Vadim Moshkovich

Vadim Moshkovich (Russian: Вадим Николаевич Мошкович, born 1967 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian businessman and philanthropist. His business interests include major investments in agriculture and real estate development. His philanthropic activities focus on promoting high-quality education and development opportunities for gifted children. In 2014, Forbes magazine put his net worth at $1.3bn, 81st place among Russian businesspeople.

Early life and family

Vadim Moshkovich was born in Moscow in 1967. He attended mathematical school #57 in Moscow, and graduated from the Moscow State Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation in 1992. He is married and has three children.

Business career

Agriculture
Vadim Moshkovich entered the agricultural business in 1995, beginning with sugar imports. In 1997-2003 he began acquisitions of sugar processing plants, and in 2004 established Rusagro Group. The company grew to become one of the largest vertically integrated agricultural holdings in Russia, working in four business segments:

• Agriculture Business: controls 460,000 hectares in Russia’s Black Earth District, one of the largest banks of farm land in Russia
  
• Sugar Business: controls six sugar plants, production 220,000 tons of sugar (H1 2014)
  
• Oils and Fats Business: production 20,000 tons of margarine, 25,000 tons of mayonnaise (H1 2014)
  
• Meat Business: pork production 80,000 tons (H1 2014)
  

2013 full year revenue was R36bn ($1.1bn), and net profit was R20bn ($600 million). In 2011, Rosagro Plc. (main holding company of the Rusagro Group) conducted an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, raising c. $300 million. Vadim Moshkovich currently owns a 75% stake in the company. The company is expected to benefit from import substitution driven by Moscow’s ban on food imports from states that have imposed economic sanctions on Russia in 2014. Rusagro Group plans to expand its meat business to the Russian Far East, and to enter the markets of Central Asia.

Real Estate Development
Vadim Moshkovich controls Mashtab, one of the largest development companies primarily focused on New Moscow (Novaya Moskva, territories absorbed by the city of Moscow effective July 2012). The company has more than 2580 hectares in New Moscow. Entering the development business, Mashtab has hired McKinsey and Co. to study the world’s most successful cities. These studies resulted in a development plan which, in a break with typical post-Soviet practice, aims to create an urban space that provides not only new residential blocks, but also ample social and transport infrastructure and facilitate local job creation “in line with global best practice.” Moshkovich cited the Californian city of Irvine as an example of a well planned new city built on former agricultural land that continues to attract residents and create local jobs. In 2013 Vadim Moshkovich made a gift to the city of Moscow in the form of 307 hectares of land to be used for construction of an administrative and government center in New Moscow.

Political career

Vadim Moshkovich is a member of the Federation Council, the Upper Chamber of the Russian Parliament, representing the Belgorod Region of the Russian Federation. He is a member of the Federation Council’s Committee on Economic Policy. His term at the Federation Council runs out in October 2015.

Philanthropic activities

Vadim Moshkovich is funding a project to establish a school for gifted children in Kommunarka (New Moscow). The goal of the school is to offer exceptional educational and development opportunities to gifted children. Moshkovich envisions that the school will attract top teachers and provide extraordinary facilities for well-rounded development. While tuition is planned at $10,000 per year, 50% - 75% of students will receive tuition grants from the school. The goal of the school is to secure graduates’ acceptance into global top-30 universities. The cost of the project is $250 million. The school is expected to receive first students in September 2017. Vadim Moshkovich is a donor and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Research University – Higher School of Economics in Moscow, and of the Belgorod State Research University. . He is also a donor and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Center of Tolerance in Moscow.

External links

Rusagro official website http://www.rusagrogroup.ru/en/