Kosogov’s work was Alfa Group’s investment activities.
Alfa Capital and privatization
In October 1992, in accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, the securities market was opened and privatization began. Kosogov participated in the process of acquiring state and municipal property. A month later, the Alfa Capital investment company was established, and Kosogov became one of its co-founders and the head of the cheque fund.
Over the next two years, the fund purchased more than 2 million vouchers, which the company then invested in the purchase of shares in various organizations and enterprises. These shares were purchased not only for Alfa Capital, but also in cooperation with other similar market participants. This made it possible to circumvent the restriction set at the time — no more than 10% of shares in one company per voucher fund. The process of privatization was completed in 1994.
Alfa Capital Management Company (MC) was established in 1996. Kosogov participated in the process as a co-founder. The new company focused on fund and investment management.
One of Kosogov’s shrewd decisions was a project to acquire cement manufacturing plants in various regions of Russia, merge them into Alfa Cement Holding, and sell them to the German company HeidelbergCement.
The year 1997 was marked by one of the most successful transactions of Alfa Group. Kosogov and partners, together with Leonard Blavatnik’s Access and Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova, acquired a 40% stake in the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK).
1998 was the year when Alfa Capital began to transform its check fund into an investment fund. This was necessary in order to obtain tax benefits and to provide the shareholders, who received the official status of shareholders, with more opportunities, favorable conditions and transparency. This structure allows to estimate the value of the share according to real market quotations, which is a more favorable and fair approach. The process was completed in two years.
During the period of reorganization there was a national default, but this very situation was beneficial for the fund — at that time the share price was low and the general unfavorable situation on the financial markets did not cause serious damage to the company. The MC also weathered the financial crisis quite successfully, as its assets did not include any debt obligations. Subsequently, the Management Company and the Fund were integrated into the structure of Alfa-Bank, and Kosogov received a stake in the Group and the status of its full co-owner.
At the same time, Alfa-Bank stopped participating in short-term government bonds before the 1998 crisis, which protected it from serious financial losses. Although the bank failed to solve some problems, it remained afloat and even became a leader in terms of assets compared to other large companies that left the market.
Alfa-Bank
Kosogov became a co-owner of Alfa-Bank in 1998. He became the head of the Investment Department and took the position of First Vice President. During this period several successful transactions took place, including:
1998 – investment in the STS television channel;
2002 – profitable sale of the music channel Muz-TV, which allowed the company to recoup the funds invested in the project ($7 million), and the purchase of shares in the Ukrainian provider KyivStar GSM;
2005 – sale of the Akrikhin pharmaceutical company.
In 2003, Kosogov was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of AlfaStrakhovanie (a division of Alfa-Bank). According to the shareholders, Kosogov was able to form an effective team and develop a competent strategy for the company’s development. In 2007, Kosogov left his position and handed over his responsibilities to Pyotr Aven.
In 2005, Kosogov left his position as First Vice President of Alfa-Bank and retired from operational activities. Soon after, Kosogov became the head of Alfa Asset Management, which merged Alfa Capital Management and Alfa Capital Partners. During the same period, Kosogov headed the Supervisory Board of Alfa-Bank’s Ukrainian division, as well as the mortgage bank newly established in 2007 as part of Alfa Group.
Other Alfa Group projects
In 2013, the Russian state corporation Rosneft bought a full stake in the oil company TNK-BP, including a 25% stake owned by Alfa-Bank. The transaction amounted to $13.86 billion, of which Kosogov’s share was $570 million. These funds were used to create the investment holding LetterOne (Kosogov became a member of the board of directors).
As of 2022, the owners of LetterOne will have $18.654 billion in assets at their disposal, including
33% stake in the oil and gas company Wintershall Dea (Germany);
19.8% stake in leading telecom operator Turkcell (Turkey);
56.2% of the telecommunications holding company VEON;
various stakes in the health food chain Holland & Barrett (UK), the pharmaceutical company Parexel (US) and BakeMark, one of the leading US bakery products companies.
In 2013, Alfa-Bank acquired a 55% stake in bottled water producer IDS Borjomi. Kosogov oversaw the transaction and subsequently took over project management. When Alfa-Bank’s major shareholders were placed on sanctions lists in 2022 to reduce their stake in the company to 49.9%, part of the Borjomi shares were donated to the Georgian government.
The inclusion of Kosogov’s partners in the Alfa Group in the EU and US sanctions lists forced them to give up all their positions in LetterOne. There was also a redistribution of shares in Alfa-Bank. Kosogov, who did not fall under the restrictions and previously held a small stake (3.67%), received 41% of the company (shares of German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev).
In 2023, Sense Bank (Alfa-Bank Ukraine) was nationalized in Ukraine. The National Bank of Ukraine rejected the owners’ proposal to transfer the company to other shareholders.
Awards and achievements
Since 2009, Kosogov has been one of the hundred richest businessmen in Russia, according to Forbes.
In 2018 he won the “Industry Legend” category of the SPEAR’S Russia Wealth Management Awards.
In 2022, the publication CNews placed Andrey Kosogov in the fifth place in the ranking of the richest people in the field of communication. In 2015 he also appeared in this rating, but in 15th place.
