Mikail (Mikhail) Safarbekovich Gutseriev (born 9 March 1958) is a Russian billionaire businessperson of Ingush descent. Gutseriev earned his fortune after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He is the former owner of Russneft, one of Russia's largest oil companies. Since 2002, he has been the permanent participant of the Forbes annual ranking of 200 richest Russians, where, as of 2023, he has taken 34th place with $3.5 billion.COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION 2021/997 of 21 June 2021 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus - Official Journal of the European Union, 21 June 2021 He fled Russia in 2007 after being charged with tax evasion. In 2010, he came back to Russia after the charges were withdrawn.
Biography Gutseriev was born on 9 March 1958 in a large Ingush family in Akmolinsk. His family was repressed and exiled to Kazakhstan. His father, Safarbek Gutseriev, worked as a senior investigator for especially important cases in the Akmolinsk regional directorate of the NKVD; he was arrested in 1948 and released six months after Joseph Stalin's death. His mother was Marem Yakubovna Akhilgova. Among his brothers are Khamzat Gutseriev, a former law-enforcement official and member of the Federation Council, and businessman .
He finished high school No. 23 in Grozny, Checheno-Ingush ASSR. The school, completely destroyed during the First Chechen War, was rebuilt in 2005 with Gutseriev's financial support.
From 1982, Gutseriev worked as a process engineer, later on – as a senior process engineer of Grozny Production Association at the RSFSR Ministry of Local Industry, Grozny. He became CEO of the Association.С. Кредов. In 1991, Gutseriev was elected Chairman of Businessmen Association of Checheno-Ingush ASSR.
In 1992, when Dzhokhar Dudayev took power, Gutseriev had to leave his business and moved to Moscow, where he founded industrial and financial company "BIN" (Bank of Investments and Innovations), uniting industrial, trading and financial enterprises. In 1993 he founded and headed the Joint Stock Commercial Bank BIN.
1994 marked Gutseriev's development of the free economic zone for residents, the first one in the post Soviet countries, called the Zone of economic well-being Ingushetia (ZEWI). On 19 June 1994 the Government of the Russian Federation issued Resolution No. 740 on establishing ZEWI and appointed Gutseriev as the head of its Financial sector.
ZEWI received the legal right to return taxes paid to the federal budget back to the budget of the republic. According to the Federal Tax Service of Ingushetia, for the period from 1994 to 1997 that sum amounted to 1 billion 388 million denominated rubles. The financial corporation "BIN", being the official agent of the government of Ingushetia, was engaged in the registration of enterprises in the zone of economic favor. All financial flows of the Ingushetia free economic zone were accumulated on the accounts of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ingushetia and were controlled by the federal and republican tax authorities. ZEWI existed until 3 July 1997.
However, in August 1997, in order to complete the construction of ZEWI facilities Gutseriev created the Center for Entrepreneurship Development (CED). During the operation of the CED, large infrastructure facilities were put into operation, in particular, water supply networks for settlements in Ingushetia, external engineering networks for a gas turbine power plant, sections of gas pipelines and roads that were important for the economic infrastructure of Ingushetia. In addition, thanks to the efforts of the CED, the construction of a number of residential buildings and the government complex in Magas were completed, and other social and industrial facilities were built. The main investor of the CED was Mikhail Gutseriev.Распоряжение Правительства Российской Федерации от 25 ноября 1994 г. № 1848–р.
Education
In 1981, Mikhail Gutseriev graduated from the Dzhambul Technological Institute of Light and Food Industry with a degree in "Leather and Fur Technology". In 1995 he graduated from Finance Academy under the Government of Russian Federation, majoring in "Finance and Credits", Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, majoring in "Methods and Technology of Oil and Gas Engineering", St. Petersburg University of Law, majoring in "Civil Law" and Post graduate course at St. Petersburg University of Law, having received master's degree in "Criminal Procedural Law". Eventually he pursued Doctoral studies at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, majoring in "Free Economic Zones". In 1996 he defended his PhD thesis on "Criminality in major cities: State of affairs and prevention problems on the materials of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg in Saint-Petersburg Law University, PhD in Law.
State Duma In 1995 he was elected as deputy to the State Duma, where he took up the post of Deputy chairman.Государственная Дума второго созыва. Руководство Государственной Думы // База данных "Панорама" Due to his position, he sold a 100% stake of AKB B&N (BIN) and thus exited from the equity of the bank. In 1996 Mikhail Gutseriev initiated, developed and proposed for consideration of the State Duma a regulation on establishing a "Center for International Business", a standard offshore zone for non-residents. The State Duma approved the Federal Law on the "Center for International Business" (No. 16-FZ), with the major provisions compiling with general regulations of the laws on international businesses. The president approved the Law on 30 January 1996. The Law was effective for 1 year and international non-residents started their registration. The economic crisis of 1998, a strong decline in the Ruble exchange rate, and further default made the government suspend the effect of the law which has been in a "sleeping mode" so far.
In 1999 for the second time Gutseriev was elected a State Duma Deputy for the Third Convocation of the Federal Assembly. However, on 14 January 2000, Gutseriev was elected as the President of Slavneft at the extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the company and had to turn down the Deputy's mandate.
Gutseriev is the author of a monograph and an array of research publications on free economic free economic zones and offshore business issues in Russia.Биография Михаила Гуцериева
Getting back into business On 27 February 2001, Gutseriev was elected the Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
In 2002 the stocks of Slavneft were sold to Sibneft Consortium (now Gazpromneft) and Tyumen Oil Company for US$1.86 bn, and Gutseriev established and became a head of OJSC NK "RussNeft" in 2002. The stocks of Slavneft were sold at knockdown prices.
In September 2002, Gutseriev founded and ran RussNeft, the oil and gas company.
RussNeft case In 2006 he was accused of tax evasion, forcing him to sell RussNeft at a fraction of its value, before fleeing to London, due to fears of persecution and legal repercussions in Russia.
In the end of July 2007 Gutseriev in an open letter announced that authorities made an unprecedented pressure on him, and he was forced to sell RussNeft to the Basic Element holding, owned by loyal to the Kremlin Oleg Deripaska. Gutseriev stepped down as a President of RussNeft and announced his suspension of entrepreneurial activity (apart from RussNeft he owned Russian coal and many other companies) and his decision to move on to scientific endeavor. // Ведомости, № 140 (1914), 31 July 2007Петр Канаев. Гуцериев научит // Взгляд, 31 July 2007
On 28 August 2007 The Tverskoy court of Moscow issued arrest warrant in absentia for Gutseriev, meeting the request of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Russia issues an international arrest warrant for Gutseriev.Сообщение РИА Новости At that moment Gutseriev had already been in London, having got US$3 billion from Oleg Deripaska from the RussNeft sale.Максим Федоров, Елена Киселева, Денис Ребров, Игорь Орлов. Утечка нефтекапитала // Коммерсант, № 155 (3731), 29 августа 2007
On 16 October 2007 Gutseriev applied for political asylum to the Border and Immigration Agency of the Home Office but this information was officially refuted.
Near the end of October 2010, the Investigative Committee varied the preventive measure for Gutseriev from arrest in absentia on undertaking not to leave his usual place of residence. // РБК daily, 28 октября 2009
In January 2010 Gutseriev regained his control over the 100% of the oil company. By the mid-April 2010 all the charges against Gutseriev were dropped, the criminal cases were dismissed. In April 2010 it was announced that Gutseriev has sold 49% of the company to Joint-Stock Financial Corporation Sistema and 2% more to Sberbank of Russia.Ирина Резник, Екатерина Дербилова. Гуцериев сделал дело // Ведомости, № 74 (2592), 26 апреля 2010
On 7 May 2010, Gutseriev came back to Russia in order to visit the tombs of his parents and son.Гуцериев прилетел в Ингушетию // Газета. Ru, 7 мая 2010
In the summer of 2013 Mikhail Gutseriev once again became the sole owner of JSC RussNeft.
In February 2015, bearing in mind massive expansion of the business of the two of his major oil companies JSC RussNeft and JSC Neftisa, he became the chairman of the board of directors both companies, having focused on the strategic management of his assets.Владелец «Русснефти» Гуцериев возглавил совет директоров компании | РИА Новости
After the European Union introduced sanctions against Gutseriev in 2021, he resigned from the board of directors of RussNeft, and sold control in Neftisa to his younger brother Sait-Salam.
Activities for the release of victims of kidnapping and hostage-taking
Between 1996 and 2006, Gutseriev played a key role in helping the Russian special services to release a large number of hostages kidnapped in the North Caucasus by various criminal groups.Дашков И. Один в поле. Воин. // «Российская газета», № 14(8662), 23 января 2022.Гуцериев никогда не платил террористам за заложников, заявил экс-депутат. // «РИА-Новости», 23 января 2022.Прокопенков А. «Спасибо Гуцериеву за мужество, за отвагу, за то, что он помог людям». // «МК», 24.01.2022.Экс-глава МВД Степашин рассказал о том, как Михаил Гуцериев помогал освобождать заложников. // «Комсомольская правда», 24 января 2022.Экс-глава МВД Степашин рассказал, как вместе с Гуцериевым они освобождали похищенных на Кавказе. // «Труд», 25 января 2022.«Он здорово помог людям»: Сергей Степашин рассказал о роли Михаила Гуцериева в спасении заложников. // «Независимая газета», 24.01.2022.Наумов Д. «Спасибо ему за отвагу»: экс-глава МВД Степашин рассказал об участии Михаила Гуцериева в спасении заложников на Кавказе. // Газета «Век», 25 января 2022. Thus, according to the memoirs of A. Kh. Amirkhanov, M. S. Gutseriev, being at that time the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma, "was the principal liaison in all negotiations and all special operations for the release of hostages." In particular, thanks to Gutseriev's activities, the following people were rescued from captivity: Slovak construction person Imrich Rigo (kidnapped on 10 October 1996, released on 14 February 1997), director of the Swiss firm Seibert-Stinnes Robert Hill (kidnapped on 2 February 1997, released on 2 July 1997) and director of a brick factory from Serbia Milan Evtic (kidnapped in December 1997). Gutseriev also "played a decisive role" in the release of Stanislav Taslitsky, the head of the construction of a water pipeline in Ingushetia, and the banker Viktor Morgun, from the captivity.