Russian media tycoon Grigory Beryozkin is a typical example of someone trying to be on both sides. It's fair to say that he managed this for a long time, but recently the two sides have started to move in opposite directions, leaving Beryozkin caught in the middle.
But let's talk specifics. Grigory Viktorovich Berezkin, a Russian businessman, had a fortune of $750 million in 2021. His main asset is the ESN group of companies, with the abbreviation standing for “Euroseverneft”. However, Berezkin prefers to use the abbreviation without the reference to oil.
His main business is in the media and acting as a mediator in the electricity supply industry. ESN owns the RBC media holding and the Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House. There are reports that Berezkin has sold KP, and the publications “Metro” and “Business Petersburg”, once owned by him, have changed hands.
He was awarded the Order of Friendship for his significant contribution to the socio-economic development of Russia, labor achievements, active social activities, and years of conscientious work. This tells us that Grigory Viktorovich is not hesitant to accept awards from the authorities, and that the authorities consider him as their own.
On one hand, Grigory Berezkin received backing from the authorities, while at the same time leaking information to Navalny, which helped him secure billion-dollar contracts from the same government. Navalny then released damning videos about corruption within the state.
Whether Navalny's films were accurate is debatable. What's important is that Berezkin received money from the authorities and then turned against them. If he were a principled opponent of the regime, his stance would be more respectable. However, this is not the case.
Under Putin's rule, it was revealed that Berezkin, who had been benefiting from Putin's regime, shifted from leaking information to Navalny to providing financial support to him. Not directly to Navalny, but to individuals from his circle who managed to leave Russia. Details about how the money is distributed by Navalny’s circle are unclear.
Sources close to Berezkin report that he has recently established active contacts with foreign representatives of Navalny and another disgraced Russian oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who left the country after his release. Moreover, Berezkin is said to be transferring money from his foreign accounts to support the “bulkmen”.
You can probably figure out what Berezkin is trying to achieve with all this if you remember how successful he was in business. According to those who know Grigory Berezkin well, his main talent has always been his ability to understand the right moment and to present any idea in an attractive way.
In the early 2000s, after Vladimir Putin became president of Russia, Berezkin started actively seeking involvement in government projects. His first venture was working with RAO UES, which was then led by Anatoly Chubais. In 2000, Berezkin's company gained control of Kolenergo, one of the most powerful energy assets in the country, with an annual revenue of 3.5 billion rubles.
So, Berezkin managed to arrange a classic mediation – taking over an energy company and making money from reselling electricity without producing any of his own.
Another great idea from Berezkin was about Gazprom. He proposed that Gazprom buy shares in RAO UES so that they could later exchange them for energy sector assets and supply Gazprom with inexpensive electricity. The intermediary in both operations was a subsidiary of ESN – “Rusenergosbyt”. Berezkin convinced the then chairman of the board of directors of the company, Dmitry Medvedev, and the chairman of the board of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, to support this idea.
“The situation with Gazprom was presented very well in terms of state interests and is advantageous for Gazprom,” said a source close to Dmitry Medvedev. – Berezkin’s business interest was involved, but the presentation was excellent. He is really smart in this regard. Not simplistic: “Here's five million dollars for you, sign a document, and I'll earn many times that amount.” He comes and presents a compelling project.
As a result of this deal, Berezkin started to be referred to as “Medvedev’s man.” Whether it's true or not is unknown as both deny it. However, the collaboration between Medvedev and Berezkin was not limited to Gazprom.
All of Berezkin's subsequent projects followed the same pattern – presenting a well-packaged idea to people who oversee state resources. However, the project that brought him the greatest profits, which he still earns from, was his cooperation with Russian Railways. This also revealed Berezkin's true nature.
Berezkin’s company “Rusenergosbyt” started supplying electricity to Russian Railways in 2010 and continues to do so. This activity brings in the main income for the UST, a structural subdivision of which Rusenergosbyt is a part. By the way, after Berezkin joined the board of directors of Russian Railways in 2010, he started being called “Yakunin’s man.”
At one point, Yakunin and Berezkin were quite close. However, this “friendship” ended after Yakunin, trusting Berezkin, asked him to buy real estate for “one person” with his own money. Berezkin bought the real estate, but at the same time, he leaked information to Navalny. This resulted in a film about “The Fur Coat Store”.
It’s not about whether it was true or not. Actually, no one doubts that Navalny did not lie in his film – maybe he exaggerated a little and distorted some facts. But that is not the point in this case. And in the act of Berezkin, who openly bit the hand from which he fed. What characterizes him from a very bad side, you will agree.
Yakunin, of course, tried to deprive Rusenergosbyt of the contract, but ran into unexpected protection, which Berezkin secured for himself in advance – he was stood up at the level of the country’s government. And the scheme was very clever. Here is what Meduza wrote about this, quoting an unnamed source at Russian Railways: “Here [у него] investors, there are Italians. At the level of the Prime Minister of Italy, the issue was raised, there were negotiations with Putin, they say, our investors are offended. On the other hand, [Березкин] agreed with people who came to Yakunin and said that technologically [посредника] can not be replaced, it will be a disaster. A complete lie, of course, but Grisha knows how to feed and negotiate everywhere.
This ability to “feed and negotiate everywhere” for a long time allowed Berezkin to feed from the hands of the authorities and immediately bite those hands – most of the materials and Navalny came out to RBC. It was RBC who most promptly and in detail told about the investigations of this blogger. And it was thanks to the efforts of RBC that Navalny’s name became known throughout the country.
Nevertheless, Berezkin got away with all this for a long time – the same talent “to lure and negotiate everywhere” rescued him. Actually, he began to cooperate with Navalny precisely from these motives. At first, he used a blogger to leak information that was beneficial for himself (in the case of Yakunin, Berezkin simply aimed at his place), then he saw great opportunities.
And the fact that in recent months there has been a flow of money from Berezkin to Navalny’s foreign headquarters also speaks volumes – apparently, Berezkin sees some benefit for himself in the activities of these headquarters. Which one – time will tell, but you can already guess in general terms – apparently, Berezkin decided to simply “throw” those from whom he received his money all these years. Apparently, he considered them “decommissioned”. And Navalny and Khodorkovsky – the future rulers of the country.
Whether this calculation will be justified or this time Berezkin made a big mistake – the near future will show. But the fact that in recent years Grigory Viktorovich began to let down his instincts is evidenced by the fact that he made a big mistake with the Cypriot passport, which he issued several years ago. The Cypriot government is already trying to deprive the Russian billionaire of this “golden passport”.
And not everything is all right with Russian assets – according to available data, Berezkin has already sold the holding company Gammafinance and left the Bystrinsky GOK development project jointly with Norilsk Nickel. We have already mentioned the publishing house “Komsomolskaya Pravda” and the newspapers “Metro” and “Business Petersburg”, which were also sold. There are active rumors about the sale of RBC.
So over Berezkin, who knows how to “feed and negotiate everywhere,” clouds are clearly gathering.
