Viktor Kharitonin biography. Life after Arbidol: how Viktor Kharitonin conquered the pharmaceutical market
It would seem that what can combine drugs and auto racing? If we discard the likely accidents, then it turns out - business! Billionaire Viktor Kharitonin made his fortune in pharmaceuticals, and now he is multiplying with the help of the Nurburg-ring formula track, which among F1 pilots is listed as “Green Hell”.
Viktor Kharitonin is one of those oligarchs who is trying in every possible way to protect himself and his personal life from funds mass media. Therefore, the early period of his biography, information about his parents, childhood and youth remain inaccessible to the general public.
Even the birthplace of the pharmaceutical magnate remains in question. Some sources claim that he is a native of Novosibirsk, according to others, Viktor Kharitonin's birthplace is Kazakhstan. The only thing that is known for certain is the date of his birth - November 20, 1972.
Education
At the end high school In 1989, Viktor Kharitonin entered the Novosibirsk State University, where he studied at the Mekhmat for five years. Having received a diploma in 1994, the young specialist did not look for a job in his specialty, but immediately went into business, in which he gained experience while studying at the university.
Career and business of Viktor Kharitonin
As a student, Viktor became interested in fartsovka and brought it to the official level by registering his first company, Creditinform, in 1993. In all cases, the partner of the entrepreneur was his fellow student Yegor Kulkov. After graduating from the university, young people went to seek their fortune in Moscow.
The capital received the novice businessman very warmly. Here Kharitonin quickly found fellow countrymen - Alexei and Olga Svirin, who provided him with a partnership in the Profit House investment company. At the same time, Victor bought and sold vouchers, and also studied the laws of the exchange game.
Among Kharitonin's clients were the pharmaceutical companies Vremya, later renamed Pharmacy Chain 36.6, and Domestic Medicines, which later became the Valenta holding.
Kharitonin's education and entrepreneurial talent allowed the businessman to head Profit House in 1995. Four years later, his investment company began to interact with Milhouse Capital, owned by Roman Abramovich.
Thanks to Kharitonin, in 2001, the owners of Sibneft acquired shares in Aeroflot. A friendship began between Kharitonin and Abramovich, which played an important role in the further activities of Viktor Vladimirovich.
Soon the businessman became the head of another investment company in Bashkiria. It was here that the foundation of Kharitonin's pharmaceutical empire was laid. Its beginning was the shares of Ufa-Vita acquired by Viktor Vladimirovich, an enterprise specializing in the production of medicines.
In 2003, after the withdrawal of the American company ICN from the Russian pharmaceutical market, the companies of Kharitonin and Abramovich took possession of five factories and almost a hundred pharmacies left by ICN Pharmaceuticals. Unprofitable enterprises were planned to be consolidated and profitably sold. Thus, the pharmaceutical holding "Pharmstandard" was founded.
Taking up a relatively new business for himself, Viktor Kharitonin quickly got a taste and showed enviable energy. The creation of "Pharmstandard" was started with getting rid of unprofitable assets. The Moscow office and the Yoshkar-Ola Marbiopharm plant, once owned by ICN, went on sale. The next step was the shutdown of the Chelyabinsk and St. Petersburg production facilities and the sale of the 03 pharmacy chain.
In 2006, Kharitonin and Abramovich took over the assets of Masterlek. This pharmaceutical organization has become widely known thanks to Flucostat, Amiksin and Arbidol. The last antiviral drug was of particular importance, since it was the most popular on the Russian market.
Having prepared the holding for sale, Kharitonov decided not to part with his offspring and, thanks to a skillfully conducted IPO, in 2008 became the sole and full owner of the Pharmstandard holding.
By this time, the organization has changed and has taken a leading position in its field. In addition to four pharmaceutical plants, the holding included an enterprise producing medical equipment. In addition, Viktor Kharitonin became the owner of the Pentalgin, Complivit, Codelac and other trademarks.
The skillful management of Viktor Vladimirovich saved the holding from problems caused by the global economic crisis. On the contrary, in 2009 Kharitonin's organization almost halved its profits. This was facilitated by the connections and contacts of the entrepreneur, as well as the fact that his organization was entrenched in the top ten largest insulin manufacturers. Three years later, the holding expanded due to the pharmaceutical companies Biomed, Lekko and Pharmpark.
Since the spring of 2014, Pharmstandard's securities have been permanent members of the London Stock Exchange, and the holding itself is the undisputed leader in the production of pharmaceutical products in Russia.
The biography and career of Viktor Kharitonin is not limited to Pharmstandard and stock trading. The businessman took and takes part in scientific developments. One of these projects was the work on the creation of the biotechnological center "Generium", which Viktor Kharitonin carried out jointly with Alexander Shuster since 2007.
Now "Generium" is known far beyond Russian Federation. The center is engaged in the development of drugs aimed at combating cancer, hemophilia and other intractable diseases. Scientists from the United States, Germany, France and others are involved in the activities of the organization.
The center has the most modern equipment and uses innovative technologies. In addition to research work, "Generium" covers the educational sphere. Viktor Kharitonin is the main shareholder and investor here.
As a person who is far from being indifferent to the world of motorsport, in 2014 Viktor Vladimirovich became interested in the fate of the Nuremburg Ring, a track that was one of the stages of the most prestigious Formula 1 car competition.
By that time, she was practically ownerless, and Kharitonin did not fail to take advantage of this opportunity. For €10 million, the entrepreneur bought out 67% of the shares of the racing complex, and in 2016 a deal took place that allowed the businessman to become the sole owner of the Green Hell.
As befits a real businessman, Viktor Kharitonin did not make the Nurburg Ring an expensive toy - the track brings profit to the oligarch.
Everyone can take a ride on the places where the legendary Schumacher drove, on one of the supercars owned by the entrepreneur. Entertainment costs $30 thousand. Moreover, this figure refers to weekdays, the weekend here will cost much more.
Viktor Kharitonin often turned to development activities. In 2010, he controlled the North Tower business center. In 2017, the entrepreneur became the owner of the Gorbushkin Dvor center, having bought out a controlling stake for $0.5 billion. In addition, Viktor Vladimirovich plans to build Bolshoy Novovorobinsky Lane.
A photo of Viktor Kharitonin appeared in Forbes magazine in 2010, and since then, with the exception of 2014, the businessman's name has never left the prestigious rating of Russian oligarchs.
The billionaire’s fixed assets include shares in the Pharmstandard pharmaceutical holding, the Cypriot company OTCPharm, the Severnaya Tower shopping center, etc.
Using the data provided annually by Forbes, you can get acquainted with the dynamics of changes in the state of Viktor Kharitonov over the recent period (year - $, billion / place in the ranking of the 200 richest Russians):
- 2011 – 1,5/70;
- 2012 – 0,95/105;
- 2013 – 1/109;
- 2015 – 0,95/101;
- 2016 – 1/77;
- 2017 – 1,2/81.
In 2018, a businessman with a fortune of $ 1.4 billion settled in 74th position in the ranking.
In addition to elite Moscow real estate, the pharmaceutical magnate owns two apartments in One Hyde Park, the most luxurious residential complex in the English capital. price of one square meter living space here is about $ 124 thousand.
In addition, the capital of Viktor Kharitonin is located in the Nürburgring racing complex, for which the entrepreneur paid a total of about €70 billion.
Private life of Viktor Kharitonin
Find out something about personal life in the biography of Viktor Kharitonin is very problematic. This does not mean that the billionaire is unsociable, he just avoids contact with the press.
A reliable fact is that the businessman is married. His wife Irina Viktorovna was born in 1973. The couple is raising two children.
Of the hobbies of Viktor Kharitonin, the passion for expensive sports cars is most often mentioned. Thanks to this hobby and the German racing complex, the businessman often communicates with his friends, among whom you can see billionaires and influential people, in particular Roman Abramovich, who loves to demonstrate the capabilities of his supercars to the general public.
As for influential friends, the name Kharitonin is often mentioned along with the names of Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and her husband, Viktor Khristenko, ex-Minister of Russian Industry.
The fortune of Viktor Kharitonin, the owner of Pharmstandard and the German Nurburgring, has exceeded $1 billion. Competitors and officials, as well as his teacher Roman Abramovich, praise his business qualities.
Reference information:
- FULL NAME: Victor Vladimirovich Kharitonin;
- Date of Birth: November 20, 1972;
- Education: Novosibirsk State University, Mekhmat, in 1994;
- Business Start Date/Age: 21/1993;
- Type of activity at the start: trade in consumer goods;
- Current activity: co-owner of a pharmaceutical holding;
- Current state:$1,200 million, according to Forbes-2017.
Everyone on the market knows about Viktor Kharitonin, the main shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of the Pharmstandard pharmaceutical holding, the rightful owner of the most dangerous German race track in the world, the Nurburgring, nicknamed the “Green Hell”. But only a few could tell about it for sure. Viktor Vladimirovich Kharitonin, whose business brought him a billion dollar fortune, is a very secretive and non-public person. He practically does not communicate with the press, and he gave his first interview only in 2015, so there are not too many of his statements on the net.
The biography of Viktor Kharitonin is so short that you can hardly type five facts from his personal life and be sure that they are true and not someone else's fiction. So what do we know about this man.
- The future pharmaceutical king was born back in 1972 in the city of Novosibirsk, on November 20, on the eve of St. Michael's Day. In this city, he graduated from high school. And then without difficulty he entered the Novosibirsk State University. By the way, in some sources, Petropavlovsk (Kazakhstan) is called the place of birth.
- Educated at Novosibirsk State University, he graduated from Mekhmat in 1994.
- Married. His wife is Irina Viktorovna Kharitonina (born September 5, 1973).
- Kharitonin has two children.
- He owns two residential apartments in London's One hyde park, the most prestigious residential complex.
At the beginning of the career
And it began with Dmitry on a student's bench with the opening in 1993 of an intermediary trading company LLP "Creditinform". With their best friend and classmate Yegor Kulkov, they tried to resell various consumer goods.
With him, after graduating from the university, in 1994 he went to the capital to look for a better life. There he mortgaged his brokerage company and engaged in exchange trading in vouchers. His entrepreneurial streak and fighting acumen have served him in good stead. Victor was invited to become a junior partner in the Profit House investment company by Olga and Alexey Svirins from Novosibirsk, who created it. Quite a good start for a career.
Smart, well-educated, pleasant in communication, 23-year-old Viktor Kharitonin headed the company two years later. His investment company Profit House began to cooperate with Milhouse Capital in 1999. This acquaintance became fateful. In the person of Abramovich, he found a profitable partner and friend.
Rice. 1. Friends V. Kharitonin and R. Abramovich.
Source: youtube.com
A little later, he heads a similar company in Kalmykia. A decisive step towards the creation of a large business was the purchase of shares in the Bashkir pharmaceutical plant Ufa-Vita at the end of 1999. In 2001, Kharitonin successfully bought shares in Aeroflot for the owners of Sibneft.
His interest in the pharmaceutical industry began in the early 1990s. Then the owners of such enterprises were only potential clients for him, and his Profit House started acquiring shares in drug factories for the Vremya company (known as Pharmacy Chain 36.6) and the Domestic Medicines holding (currently - "Valenta").
More serious cases appeared at Kharitonin very soon. The American pharmaceutical company ICN decided to get rid of its Russian business. And in 2003, together with Roman Abramovich and other shareholders of Sibneft, he acquired five Russian enterprises of ICN Pharmaceuticals - five outdated pharmaceutical plants that made good revenue, but worked at a loss, and another 96 ICN pharmacies. The plan was simple:
“buy, restructure, consolidate and sell at a much higher price” (“Russian Forbes”, 2009).
This is how the Pharmstandard company appeared, and Kharitonin with Abramovich and other shareholders of Sibneft - its founders.
"Pharmstandard"
Kharitonin, with all his characteristic determination, took up the restructuring of the entire economy - all pharmaceutical assets were merged into the Pharmstandard holding. First of all, I got rid of non-core or unprofitable assets:
- The 12-storey ICN office building in the center of Moscow and the Marbiopharm plant in Yoshkar-Ola have been sold;
- at the sites in St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk, production was stopped;
- pharmacies (O3 network) were sold to a distribution company (on their basis, another Rigla network appeared).
In 2006, the partners acquired the Masterlek company, which produced Amiksin, Flucostat, but most importantly, Arbidol - there was no more sold antiviral drug in Russia. Experts estimate this acquisition as a landmark, which allowed the company to become the industry leader.
Pharmstandard itself, Viktor Kharitonin, began preparing for an IPO. This method was the most correct, which allowed him to sell some part of the company's shares with maximum profit, and in 2008 buy out the partners' shares and become the sole owner of Pharmstandard.
Rice. 2. Sole owner of Pharmstandard.
Source: site s5.instest.ru
Five years after its creation, it was no longer a bunch of enterprises in a pre-bankruptcy state, but the largest Russian pharmaceutical holding, which included four pharmaceutical plants with a production capacity of 1.3 billion packages of medicines per year, and even a medical equipment plant. And the brands Codelac, Pentalgin, Complivit are known to every Russian.
It seems that Pharmstandard did not even notice. Already in the first half of 2009, revenue increased by 62%, and profit - by 47%. Without the support of influential figures, it would hardly have been possible to achieve such a result. Moreover, Pharmstandard has already entered the top 10 insulin dealers (Biosulin brand) in Russia.
In 2012, the company's assets were replenished. Its members included:
- a well-known company CJSC "Pharmaceutical company" Lekko "- a manufacturer of medicines with international non-proprietary names;
- "Biomed" them. Mechnikov;
- Pharmapark.
In May 2014 Pharmstandard shares and receipts were publicly placed and traded on the MICEX-RTS and LSE (London Stock Exchange) stock exchanges.
Today, Pharmstandard OJSC is the leader of the Russian market of manufacturers of high-quality and modern medicines and is one of the. All 6 of its production lines have received certificates of compliance with European Union Good Manufacturing Practice standards, and this is a guarantee of a high level of production, all holding plants are fully switching to European GMP standards.
According to the strategy for the development of domestic pharmaceuticals, by 2020, Russian manufacturers should account for at least half of this market. It looks like Pharmstandard will lead the process of import substitution. I wonder if he will be able to push out Western manufacturers?
Successful business projects
It is quite obvious that Kharitonin can count on political support. Among his friends, the media named the former Minister of Health, and today the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova and her husband, President of the EEC Business Council Viktor Khristenko.
And given that he certainly knows how to invest in significant projects, he has become a very influential figure in Russian business. And he's not going to stop there. His recent acquisitions are proof of this.
Rice. 3. Successful businessman.
Source: youtube.com
"Generium"
Alexander Shuster proposed to Kharitonin to enter a new research project, which was the creation of a biotechnological center near the Pokrovsky Plant of Biological Products, back in 2007. At first, the project was discussed exclusively as research and educational, it became commercial later. Kharitonin agreed. Even people "from the other side of the border" were involved in the work of the center.
They succeeded.
“At first I argued with Victor, and then I understood his logic. He has a computer in his head. This is not even a flair, but a clear calculation ”(Schuster).
Today, the Generium biotechnological center develops drugs for cancer, hemophilia and other equally serious diseases, almost every third of its employees is a repatriate with experience in laboratories in Germany, France, and the USA. Townhouses and cottages on the territory of the center especially for families of employees. Opportunity to work with advanced technologies by world standards on the latest equipment. State support was provided in the form of technology transfer (4.4 billion rubles for the period 2011-2014).
Viktor Kharitonin himself, the main shareholder and investor of the project, sometimes comes here for the weekend with his children.
“If Pharmstandard is a large-scale mass production, billions of tablets, tens of millions of ampoules, any order can be fulfilled, then Generium is science-intensive piece things” (V. Kharitonin).
Owner of the Nurburgring
Until the time that in May 2014 the businessman took part in the Italian car race for vintage cars Mille Miglia, which served as the favorite pastime of collectors and hedonists, he did not notice that he had a particular passion for racing and motorsports. And the very first rally in a black Mercedes-Benz of 1935 through the cities of Italy ended with an incredible turn for him - in October 2014, the businessman became one of the shareholders of CNBG, which owns one of the oldest tracks in Europe - the German Nürburgring. Then, in 2014, the media wrote that the acquisition cost him 60 million euros.
Favorite track of Michael Schumacher, which is famous for its deadly turns "Northern Loop" and "Carousel Carraciola", where the lives of more than twenty riders were interrupted, was built at the beginning of the last century, in 1927, and earned the fame of the most dangerous in the world and the nickname - " Green Hell.
According to some, the most correct definition of such a decision of a businessman was "men's games." Moreover, the entrepreneur is fond of racing and sometimes performs in them at an amateur level.
“As a rule, the profit of such investments is rather indirect - for example, such investments are often of an image nature, pursue indirect goals, for example, they are focused on integration into the foreign establishment or solving other essentially similar tasks” (Maxim Klyagin, analyst at Finam Management Management Company) .
But there were those who considered the deal the result of a well-thought-out business decision, that the businessman had a chance to become an unsurpassed authority for the Germans. “If Kharitonin succeeds in taking the iconic track to a new level, turning the project into a candy bar, he will become one,” says Ivan Strekopytov, creator of the nuerburgring.ru project, organizer of participation in races and corporate recreation on sports cars.
“The money spent by Kharitonin will pay off in the foreseeable future. … The Russian entrepreneur, who did not spare money on the track where Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton started, will be gladly accepted not only by German officials of the highest rank, but also by the largest entrepreneurs - even those who can be sought for years” (Vladimir Martynenkov, General director of the construction concern "Metapribor").
The business community was convinced that Viktor Kharitonin was determined already in April 2016, when he officially closed the deal, which allowed him to increase his share in the world-famous Nurburgring circuit to 99%. Thus, the Russian billionaire became the sole owner of the complex, which includes a 21-kilometer track, two hotels, a huge paddock building, an exhibition and presentation center.
The total amount of the transaction is 77 million euros, and Kharitonin himself says that for him this is not an "expensive toy", but rather a serious investment object.
Perhaps this legendary German circuit will reappear in the calendar of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2019.
“Motorsport and the pharmaceutical business do not intersect for me. If this iconic facility helps me organize the presence of our business in Germany, where the entry barrier is very high, I will not mind at all, although we did not count on it in advance.”
Owner of Gorbushkin Dvor
Shopping center, popularly known as Gorbushka, changed ownership in the summer of 2017. Viktor Kharitonin bought it from Sergei Podlisetsky, general director of Rus Oil. Once upon a time, buildings on an area of 60 thousand hectares belonged to MTZ Rubin, the largest manufacturer of Soviet televisions in the country. Today Gorbushkin Dvor belongs to Kharitonin. They say that the acquisition cost the entrepreneur $ 500 million, and that a residential complex will appear on this site. Although the new owner himself does not disclose his intentions. But this is not his first real estate investment.
There was already a business center "Northern Tower" in the business center "Moscow City" (2010), intentions to build a residential complex in Bolshoi Nikolovorobinsky Lane, in the center of Moscow (February 2017).
Network of cancer centers
In December 2017, IPT Group announced plans to create a network of radiosurgical centers. Thus, Kharitonin plans to allocate considerable funds (estimated at least $210 million) to the development of cancer centers. The first such clinic, equipped with a Gamma Knife unit, will be opened in the spring of 2018 in Obninsk. This clinic will become a pilot one, and the network will be developed under the Gamma Clinic brand. In ten years there will be twenty such institutions.
Reference. The Gamma Knife radiosurgical unit is designed for the treatment of benign and malignant neoplasms in the head and neck area. Now five devices are operating in Russia, on which a total of no more than 3 thousand operations are performed per year, although, according to the NMIRC of the Ministry of Health, 35-40 thousand patients need treatment annually.
It is believed that there is no direct connection between IPT Group and Viktor Kharitonin, but there is one: IPT accompanied the purchase of the Biocad package by Pharmstandard and Millhouse in 2014, and in November 2017, 70% of Medinvestgroup LLC (MIG) was transferred to Kharitonin. Today it is not yet known which project MIG will manage (according to SPARK-Interfax).
Viktor Kharitonin is the main shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Pharmstandard, the owner of the closed-end investment fund Reconstruction and Development, and also the beneficiary of the Cypriot investment company Augment Investments Ltd. Among businessmen, he is called a worthy student of Roman Abramovich, and close people consider him a caring husband and father of two children. At the end of 2013, Viktor Kharitonin was ranked 109th in the list of "The Richest Businessmen of Russia" with a fortune of $1 billion.
Biography of Viktor Kharitonin
The future billion was born in the city of Petropavlovsk on November 20, 1972. In 1994 he graduated from Novosibirsk State University. Even while studying at the university, Viktor Kharitonin, together with Yegor Kulkov (who would later also be the beneficiary of Augment Investments Ltd), were engaged in the sale of consumer goods. After graduating from university, he founded the Profit House company, which was engaged in investments and acted in the interests of Sibneft and worked closely with Abramovich's company Millhouse Capital. A little later, he heads a similar company in Kalmykia. At the end of 1999, he bought the Ufa-Vita pharmaceutical plant in Bashkiria. And in 2001, he successfully bought shares of Aeroflot. Back in the 1990s, the businessman became interested in the pharmaceutical industry. At this time, his Profit House company had already begun to acquire shares in drug factories for the Vremya company (better known as Pharmacy Chain 36.6) and the Domestic Medicines holding (now Valenta). Therefore, it is not surprising that in 2003 Kharitonin became one of the founders of the Pharmstandard holding, along with other shareholders of Sibneft, including Roman Abramovich. In 2008, he buys back the main share of the shares and becomes the holding's largest private shareholder. In addition, Kharitonin also owns the largest drug factories not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine and Singapore. In 2010, he buys the Severnaya Tower business center in Moscow City.
"Pharmstandard" - business and not only
Today, Pharmstandard JSC is a leading company producing high-quality and modern medicines. In addition, this company is a member of the modern joint biotechnological project "Generium". The project participants are engaged in the development and production of socially significant drugs. As Dmitry Medvedev himself said, this project fully complies with the requirements of the state import substitution program.
The Company currently has 6 production lines that meet all the requirements of Russian and European standards. They received certificates of compliance with European Union Good Manufacturing Practice standards, which confirms the high level of production. In addition, all plants of Pharmstandard JSC are fully switching to European GMP standards.
In 2006, the Masterlek company was acquired, which was engaged in the production of drugs such as Arbidol and Flucostat. "Arbidol" became the main drug and made the company a leader.
In 2012, the company bought out 100% of the shares of a well-known manufacturer of medicines with international non-proprietary names CJSC Pharmaceutical Company Lekko, and also became the owner of a controlling stake in Biomed im. Mechnikov and Pharmapark. Despite the fact that more than $100 million was invested in these purchases, the holding's management considers these shares to be a very profitable and necessary acquisition for the further development of the pharmaceutical business in Russia and abroad.
Since May 2014, the company's management has held a public offering of its shares (IPO). Pharmstandard shares and receipts are traded on the MICEX-RTS and LSE (London Stock Exchange) stock exchanges.
Motorsport is a profitable investment in future profits.
Unlike the company owned by Viktor Kharitonin, he appears in the media very rarely, like everyone close to Roman Abramovich. And despite the fact that Kharitonin is a non-public person, he nevertheless attracted attention with his unusual purchase. He became the owner of the famous Nurburgring race track in Germany, which is known as the "Green Hell". However, Viktor Kharitonin is attracted not by cars, the sad stories of dead riders, and not even by motorsport or the track itself, but by the profit that he expects to receive after the necessary transformations and investments. According to analysts, if he succeeds, he will become a very influential person among German entrepreneurs and businessmen. Many believe that the billionaire decided to follow the example of Roman Abramovich, who, thanks to the purchase of Chelsea FC, became an influential person in England.
According to the businessman, this purchase is not just a desire to own an expensive toy, but a pragmatic investment. Viktor Kharitonin is always interested not in the object itself and the business, but in numbers, that is, the profit that can be obtained from a profitable deal. Now the billionaire owns 67% of the shares of the complex, which includes not only the track, but also stands, boxes, restaurants, karting and much more. As Pharmstandard's executives noted, this transaction is purely private in nature and has nothing to do with the holding. Victor Kharitonin, despite the estimated cost of maintaining the track, is absolutely sure of success. The only negative, according to the businessman, is a weak management link. However, this personnel issue will be resolved if more than 7 million euros of net profit is at stake.
The main secret of the success of billionaire Viktor Kharitonin is his ability to make decisions quickly. He can easily sell a company that does not generate income, but he holds on tightly to those projects that make a profit. In addition, many analysts argue that useful connections in the government are no less important. Political support and the ability to invest in significant projects allowed Kharitonin to become an influential figure in Russian business. And, therefore, the businessman is not going to stop there. And recent acquisitions are proof of that.
Russia can be proud of its people, who, with their intelligence and desire for leadership, prove that they have the right not only to compete in wealth with Arab sheikhs, oil magnates and other multibillionaires, but also to stand with them on a par. Among those who managed to enter the hundred of the richest businessmen according to the Russian Forbes magazine, was Viktor Kharitonin, the owner of a controlling stake (99%) of the pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard.
How it all began?
The future pharmaceutical king Viktor Kharitonin was born back in 1972 in the city of Novosibirsk. This event happened on the eve of the church celebration of St. Michael's Day, November 20. In this city he spent his childhood and youth. He graduated from school, after which he easily entered the Novosibirsk State University. Back in his student years, with his best friend, who was also his classmate, Yegor Kulkov tried to engage in entrepreneurial activities, reselling various consumer goods. After graduating from university in 1994, again with Kulkov, he went to the capital to look for a better life. The entrepreneurial streak and fighting acumen of Viktor Kharitonin helped to found the Profit House investment company, which a couple of years later began to cooperate with the well-known Milhouse Capital of Roman Abramovich. This fateful acquaintance brought Kharitonin not only a profitable partnership, but also gave him a friend in the person of the owner of a partner company. Since then, Viktor Kharitonin and Roman Abramovich have been friends.
Family and personal life of a man who entered the hundred of the richest people in Russia
It is worth saying that the Pharmstandard CEO is not at all a public person, however, some facts of his personal life still became public.
- First, he is married. The wife of Viktor Kharitonin is Irina Viktorovna Kharitonina, who was born in 1973.
- The second known fact is that the businessman has two children.
- Well, the last place should be put that in London, in the most prestigious residential complex One hyde park, the family of Viktor Kharitonin owns two residential apartments worth about 50 million dollars. Among the neighbors of a wealthy Russian entrepreneur, one can single out the famous singer from Australia, the British billionaire brothers Candy, Christian and Nick, who made their fortune by designing interiors for the wealthy stratum of England. Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov and Russian millionaire Vladislav Doronin also own real estate in this complex. By the way, housing prices in this building, popular among the wealthy, are three times higher than in central London, and only those whose wealth has no limits live in it.
History of career advancement
After Viktor Kharitonin and his friend Yegor Kulkov moved to the capital and founded an investment company, the entrepreneur's life changed rapidly. Branches of Profit House opened in many cities of Russia, so Kharitonin left for Kalmykia to raise the newly opened subsidiary to its feet. In 2000, together with Roman Abramovich, they created Pharmstandard, a giant of the medical industry. Viktor Kharitonin subsequently bought out all the shares of the pharmaceutical giant, becoming its full owner. Since 2016, he has owned 99% of Pharmstandard's securities.
An important decision taken on the path to success
Perhaps one of the most important and decisive steps towards success was the decision to acquire Masterlek in 2006. The deal amounted to just under one hundred and fifty million dollars. The main advantage that Viktor Kharitonin gained was that Masterlek was a manufacturer of medical preparations such as Amiksin, Flucostat and Arbidol. The last of them was developed back in 1960 by Russian scientists, broke all records in the list of the most purchased pharmaceutical drugs among the population of the country and brought Pharmstandard to the undisputed leader in the medical drugs market. At the moment, the pharmaceutical giant Viktor Kharitonin owns the following medical brands:
- "Arbidol".
- "Cadelac".
- "Complivit".
- "Pentalgin".
In October 2014, Kharitonin bought out 99% of the shares (it seems that this is a businessman's lucky figure) of the track in Germany, where Formula 1 races were previously held. The amount of the transaction amounted to about 5 billion rubles, and she herself caused a wide response. The main culprit of the incident declined to comment. However, as always. He is very protective not only of himself, but also of his family from the obsessive attention of the press.
Nürburgring race track
Viktor Kharitonin bought the race track when it was officially declared bankrupt. This did not stop the enterprising businessman, although why he bought it is still a mystery. Some argue that such an act is just a manifestation of their own hobbies for high-speed driving in expensive cars. The track, built in 1927 and considered the most difficult in Europe, is located in Germany in a village called Nürburg. The population of this small village is only 150 people. "Formula 1" has repeatedly arranged its competitions here, and famous racers Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Mantoya set world records on it. Also, this track became famous for a huge number of failures and even deaths. Once, the famous Austrian Formula 1 race car driver had an accident here. His car then burned to the ground, Nicky himself remained alive.
Renting luxury cars is not affordable for many
Now, on the famous track, non-professional racers who want to drive at breakneck speed with absolutely no restrictions continue to crash. Here you can rent a collectible car with crazy technical specifications. True, you will have to pay a lot of money for such a luxury, and, of course, not every person can afford such a pleasure. Among the most expensive cars that Viktor Kharitonin has at the box office are:
- "Bugatti Veron". Under its hood, 1,000 horsepower is hidden, and the cost of the car starts at $ 1.5 million.
- Lamborghini Reverton. The power of this supercar is 650 horses, and acceleration to hundreds in 3.4 seconds.
- Aston Martin Vulcan. Under the hood of this handsome 811 horsepower, and it accelerates to 100 kilometers in less than three seconds.
Before the track went bankrupt, its former owner tried to revive the business with the last of his strength. He built an entertainment center there with cinemas, restaurants and more. Arranged great amount boxes for cars and stands for spectators. It was in this state that the king of the Russian pharmaceutical market acquired it. Now the route is functioning successfully. Here on weekdays you can ride for about 30 thousand dollars from 8 am to 5 pm on a small circle of the track, and for 65 thousand dollars the tenant will own the entire large circle. On a day off, the amount of the track rental increases exponentially and amounts to about 115 thousand US dollars.
A couple of days with friends
In mid-August 2016, the track was closed for two days, and all because Viktor Kharitonin was visited by his longtime friend Roman Abramovich. On the first day, friends rode on a small circle of the track, which runs along the north side and is called a loop. The length of this short section of the route is 20 kilometers, and it passes through the forest, which is called the "Green Hell". The second day the millionaires rode in a small circle of the track, on which Formula 1 most often arranged their competitions. Its length is only 5.2 kilometers. Both days friends preferred to choose only expensive cult cars.
Achievements up to 44 years
The biography of Viktor Kharitonin is already full of regalia and achievements that any other person can only dream of. Firstly, by the age of thirty he became a millionaire, and by the age of 40 he received the title of pharmaceutical magnate and billionaire. He owns pharmaceutical companies located in Russia and Ukraine. In Singapore, he owns a factory that does the same thing. In his hands is a controlling stake in Pharmstandard and the Nurburgring track. In 2011, Kharitonin was in 70th place in the list of the richest businessmen in Russia, and now he has slightly slowed down and dropped to 81st line. In 2011, his fortune was estimated at 1.5 billion dollars, and this year - 1.2 billion.
Such a person should be equal
At 44, Viktor Kharitonin, whose photo flaunts on the cover of the Russian Forbes, has achieved a lot and has become one of the wealthiest people in our country. Thanks to his entrepreneurial acumen, he was able to prove that every person grows into a successful businessman. It all depends on talent and perseverance.
The business qualities of the founder of Pharmstandard, whose fortune is close to $1 billion, are praised by Roman Abramovich, competitors and officials. Will he be able to push Western manufacturers?
The tinted windows of the three-story building reflect the Vladimir forests, townhouses and 25 iron men - the work of fashion sculptor Miguel Sarasate. On the shore of the pond there is a heliport and the Bon Appetits restaurant with free lunches for employees: on the day of our visit, cutlets were served from wild boars, which are bred by the hunting farm in the neighborhood. Closer to the forest there are tennis courts and a fitness center where yoga classes are taught by an instructor from the Himalayas called Su Shant.
This is how the Generium biotechnology center campus, located near the village of Volginskoye, 110 km from the capital, looks like, where drugs are being developed for cancer, hemophilia and other serious diseases. Viktor Kharitonin, the owner of the Pharmstandard company, sometimes comes here with his children for the weekend - he is the main shareholder and investor in the project. “If Pharmstandard is a large-scale mass production, billions of tablets, tens of millions of ampoules, any order can be fulfilled, then Generium is science-intensive piece things,” explains the difference between the assets of Kharitonin, who agreed to give Forbes the first interview in his life. What gives him investments in science?
Two in one
Do you have Arbidol? Do you have it for 260 rubles? Vladimir Putin asked the pharmacy pharmacist during his visit to Murmansk in 2010. The embarrassed primate climbed into the magazine to check. Everything worked out: Arbidol, included in the list of vital drugs at the end of 2009, turned out to be even cheaper than the price set by the state.
The report about the Prime Minister's visit to the pharmacy was shown by Channel One. Prior to this, the Ministry of Health recommended Arbidol as a medicine for influenza, pharmacies purchased it without fail. In the first half of 2010, 35 million packages worth 7.6 billion rubles were sold (for the entire previous year - 5.5 billion rubles). “The story with Putin is cool. She played a very important role in Kharitonin's business,” says David Melik-Guseinov, director of the Center for Social Economy.
“At the height of the influenza epidemic, everything that anyone had flew away. We were just able to quickly increase production many times over, ”Kharitonin brushes aside assumptions about lobbying.
Arbidol, which he inherited along with several other brands after the purchase of Masterlek in 2006, remains a bestseller today, despite the fact that its sales in 2014 fell by 24% (2.9 billion rubles). True, it is no longer included in Pharmstandard's portfolio of drugs.
In July 2013, Pharmstandard's quotes on the London Stock Exchange almost halved in a week, from $20 to $11 per share. This happened after the board of directors approved the decision to spin off OTC drugs (these are 27 brands) into a separate business, OTCPharm. Pharmstandard spent about 3 billion rubles on the buyout of shares from minority shareholders who disagreed with the maneuver, and in December 2013 the reorganization took place.
Without Arbidol, Amiksin, Pentalgin and other popular brands, Pharmstandard's revenue fell by 25.5% over the year, to 41.5 billion rubles. (The revenue of OTCPharm is 16.6 billion rubles.) But in terms of sales in volume terms, Pharmstandard remains the market leader with a 6.2% share. In money terms, according to IMS Health Russia, the company's drugs account for 1.23% of the market, which is 22nd among 1,500 manufacturers represented in Russia (IMS does not take into account the distribution of brands from other manufacturers, which accounts for half of Pharmstandard's revenue).
Kharitonin is sure that the focus of teams on brand development or on work with government orders will soon be reflected in financial performance. “Perhaps, for investors, all this seemed a little gray due to the fact that the company in Russia is not so big, but this is a meaningful strategy and it has a clear economic effect,” the businessman confidently explains.
“Any of our companies can be sold, they are packaged,” adds Alexander Shuster, who has known the millionaire for 10 years. After the sale of his company Masterlek to Pharmstandard, Shuster helped to scale up the production of Arbidol. Now he is a member of the board of directors and a minority shareholder of Pharmstandard, OTCPharm and Generium. “At first I argued with Victor, and then I understood his logic. He has a computer in his head. This is not even a flair, but a clear calculation, ”says Schuster.
Abramovich's partner
Viktor Kharitonin, a graduate of the Mechanics and Mathematics Department of Novosibirsk University, moved to Moscow in 1994 - Novosibirsk residents Olga and Alexei Svirin invited him to become a junior partner in the Profit House investment company they had created. “Smart, well-educated, pleasant to talk to,” recalls 23-year-old Kharitonin Olga Svirina. Two years later he took over the company. Soon his friend and classmate Yegor Kulkov moved to Moscow.
Kharitonin and Kulkov evaluated the investment prospects for the production of medicines by purchasing the UfaVita plant for a couple. “It was a spontaneous transaction, the asset was good, but very undervalued. They were going to resell it later,” recalls Yegor Kulkov, now co-owner of Pharmstandard, in an interview with Forbes.
Three years later, when the American ICN put up for sale five of its plants in Russia, Kharitonin came up with a proposal to finance a deal for Roman Abramovich, for whose structures Profit House bought shares in Aeroflot, energy and oil companies. The assets of ICN were merged with UfaVita into Pharmstandard, Abramovich withdrew from its capital after an IPO in 2007.
And seven years later, Millhouse again partnered with Pharmstandard in a deal to buy a 70% stake in the biotechnology company Biocad from founder Dmitry Morozov and Gazprombank. As follows from Pharmstandard's reporting for the first half of 2014, the company spent about $100 million on its 20% stake. “Biocad fits perfectly into our strategy to invest in future technologies. And Victor is a visionary businessman with a good market vision and a valuable ability to create shareholder value. He is also one of the smartest and most likable successful people you'll ever meet," spokesman John Mann explains Millhouse's motivation.
Kharitonin himself is reluctant to talk about partnership with Abramovich: “Of course, we communicate. But I, like Roman Arkadyevich, don’t like to talk about third parties.”
Biocad is a resident of the Saint Petersburg Special Economic Zone. About 1000 of its employees are engaged in the creation of drugs based on monoclonal antibodies and small molecules, bioinformatics. There are results. Last year, Biocad launched a biosimilar of rituximab, a drug used in the treatment of lymphomas. Prior to this, rituximab was monopoly produced by the Swiss company Roche, its drug MabThera was the most expensive in the public procurement program Seven High-Cost Nosologies - in 2013 it accounted for 9.5 billion rubles (exclusive distributor, by the way, was Pharmstandard). In 2014, Biocad's rituximab, Azzelbia, won the tender, the retail package of which is 15% cheaper than MabThera. The contract for 5.85 billion rubles immediately doubled the share of domestic drugs in the public procurement system - from 13% in 2013 to 26% in 2014.
In addition to "Pharmstandard", almost all players of the "big farm" claimed the Biocad package. Dmitry Morozov, a former co-owner of Centrocredit Bank, ultimately opted for Kharitonin, who did not offer the highest price, but did not claim 100% of the shares either. “I am very comfortable with the current shareholders. Kharitonin's "interface" is as fast as mine, we understand each other perfectly. And on most issues related to the industry, our opinions are the same,” says Morozov. Two transactions of Kharitonin, which took place with the participation of Abramovich, perfectly illustrate the evolution of the Pharmstandard company over 10 years.
Russian bears
“Earlier, there was a swampy meadow on the site of Generium, we poured a million cubic meters of sand and earth here,” recalls Alexander Shuster. In 2007, he invited Kharitonin to enter his new research project - the creation of a biotechnological center near the Pokrovsky Biopreparations Plant. Kharitonin came to Volginskoye, examined the place and gave the go-ahead to launch the project.
Andrey Dementyev, who has known Kharitonin for more than ten years, former deputy minister of industry Viktor Khristenko, who also oversaw pharmaceuticals, recalls that at first they discussed the project not as a commercial one, but rather as a research and educational one. “Even before Skolkovo, they discussed whether it was possible to attract people from the other side of the border,” Dementiev recalls in an interview with Forbes. After leaving the civil service in 2012, he became a shareholder of the Generium IBC. He and his colleague Andrei Reus, who resigned from the ministry in 2007, each own 12.5% of the shares. Both note that they are interested in the investment potential of pharmaceuticals. Yes, and Kharitonin himself, according to Dementyev, “is an ideal person for modern business: a working perfectionist.”
Kharitonin, Kulkov and Shuster succeeded. Now a third of Generium's employees are repatriates with experience in laboratories in Germany, France, and the USA. What lure them? 70 townhouses and cottages on the territory scientific center intended for families of employees. The latest equipment. Salaries before the fall of the ruble were higher than in the West. In addition, people have the opportunity to work with advanced technologies by world standards.
Technology transfer is supported by the state; from 2011 to November 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Trade allocated 4.4 billion rubles for this to manufacturers. In the very first year after its creation, Generium received three state contracts for the transfer of foreign technologies in the amount of 300 million rubles.
A year earlier, the owners of Pharmstandard acquired a controlling stake in the Danish biotechnology startup Affitech. “Then we got a wonderful experience of managing a public company in Europe,” Kharitonin recalls.
The Scottish lord, the Dane, the Americans and the British, who were on the board of directors, called the new shareholders either “big brown bear” or “these Russians” behind their backs.
“The entire management and the existing board of directors were determined to eat the money of investors,” Schuster recalls. The agreements reached were not fulfilled - managers referred to regulators, rules and instructions. The co-owners of Pharmstandard acted decisively - they brought their stake to 100% (at a cost of €60 million), and then took the company off the stock exchange.
At Affitech, they were interested in two unique technological platforms that allowed them to obtain monoclonal antibodies. After the purchase of the company, Generium employees were sent to Oslo, where the headquarters was located, for training. And then they loaded the equipment, the robot, the archive of cultures and genes into containers and transported them to Russia. The developments helped Generium in the creation of Apagin - this drug against bowel cancer, tumors of the ovaries, lungs and breast entered the final stage of clinical trials in the spring.
Today, Inbio Ventures, a venture capital firm led by Alexander Shuster, is looking around the world for biotech start-ups with late-stage developments in their portfolio. “When entering the capital, we immediately warn that the rights to drugs in Russia will be ours, we know the market here better, we know the prices,” says Kharitonin.
In the German CODON (specialization - the restoration of cartilage surfaces), Russians have 20%, in the American Argos Therapeutics Inc (development of anti-cancer vaccines) - 30%. Their technologies made it possible in August 2014 to launch a pilot production of drugs based on the cloning of cells of a specific patient, which is being done within the framework of the Generium project of Celltera-Pharm CJSC. In fact, we are talking about personalized medicine: for example, 100-200 ml of blood and pathological cells are taken from a patient with kidney cancer, from which a medicine is created for this particular patient within 7-10 days. “The vaccine differs from the existing ones in that it teaches the immune system to recognize tumor cells,” says Artem Yeremeev, deputy general director of Selltery. In the USA, according to him, such a course costs $120,000, while the domestic one will cost 2-2.5 times cheaper.
Clinical trials are currently underway in Europe. In Russia, the law on cellular technologies has not yet been adopted; the third reading is to be held in the State Duma in May. As soon as it is accepted, Kharitonin will launch large-scale production - the enterprise will be able to produce 20,000 cell-based anti-cancer vaccines per year and provide material for 50-60 joint surgeries per month. However, Kharitonin and his partners have already made money on investments in Western biotech - in February 2014, when Argos Therapeutics entered the Nasdaq stock exchange, the Russians' package was estimated at 2.5 times more expensive than the initial investment - $ 74 million. A year later, however, quotes dropped a lot, but they are already rising again.
“Biotech is a more risky business than pharmaceuticals, not all research can end up with the creation of a finished drug. But the growth in income is also explosive, if suddenly the medicine shoots, ”says Morozov from Biocad with knowledge of the matter.
Domestic medicines
“Here the scale is different, the projects are more interesting. We are engaged only in what will be implemented by 90%, and not in pure science,” says Ravil Khamitov, General Director of the IBC Generium. The retired colonel, who used to develop defenses against weapons of mass destruction, does not regret accepting Schuster's offer to head the research unit a year ago.
Khamitov leads us along a sun-drenched corridor past laboratory boxes. Few people most of operations are performed by robots. The production of finished drugs is carried out by CJSC Generium, whose workshops are located 4 km from here. 7 billion rubles have already been invested in the Generium project.
Currently, Generium has eight ready-made drugs based on recombinant proteins, and another fifty are in development. The priority is high-tech drugs that could replace expensive foreign drugs in the Seven Nosologies state program. At the end of 2013, Pharmstandard, according to DSM Group, ranked sixth in terms of sales, Generium — thirteenth. And one of his developments - the drug "Coagil" for the treatment of hemophilia (the seventh factor of blood coagulation) - is among the ten drugs for the purchase of which the most funds are allocated from the budget.
The course taken by the state for import substitution opens up new opportunities for the shareholders of Pharmstandard. In February 2015, Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, visited Generium for the first time. Kharitonin assures that he learned about the visit in just a day and a half - the initiative to show the capital's guests an innovative enterprise came from the governor Svetlana Orlova, who strongly supports the project. Golodets' impressions were "very positive."
When asked about his relationship with Kharitonin, Golodets replies that “just like with him, I am familiar with all the notable market players.” Representatives of all major manufacturers communicate with the Deputy Prime Minister within the framework of the subcommittee on the circulation of medicines under the government commission on the protection of the health of citizens. Kharitonin notes that now the dialogue with the state is systematized and “there is no need to go around the offices and whisper something.”
The millionaire has always been credited with an administrative resource and a special friendship with the previous Minister of Health Tatyana Golikova and her husband, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko. Golikova headed the Ministry of Health in 2007, Pharmstandard just then began to actively develop the public procurement segment. A year later, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on the development of the industry at the Pharmstandard plant in Kursk, where he was shown the product in person. Having first appeared in the top twenty leading suppliers in the Seven Nosologies only in 2010 (17th place), in 2012, when Golikova left the Ministry of Health for the Accounts Chamber, Pharmstandard was already in seventh place in terms of money.
We can recall another sensational story. In 2009, Pharmstandard, being the exclusive distributor of Velcade, an anticancer drug produced by the Belgian company Janssen-Cilag, entered the tender for Seven Nosologies with it. The Russian generic registered shortly before, the drug "Milanfor" from the company "Pharm-Synthesis", which cost 30% cheaper, was removed from the competition. “The conclusion is simple: look for who benefits. There remains a monopoly in the field of public procurement. The only drug left is Velcade. The rights are enshrined in Pharmstandard,” says Timofey Petrov, CEO of Pharm-Synthesis. At the same time, he has no complaints about Kharitonin himself, whom he considers a "high professional": "We work in Russia, so when there is an opportunity to influence a competitor who has more rights, he is right." Now Velcade, which ranks second in sales under the state program, is produced under a contract at the Pharmstandard plant in Ufa. The requirements to localize production in Russia for manufacturers whose drugs are included in state programs come from the government. True, Western companies are reluctant to share technology. “Only when they reach the point where it’s impossible not to share,” smiles Kharitonin.
He seems to have been very tired of talking about administrative resources for all these years. He speaks of Khristenko with great respect, but assures that no one introduced them behind the scenes, it was a normal working process. “Viktor Borisovich was the ideologist of the Pharma 2020 industry development strategy, we, as the largest manufacturers, were involved in the development, so we communicated and continue to communicate to this day,” says the millionaire. He patiently explains why Dementiev and Reus became shareholders of Generium: they have known each other for a long time, people have retired, they need to work somewhere.
When asked about lobbying, Reus replies that he has extensive experience in staff work, and that is why Kharitonin offered him a seat on the board of directors of Pharmstandard, and later Generium. “Administrative resource — understanding structures and ways of interacting with them. This is an important aspect, I have worked in this area for quite a long time. I understand the mechanism from within. The wording, proposals are important, it is important to understand what the regulator can do and what questions should be asked to make the conditions as acceptable as possible,” he says.
“Other companies often come to us with different projects. Many in the presentation come across "the presence of an administrative resource." I ask, whose is it? Yours, they say. Cross off the item right away,” Schuster laughs. And he recalls that the company remained among the market leaders even after the change of government. And that she, like everyone else, has problems. For example, the drug "Innofactor" for patients with hemophilia, developed in "Generium", was denied registration in August last year. Governor Orlova, at a meeting with President Putin on September 17, described to him how important the domestic product is: Generium drugs have already saved the budget more than 4 billion rubles on purchases. On October 10, after Putin's personal order, Innofactor received registration, but did not manage to get into the Seven Nosologies program.
Now Pharmstandard is the only domestic company that produces three blood coagulation factors at once. And next to Generium, one of the largest plasma fractionation plants in Europe is under construction, the first floor is already being erected. Kharitonin plans to invest another 6 billion rubles in this project.
“In Russia, less than 10% of our own blood products, the rest are all imported. If sanctions are imposed, we will sit down right away,” he explains the importance of the project.
The theme of blood opens up the prospect for his company to become not only a supplier, but also a partner of the state. The state corporation Rostec entered the plasma market, having received control over the capital NPO Microgen in March 2015, one of the areas of work of which is related to the production of blood and plasma preparations. A source in Pharmstandard does not rule out that the unfinished Kirov plant for the production of blood products will also come under the control of Rostec. Pharmstandard would be interested in participating in this project as part of a public-private partnership (at least a blocking stake from the state, the rest - from the project operator). “We hope for cooperation with Rostec, we would like to be of some help to them,” Kharitonin modestly remarks.
Pharmstandard is one of the possible partners for the state corporation for the implementation of import substitution projects, the development of new drugs and the organization of pharmaceutical production. But at this stage, specific decisions on the further format of cooperation have not been made, ”Rostec told Forbes.
The interests of the businessman and the state in the field of import substitution coincide. “We are interested in high-tech drugs,” says Kharitonin. — The more marginal the product, the more we can invest in R&D. And with your developments, you can enter the world market.”