Farewell to the forest king. Success story of Zakhar Smushkina, founder of the largest pulp and paper company Ilim Expert and teaching activities

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich, whose biography is described in this article, is the chairman of the board of directors, founder and main shareholder of the Ilim Group company. He is a member of the Presidium of the Russian Union of Businessmen and Entrepreneurs, the Confederation of Timber Industry of the North-Western Region, and the Board of Trustees of the St. Petersburg Technological University. In the ranking of the most influential businessmen he is in 37th place. In terms of the amount of capital under his control, he ranks 52nd in the top 100.

Childhood

The businessman was born in January 1962 in Leningrad. His childhood, youth, studies and his entire future life are connected with the city on the Neva. Observing the large-scale successes of Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin (photos are presented below in the article), is it worth talking about the diligence and student skills of the future millionaire. If his knowledge had been serious and his mind had been sharp, he would not have entered college and graduate school. And I would not have made such a dizzying career.

Education

After graduating from school, Zakhar Smushkin entered the Leningrad Technological Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry. As it turned out later, the right direction for all future activities was chosen - the pulp and paper industry. At the age of 20, Zakhar Smushkin graduated from the institute, transferred to the specialized research institute “Hydrolysis” and combined work with postgraduate studies.

Career

Smushkin combined his postgraduate studies with work as a research assistant at the NPO Gidrolizprom, where he was assigned after graduation. In 1990, he headed the technical department of the Swedish-Soviet company Technoferm-Engineering.

Joint own business

In the spring of 1992, Smushkin decided to organize his own business. Together with Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich, he organized and registered Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC (IPE for short). Exactly half of the shares belonged to Technoferm-Engineering, 40 percent to one of the Swiss companies and 10% to the Ust-Ilimsk forestry industry. The company was small and exported paper products. From 1992 to 2001, Smushkin Zakhar was the general director of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC. But the company’s owners quickly realized that they couldn’t make much money from this, and set about creating a timber industry holding company. And as a result, after a few years, the company already owned 30 small companies involved in the production of timber.

Between 1996 and 1998 was a member of the VTB supervisory board. Since 1997, he became a member of the board of directors of the Bratsk LPK and the Ust-Ilimsk Timber Industry Concern, as well as the chairman of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill. Since 2011, he has been chairman of OJSC Ilim Group. Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich in the same year became a member of the expert council on economic development and investment in the North-Western Russian District. In 2004, he was elected to the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and since 2007 he has headed the board of directors of Ilim Group.

Main competitors in business

Ilim did not escape corporate wars either. In 2002, its co-owners lost control over the company's key assets - the Bratsk Timber Processing Plant and the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill. According to the claim of minority shareholders, significant blocks of shares in these plants were returned to the state, and the Russian Federal Property Fund resold them to Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element group.

Control of Ilim was restored two years later through the court, but the blocking stakes remained with Basic Element and were later exchanged by Deripaska for 20% in the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, the property of Vladimir Kogan. He, in turn, ceded his shares to the co-owners of Ilim Pulp. So Smushkin and the rest of the shareholders managed to defend the interests of their holding.

Charity

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich collaborates with the World Wildlife Fund. In 2012, an agreement was concluded between him and Ilim Group, according to which the company voluntarily refuses to harvest wood in unique forest areas, of which there are almost no left on the planet. The boundaries of the territories were specified. The Verkhnevashkinsky forest area, located in the Arkhangelsk region, will remain untouched. Now Ilim Group leases this territory. But until the end of the contract, a moratorium on deforestation there was introduced.

Future plans

Of course, the entrepreneur’s main plans are related to the further development of the capacities of his brainchild - the manufacturing and industrial concern. The Ilim complex occupies the first position in the top of the largest forestry companies, and it is important not to reduce these positions.

It seems to Zakhar Smushkin that the holding is expecting a reorientation from the geographical principle to product lines. In addition, the entrepreneur continues to develop all important areas, planning to buy some European trading companies. A huge number of goods are sent to Asian countries, so it is possible that subsidiaries will be opened there too.

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich: family, hobbies

How much free time can such an energetic person have for his personal life? Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich is married and has a son. Family life is hidden from the media. Remarks appear in the press about the businessman’s hobbies in tennis and chess.

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin, head of the construction company Start Development, began implementing the first stage of the “smart” satellite city project “Yuzhny”, which will be built in the Pushkinsky district of the Leningrad region.

As it became known in the summer of 2016, the first stage of development with an area of ​​200 hectares will not be sold in small areas to a pool of developers. Instead, Start Development will choose only one company as the buyer.

According to Zakhar Smushkin’s plan, the selected developer will have to build real estate on this site with a total area of ​​about 1 million square meters. m. for 5 years. At the same time, he will be able to pay for the transaction in installments: first, at his own expense, he will equip the necessary infrastructure, and the rest will be able to pay during the sale of the residential real estate he has built. In St. Petersburg, this transaction will be the largest in the last few years.

The choice in favor of this method of implementing project stages is due to several reasons. Firstly, it is much easier to agree on the development concept, architecture, and sales strategy with one developer. And secondly, the territory acquired by a large developer makes the neighboring plots more attractive, and, as a result, their price increases.

The project of Zakhar Smushkin - the satellite city "Yuzhny" - should become one of the major economic centers in the Leningrad region. It is worth citing some data to assess the scale: a plot of land was purchased for construction on both sides of the M20 highway - Kievskoe highway, the total area is 2012 hectares; the total area of ​​residential real estate is 4.9 million sq. m. m., it is designed for at least 170 thousand people; the construction of at least 60 pre-school educational institutions, 30 schools, 10 medical centers for the whole family is envisaged; the total area of ​​commercial and industrial real estate is 1.5 million square meters. m., it is designed to create more than 60 thousand jobs; the total investment amounted to 209 billion rubles; The total duration of the project is 19 years.

This project compares favorably with many others being implemented in large cities because of its concept: according to the idea, the city will be low-rise, its space will be comfortably integrated into the environment, and housing will be priced at the middle class level. The population density will be at least half that of the northern capital.

As Zakhar Smushkin noted, when drawing up urban planning policies, one must always remember not only the organization of residential areas, but also infrastructure and jobs. The Yuzhny project has about a thousand hectares, that is, almost half is allocated for the location of an innovative production cluster, a campus at ITMO, and recreational areas.

“Innograd of Science and Technology” at the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO) will become a kind of “silicon valley” in miniature: all stages of the production process of innovative products will be carried out there.

The main feature of this project is the extensive introduction of innovations in the organization of living space - part of the electricity will be generated by solar panels, and municipal transport will be electric buses, whose arrival can be tracked using mobile applications.

The construction of an entire city near the northern capital cannot be done without the development of infrastructure and transport networks. This aspect is also included in the implementation of the project.

Biography of Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Smushkin is one of the most successful businessmen in Russia.

He is primarily known as the founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Ilim pulp and paper concern, the largest not only in the Russian Federation, but also in Europe.

Born in St. Petersburg on January 23, 1962. He received his secondary education here. From childhood, Smushkin was distinguished by his enthusiasm, perseverance, and patience. He studied diligently at school and did not create problems for his parents.

Zakhar Davidovich also decided to continue his education in his hometown; he entered the Leningrad Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry. This period shaped Smushkin’s idea of ​​the field in which he would carry out his activities after graduating from university. Having become seriously interested in his specialty, in 1984 Smushkin took another important step in mastering the profession - he entered the master's program. Zakhar Davidovich successfully combines writing his PhD thesis with work in his specialty - as a researcher at the NPO "Gidrolizprom".

After defending his PhD, Zakhar Smushkin, having extensive knowledge of the specialty and work experience, easily receives the position of head of the technical department at the international enterprise Technoferm-Engineering. Thanks to the professionalism of the young specialist, the company manages to attract investment and subsequently modernize production technologies.

In 1992, having secured the support of the management of Technoferm-Engineering and colleagues, the Zingarevich brothers, Zakhar Smushkin formed the organization ZAO Ilim Pulp Enterprise, where he served as general director from its establishment until 2001. And from 2001 to 2007 - the post of chairman of the board of directors.

In parallel with this, from 1996 to 1998, Zakhar Smushkin was on the supervisory board of Vneshtorgbank (VTB), which allowed him to deepen his knowledge in the field of economics and finance, and since 2001 he has been a member of the Expert Council on Economic Development and Investments at Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

Initially, the organization was created as an exporter of cellulose in small volumes, but having quickly managed to accumulate capital from this activity, it switched entirely directly to the forestry industry. Ilim begins to actively integrate industry enterprises into its structure; during the first few years of operation, it acquires more than 30 logging enterprises. Among them, two of the largest can be noted: the Kotlas pulp and paper mill (acquired in 1994) and the Ust-Ilimsk timber processing complex (acquired in 2000).

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin, as the general director of the Ilim group of companies, did the almost incredible: in the conditions of a stagnating economy against the backdrop of the collapse of the USSR, he united more than 30 enterprises into the largest paper industry concern in the Russian Federation. By doing this, he literally saved the industry itself, creating positive dynamics in the financial and technical performance indicators of enterprises; saved many jobs, and also gave a new round of development to the economy of the entire Russian North-Western District. By 2001, Ilim was already actively operating in European markets.

Zakhar Smushkin is not only a specialist in his field, a talented businessman and an effective manager, but also an innovator: for the first time in Russia, he used vertical integration technology, which allows for more efficient management of both a large number of enterprises themselves and the business processes occurring in them .

In 2007, the Ilim holding was restructured into the Ilim Group open joint-stock company in order to increase operational efficiency. At the company, Zakhar Davidovich also currently holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Thanks to restructuring, the company, despite the crisis that hit the global economy in 2008, was able to maintain positive growth rates in technical and financial indicators.

At the moment, OJSC Ilim Group of Companies is the largest company in the forestry and pulp and paper industries not only in Russia, but also in Europe. Here are just some statistical indicators that allow us to assess the scale of its work:

Every year the company harvests raw wood in a volume of more than 10 million cubic meters.

The company's share in pulp, boxboard and paper produced in Russia is 75, 77 and 10%, respectively.

But Ilim is not limited to providing only the domestic market. Thus, by exporting bleached softwood and hardwood pulp to the People's Republic of China, the company covers one third of the country's one and a half billion population needs for this product.

As we can see from the statistics above, the group of companies has an unprecedented scale of production. In such conditions, it is especially important to comply with all prescribed environmental standards. Zakhar Davidovich, as head of Ilim, copes well with this task: the company has strict control over compliance with all necessary environmental standards. In addition to the obligatory part of his work in this area, Smushkin also carries out activities on his own initiative: he has membership in the Council for the Development of the Forestry Complex under the Government of the Russian Federation and makes recommendations for the improvement and development of the country’s forest wealth. In addition, Ilim provides all possible assistance in the implementation of environmental protection measures, both at the state and international levels. In general, control over compliance with environmental standards is carried out not only within the framework of obligations - by government organizations or the enterprise itself, but also by ordinary citizens: volunteers, employees of non-governmental institutions, simply concerned citizens, as well as students of schools and higher educational institutions are often involved in its implementation. One of the main vectors of Ilim’s work in the field of ecology is a positive balance of planting and cutting down forests, i.e. their growth. As already noted, Ilim also assists international organizations in the area of ​​environmental protection. For example, in 2012, a group of companies began to cooperate with WWF. On the initiative of Zakhar Davidovich, the Verkhnevashkinsky forest in the Arkhangelsk region is under the trusteeship of Ilim. It is not protected at the legislative level, so the company leases it on a charitable basis under an agreement on a moratorium on logging in this area.

OJSC Ilim Group of Companies is one of the most transparent and accessible for civil control not only in the environmental but also in the financial sphere.

On the Russian market, the company is a leader in terms of the degree of innovation implementation: financial, technical, managerial. This allows it to maintain positive growth even during the period of aggravation of the influence of crisis factors in the country.

Zakhar Smushkin carries out his activities not only within the framework of management of the Ilim Group of Companies. In 2007, its restructuring made it possible to free up financial resources for business development in other areas.

Still in 2007, Smushkin opened the Domovoy (formerly Start) supermarket chain in St. Petersburg, which carries out wholesale and retail trade in goods for minor repairs, for home and everyday life.

In the same year, Smushkin created the construction development company “Start Development” in the cultural capital. At the moment, its largest and most famous project is the construction of the satellite city “Yuzhny”, located in the Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg.

The second largest project of the Start Development company can be called the Doni-Verevo industrial park in the northern part of the Gatchina district of St. Petersburg. The park area will be 185 hectares; about 30 production and logistics (warehouse) enterprises will be located on this territory.

In addition, Start Development is also involved in a number of smaller scale projects. Among them we can note “Golden Keys” - a low-rise development area, “Tayberry” - plots for dacha development, as well as plots for housing construction in the Gatchina and Pushkinsky districts of St. Petersburg. The company's total "land bank" amounts to more than 40 million square meters. m.

The scale of Zakhar Davidovich’s activities is very large, and in general it can be said that he makes a huge contribution to the development of the economy of the North-Western District of the Russian Federation, and in particular his native St. Petersburg.

As is the case with the environmental side of the issue of the functioning of the largest pulp and paper enterprise, Zakhar Davidovich, owning a construction company, actively participates in the discussion of urban planning issues. As, for example, in 2016 at the II International Forum of Spatial Development, held on September 26-27 in St. Petersburg. Smushkin noted the relevance of the issue of polycentric development of the city against the backdrop of the implementation of such large projects as the construction of the satellite city “Yuzhny” in the Pushkinsky district and the public and business complex “Lakhta Center” in the Primorsky district, which involves, among other things, the construction of the tallest building in Russia and Europe skyscraper. According to Zakhar Davidovich, this vector of development of the northern capital will be formed due to the presence in both projects of plans to provide jobs, as well as their multifunctionality.

In addition to running a business and actively discussing issues related to it, Zakhar Smushkin carries out educational activities as part of initiative government and business groups, as well as as a lecturer in higher educational institutions.

He is a member of the State Technological University of Plant Polymers in St. Petersburg and is a member of its council, in addition, he has the status of an honorary doctor at the St. Petersburg State Forestry University named after S.M. Kirov. And as part of educational activities, it introduces the latest technologies into student curricula. In addition to giving lectures, Zakhar Smushkin provides jobs at the enterprises of the Ilim group for pre-diploma industrial practice.

In addition, Zakhar Davidovich is a member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, where he disseminates vertical integration mechanisms developed personally and streamlined at his own enterprises. These mechanisms have shown effectiveness in bringing economic sectors out of stagnation using the example of Ilim.

Smushkin is also a member of the Council for the Development of the Forestry Complex of the Russian Federation under the Government of the Russian Federation, and has proven himself well at the highest government levels. Thus, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, notes that Zakhar Davidovich is a very valuable specialist in the forestry industry.

Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin, through his activities, makes an invaluable contribution not only to the development of the Russian economy, but also strives to modernize the areas in which he does business, without forgetting about the environment. Also, his contribution to the training of new personnel cannot be underestimated - he teaches and motivates students with his knowledge and his own example.

In general, Smushkin’s biography is an illustrative example of how a person from a simple family, thanks to his enthusiasm and perseverance, can achieve very great heights. It is worth giving a list of his most significant achievements:

Creation of the largest cardboard and pulp production company in Russia and Europe.

He was the first in the Russian Federation to introduce the technology of vertical integration of enterprises.

He is a member of the Presidium of the Russian Society of Entrepreneurs.

Honorary Doctor at the St. Petersburg State Forestry University named after S. M. Kirov, Honorary Professor at the St. Petersburg State Technological University of Plant Polymers.

However, as the latest news says, in January 2017, Zakhar Smushkin entered the TOP 30 most influential people in St. Petersburg, taking 29th place. The project of a satellite city, which is being promoted by a businessman, is being discussed by the federal center and Smolny; in general, in society, the very idea of ​​such a construction of a city of a new format evokes neutral and positive emotions: people will receive comfortable, comfortable residential areas, the city will receive investments (for example, it was recently announced signing of an agreement between IBM Corporation and the Start-Development company on technological cooperation in the design and construction of a satellite city).

Family, hobbies

In addition to the fact that Zakhar Smushkin is a very successful businessman, he is also an exemplary family man. He and his wife are raising a son. Otherwise, little is known about his personal life, since he and his family do not seek to shock the media and lead a non-public, rather modest life. Zakhar Davidovich names chess and tennis among his hobbies. In addition, he is passionate about collecting paintings, preferring Russian painters at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, among them he notes Vrubel as his favorite artist.

However, Smushkin’s interest in the world of art is not limited only to Russian painters. Thus, on November 12, 2016, the Small Hermitage opened an exhibition of Japanese art from the Meiji era entitled “Perfection in Details”. All exhibits for it were provided by Zakhar Davidovich from his personal collection, carefully collected over a fairly long period of time.

As the businessman himself noted, working in the “material world” makes a person more cynical and pragmatic, while collecting art, including arts and crafts, promotes spiritual development and knowledge of the world. The exhibits presented at the exhibition, the skill with which they were made, reflect the evolution of many philosophical issues of humanity.

In the future, Smushkin’s entire personal collection will be placed on permanent display in a museum in the satellite city of Yuzhny, since, according to the businessman, work on this particular project encouraged him to start collecting.

State Public Institution “Petersburg Property” is preparing documents for a long-term (49 years) lease of two plots on Lesnaya Street in Komarovo.

In 2010, Smolny transferred these and two more plots to the individual entrepreneur Ekaterina Tsarapkina, the wife of the chairman of the board of directors of the Ilim group, Zakhar Smushkin, for the construction of a geriatric center. On two plots with a total area of ​​1.5 hectares (west of the intersection of Osipenko and Vodopyanova streets), the private boarding house “Sputnik” opened in 2016. The land underneath was privatized. The territory cost Ekaterina Tsarapkina 5.4 million rubles, or 36,000 rubles per hundred square meters - this is the amount the city put forward in the purchase and sale agreement. It is calculated according to the city law on setting the price of land plots with a coefficient of 0.25 of the cadastral value, the KIO explains.

Two more spots along Lesnaya Street (also 1.5 hectares) were included in the overall land portfolio for the geriatric center project. The first plot is located at the intersection of Lesnaya and Ilyich Lane. The second is north of the intersection of Lesnaya and Ozernaya streets. They are separated not only by Ozernaya, but also by an impressive territory of about 5800 sq.m (owned by the city and reserved for a kindergarten), the plots have no common boundaries. The investor built here structures for storing equipment (55 sq.m.), areas for board games (65 sq.m.) and several gazebos (22 sq.m. each). The structures were registered as capital construction projects and put into operation by the State Construction Supervision Service with virtually no objections from officials. In 2016, the Property Relations Committee filed a lawsuit to declare the individual entrepreneur’s ownership of the buildings absent. However, a few months later he withdrew the application. The court found the document signed by the former deputy chairman of the KIO Vladimir Filanovsky convincing and terminated the proceedings. The company applied for privatization, but Smolny refused, citing the disproportionate size of the buildings and plots. But no one objected to the provision of sites for long-term lease.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that Smolny is distributing plots of land in the elite Komarovo inexpensively or simply for free. So, in April last year, the State Unitary Enterprise DO Prigorodnoye sold 13 acres at 10 Pogranichnaya Street for 2.832 million rubles (about 215,000 rubles per hundred square meters). The buyer was Valeria Sokolov, adviser to Governor Georgy Poltavchenko. And in June, the city transferred 47 acres to the street for free. Vasilyeva, 4 St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is the territory of the summer residence of Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. The KIO, in response to public complaints, stated that the dacha is used for religious purposes. And the prosecutor’s office added that the house is involved in the religious activities of the diocese, in particular, it serves “to accommodate the clergy and pilgrims in order to ensure liturgical activities.”

This is not the first time that entrepreneurs use investment agreements to obtain state land and then resell it profitably. So, yesterday the company structure

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich is a Russian businessman and entrepreneur. Founded the largest pulp and paper concern in Russia and Europe, Ilim Group. He is also the owner of the federal network of construction hypermarkets “Start” and the development company “Start Development”, which is implementing a federal project - the satellite city "Yuzhny".

Biography of Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Smushkin was born in Leningrad on January 23, 1962. He received his education in his hometown, and currently lives in St. Petersburg.

In 1984, he entered graduate school at the Leningrad Institute of Technology, where he had previously graduated as a specialist.

Around the same time, the institute assigned Zakhar Smushkin to work at the specialized All-Union Research Institute NPO Gidrolizprom. Zakhar Davidovich is writing his PhD thesis while working at Hydrolizprom as a research assistant. After defending his PhD thesis, Smushkin receives the status of Candidate of Technical Sciences.

A few years later, in 1990, Zakhar Smushkin was appointed head of the technology department at the international enterprise Technoferm-Engineering. The company was engaged in trade in equipment and products for the pulp and paper industry. Zakhar Smushkin, in his position, was actively involved in the modernization of production, thanks to which the company began to attract investments in large volumes.

While working at Technoferm-Engineering, Zakhar Smushkin managed to study even more deeply the features of the pulp and paper industry, and he decides to open his own business.

In 1992, Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin opened Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC, where he held the post of General Director. His assistants in this matter were former classmates and colleagues at the Technoferm-Engineering company - Boris Zingarevich and Mikhail Zingarevich.

Until 2001, Zakhar Smushkin served as CEO, and after the restructuring of the company in 2007, he moved to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors.

At the very beginning of its existence, Ilim Pulp Enterprise specialized in the export of pulp and paper products. But soon, in parallel with trading, the company began to acquire and incorporate industrial timber enterprises. Modernization was carried out at the enterprises that became part of Ilim.

In the first years of operation, Ilim concluded several large transactions, thanks to which it began to rapidly develop and grow. Thus, in 1995, the Kotlas pulp and paper mill became part of the concern, in 1997 and 2004 - the Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk timber processing complexes. By 2005, Ilim also included 43 forestry enterprises, the St. Petersburg cardboard and printing plant and paper mill "Kommunar".

Centralized management ensured the coordinated operation of a large number of enterprises, the Ilim holding constantly increased its performance - both financial and technological.

As the head of the holding, Zakhar Smushkin actively introduced new management technologies. He was the first in the Russian Federation to use vertical integration technology, which made it possible to cover all stages of the production process and product sales.

The company's forest reserves became the largest in Russia and Europe, and 77% of cardboard and 61% of pulp produced in Russia came from Ilim.

By the end of the 2000s, the holding entered the international market. Currently, it is represented by 5 large production enterprises and 4 representative offices, one of which is located in China.

The location of the foreign representative office is due to the fact that Ilim’s exports are mostly focused on the Asian market. Thus, 1/3 of the bleached pulp market in China consists of Ilim products, despite the population of this country being more than one and a half billion.

The largest Russian pulp and paper holding complies with all necessary environmental standards, and also participates in environmental activities - national and international. Smushkin, as the head of the company, exercises careful control in this direction.

Ilim also attracts volunteers to carry out freelance inspections at its enterprises; employees of non-governmental institutions, students and schoolchildren can participate in them.

In 2012, the company entered into an agreement with WWF - the World Wildlife Fund, according to which it voluntarily refused to cut down unique forest areas that are not protected by law. In addition, Smushkin, on behalf of Ilim, took custody of the territory of the Verkhnevashkinsky forest in the Arkhangelsk region. Since the forest is also not protected by Russian legislation, the company leases it, introducing a moratorium on logging - both for its own enterprises and for everyone else. Thus, the Verkhnevashkinsky forest remains untouched.

In December 2017, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation presented Zakhar Smushkin and the Ilim company with an award for the company’s active environmental policy in the Year of Ecology.

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich is a member of the forestry complex development council. At meetings, he presents various measures to preserve and increase Russia's forest resources. Ilim carefully monitors the maintenance of a positive balance when planting and cutting down forests. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev notes Smushkin as a valuable specialist in the forest industry.

“Ilim Group”, under the management of Zakhar Smushkin, has been in a leading position in terms of production volumes not only in Russia, but also in Europe for more than 20 years. The company, even during periods of fluctuations in international markets, manages to maintain positive growth in financial and technological indicators. In addition, Zakhar Smushkin actively monitors innovations in the field of management and constantly introduces new effective methods in all production facilities.

In 2007, management decides to restructure Ilim in order to improve management efficiency. As a result of restructuring, the company became a joint stock company, and the name was changed to “Ilim Group”. In turn, Zakhar Smushkin was given the post of chairman of the board of directors in the new company, a position he currently holds.

Other projects of Zakhar Davidovich

In 2007, several important events occurred that influenced the development of Zakhar Smushkin’s entrepreneurial career.

First of all, to improve management efficiency, Ilim’s management decides to restructure the holding. As a result of this process, the closed joint stock company Ilim Pulp Enterprise became the joint stock company Ilim Group. In a company with a new structure, Zakhar Davidovich moved from the post of general director to the post of chairman of the board of directors. He currently holds this position.

At the beginning of 2007, Zakhar Smushkin opened the Start hypermarket chain in his native St. Petersburg. The store's products are intended for minor repairs in the DIY (do-it-yourself) format, as well as for home and everyday life. In total, the hypermarket offers about 55 thousand different types of goods. Currently, stores have opened in Chelyabinsk, Voronezh, Ufa and Samara. In total, the network consists of seven branches located in five regions of Russia.

Also in 2007, Smushkin opened the Start Development company. The company provides a wide range of services, covering all possible stages of development - creating land banks and developing concepts for the development of territories, preparing urban planning documentation and attracting investors. In addition, it carries out the full cycle of the construction and control process - from the creation of an architectural concept to the construction of a complex development with all the necessary infrastructure.

Zakhar Smushkin's company "Start Development" is a member of several guilds - the Russian Guild of Managers and Developers, the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Also, “Start Development” is the owner of 11 awards and commendations. Among them are “Best Management Company of the Year”, “Best Mass Low-Rise Development Project”, “Best Low-Rise Construction Project in the Leningrad Region”, “Best Cottage Village”, “Village of the Year 2013”. In addition, the company has a nomination for providing targeted assistance to children .

Start Development is engaged in a variety of projects, including land assets, commercial, industrial and residential real estate. In total, the company's land bank contains more than 40 million square meters.

Among the suburban residential construction projects already completed by the company, one can highlight the cottage villages “Tayberry” and “Golden Keys”. Start Development is also preparing sites for summer cottage construction in the south and north of St. Petersburg - in the Pushkinsky and Gatchina districts. The company was given a certificate of gratitude “For the development of Gatchina” - the management company “Start Development” organized the 215th anniversary of the city’s day.

At the moment, the largest project of Zakhar Smushkin’s company is the construction of the satellite city Yuzhny in the Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg. The satellite city project is of federal importance, as it is the largest integrated development project in the Russian Federation. In addition, by decree of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a modern cluster will be built on the territory of the city, in which innovative developments will be carried out.

The total investment in the project for 2017 has already exceeded 176 billion rubles, construction will be completed within 20 years. The Yuzhny satellite city will be located on an area of ​​2012 hectares along the Kyiv highway (M20 highway).

The concept of the city is based on the principles of “green development” - they imply the integration of infrastructure into the environment, with maximum convenience for people and minimal harm to nature. For example, electricity to illuminate city streets will be produced by solar panels.

More than 170 thousand people will be able to live in the city - residential buildings with a total area of ​​4.9 million square meters will be built for this purpose. In addition, all the necessary infrastructure is provided - kindergartens, secondary schools, general family medical centers, about 100 facilities in total.

The architecture of the city will be a single style, residential buildings will be low-rise, below 40 meters. The price of apartments is designed for people with average income.

In addition, the project provides for the construction of commercial space - more than one and a half million square meters. This area, according to calculations, can create about 21 thousand jobs.

Residents of Yuzhny will be able to quickly get to nearby St. Petersburg using electric trains and transport interchanges. It is also planned to increase the number of lanes of the Kyiv Highway. It takes less than 15 kilometers to get to the Ring Road from Yuzhny along the M20 highway.

Another important component of the satellite city project is the creation of an innovation cluster on its territory by order of Dmitry Medvedev.

The cluster will be called “Innocity of Science and Technology”; it will be created on the basis of the St. Petersburg Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO). An area of ​​100 hectares will house laboratories, research centers, production facilities, and a campus for 3 thousand institute employees and 4 thousand ITMO students.

The areas in which Innograd specializes include biomedical, quantum and information technologies, photonics, cyber-physical systems, smart materials, and robotics. As well as the creation, research and testing of developments and technologies in the fields of urbanism and town planning.

Investments in the project exceed 41 billion rubles, 35% of which were provided by private investors. Zakhar Smushkin also participates in investing in the scientific cluster.

Smushkin’s company is also implementing an industrial park project in the Gatchina district of St. Petersburg. The project is called “Donny-Verevo Industrial Park”. Its area exceeds 180 hectares, and it is intended to accommodate production and logistics enterprises. "Star Development" received an award from the newspaper "Business Petersburg" for this project - "The most popular industrial park project."

As the head of a large development company, Smushkin participates in various conferences and discussions that touch on the topic of urban planning. For example, in 2016, at the 2nd International Space Development Forum, he voiced his vision of the development of St. Petersburg. In his opinion, the city is developing polycentrically - because the largest promising projects are located in the south and north - Lakhta Center and the satellite city Yuzhny. These projects are large-scale and multifunctional, which means they will be able to accumulate investments and will create a large number of jobs in the future.

Personal life and achievements

Smushkin Zakhar Davidovich is a successful Russian entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder and head of the Ilim Group pulp and paper holding, which has been a leader in production volume among other enterprises in Russia and Europe for more than 20 years. For the most part, the rapid growth and strengthening of the company's position in the market was due to Zakhar Smushkin's interest in applying innovative technologies in the field of management. Ilim became the first vertically integrated holding in the Russian Federation, managing to fully cover the processes of production and sales of the product. The company also adheres to the principles of transparency and complies with all necessary environmental standards - both international and Russian.

Zakhar Smushkin has proven himself as a professional entrepreneur not only in the timber industry - his network of construction hypermarkets is developing and expanding its range. And the construction company “Start Development” is implementing the largest federal project to develop the territory and create an innovation cluster, which will contribute to the development of science in Russia.

Many publications dedicated to business and entrepreneurship include Zakhar Smushkin in their ratings.

Forbes assigned Zakhar Smushkin 114th place in the list of the richest businessmen in the Russian Federation.

According to the publication “City 812”, Smushkin is one of the three most influential businessmen in St. Petersburg.

And in 2014, the General Director magazine included Smushkin in the top 100 businessmen who changed the Russian economy.

Zakhar Smushkin also participates in various meetings, discussions and conferences on topics related to his business - forestry and urban planning.

Two St. Petersburg universities awarded Smushkin the status of honorary professor. At these universities, Smushkin gives lectures, shares his own developments, and provides senior students with places at Ilim enterprises for pre-diploma industrial practice.

The businessman’s personal life is not covered in the press, since the Smushkin family leads a rather modest lifestyle. Zakhar Davidovich has a wife, and together they are raising a son.

The Smushkin Family has several hobbies, such as tennis and chess, as well as collecting works by Russian artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.