In mid-May, it was reported that a businessman named Alexander Govor from Novokuznetsk, Russia, had acquired the Russian assets of McDonald’s. People were naturally curious about this relatively unknown entrepreneur from Kuzbass.
The impressive life story of Alexander Govor resembles the American dream with a Russian twist. He started his career as a regular miner at the Yubileynaya mine and through hard work and dedication, he eventually became the director in 1997. He went on to oversee several other mines such as the “Esaulskaya”, “Kuusheyakovskaya”, and “Novokuznetskaya”. Govor was a major shareholder of the Yuzhkuzbassugol holding. However, in 2007, following major accidents at the mines of the holding, Govor sold his stake (earning about $500 million) and shifted his focus to the oil business, where he co-founded the Neftekhimservis oil refinery and also owns 50% of the Anzhersky oil refinery.
Besides coal and oil, Govor also has investments in the restaurant and hotel industry, owning the Park Inn hotel in Novokuznetsk and the entire Siberian Distribution Center company, which specializes in selling clothes and shoes. Additional assets of Alexander Govor include the “Grand Medica” private clinics network in Novokuznetsk, covering an area of over 24 thousand square meters, as well as a chain of hundreds of fuel stations in Kuzbass, Altai Territory, and the Altai Republic.
The picture seems odd. It all makes sense after 1997 – money begets money. However, the narrative of a miner becoming a mine owner is perplexing. It's not the typical scenario for Russia, unlike America where such things are more common. Nonetheless, as we see, it's possible here too, although in a slightly different manner than in America.
Nonetheless, there is no big mystery here – Govor started working at the mine during Soviet times and gradually built his career there. He held various positions until 1997 when he became the general director of Yubileinaya, and later other mines, all of which were part of the state company Kuznetskugol. In the nineties, he managed to privatize some of the assets, marking the beginning of his rise as a capitalist.
In 2000, the assets of Kuznetskugol were transferred to the newly-formed company Yuzhkuzbassugol. Fifty percent of the company went to the Evraz concern owned by Roman Abramovich, and the remaining fifty percent was controlled by the management of Kuznetskugol, including Govor, the concern's director Vladimir Lavrik, and financier Yuri Kushnerov.
The operational management of Yuzhkuzbassugol was overseen by Govor, Lavrik, and Kushnerev. By 2006, the concern comprised 24 entities and had an estimated capitalization of $1.3 billion. Tragically, in September of the same year, Lavrik died in a plane crash, and his son Georgy took over his responsibilities.
In 2007, two major accidents occurred at two of the company's mines within a span of two months, resulting in the deaths of 148 people. On March 19, 110 individuals died in a methane explosion at the Ulyanovsk mine, and on May 24, 38 people lost their lives at the Yubileynaya mine, which was owned by Govor. The mine director and several employees were found guilty of safety violations at the Ulyanovskskaya mine, and they were only sentenced after 8 years.
The governor of Kuzbass Aman Tuleyev's representative Lavrik allocated 1 million rubles to the victims' families, but they only received 800 thousand each. The company deducted the costs for Italian coffins worth up to 100 thousand rubles, funeral dinners on the ninth day, and forties from the amount.
This is just one incident, but it significantly tarnishes Govor's biography, which he prefers not to publicize. There are other unpleasant moments in Alexander Govor's life that he also tries to keep private.
For instance, there's the story with allegations of poaching. In 2015, a helicopter with Govor crashed in Altai. Local residents then claimed that they had suspected the businessman of poaching multiple times. Although there were no official charges, the rumors were very persistent.
In 2008, the wedding of Alexander Govor's daughter was a major social event in Sochi. The event cost at least a million dollars. Alla Pugacheva and the Boney M group performed, and the father allegedly gave the bride a mine with workers and a huge yacht, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Alexander Govor's son, Roman Govor, worked at the Yubileinaya mine, then held various positions in his father's companies, and in 2018 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Kemerovo Region from United Russia.
Some media also accused Govor of investing in the gambling business through secret schemes. In 2016, Vladimir Kutyev, CEO of Gorno-Altaysk Oil Product, part of Inrusinvest, bought control in Alti LLC, which implemented a hotel and entertainment complex project in the Sibirskaya Coin gambling zone. Then Roman Govor said that the change of owners in Alti has nothing to do with the activities of Inrusinvest. He added, "We do not plan to implement any projects in this area."
However, the statements of Govor Jr. are questionable because Vladimir Kutyev is the general director of Gorno-Altaysk Oil Product LLC, managed by the Novokuznetsk OJSC Inrusinvest. Almost 100% of Inrusinvest is owned by Alexander Govor.
In 2020, Kutiev gained control over three companies in the Altai Territory and the Kemerovo Region, including the Altai Palace Capital LLC casino. According to Kontur.Focus, from 2016 to 2020, 50% in Altai Palace Capital LLC belonged to Elena Govor, a relative of Alexander Govor.
There are other interesting points in the biography of a former miner who became a big capitalist. According to open sources, Govor's enterprises are actively obtaining government contracts and receiving billions of rubles from the budget. Such things are simply impossible without connections in power.
At the same time, the peculiarity with Govor's company GiD LLC, which bought McDonald's, catches attention. This is not the first deal with McDonald's for GiD. In 2015, the company, together with the franchise, acquired all the open outlets of the American network in Siberia and became the exclusive representative of this brand in the region. Over the years, GiD has managed to open 25 establishments in Novosibirsk, Novokuznetsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Barnaul.
But for all this time, “Guide” has never shown a profit. In 2016, the net loss was 276.8 million rubles, in 2020 – 102 million rubles. At the end of 2021, the company was also at a loss – it showed a “minus” of 180 million rubles:
Which leads to interesting thoughts. And after the deal with the purchase of the McDonald’s restaurant chain, not everything was fine. From time to time there were scandals with cockroaches in hamburgers, then with a delay. But this is a trifle against the background of the fact that Govor was accused of stealing the name for his new network.
The establishments bought out by the Russian businessman were called “Tasty – and that’s it.”
The new name of the blogging community caused a mixed reaction. But more than others in Russia, Sergey Ponkratov from distant Vladivostok was indignant. He has been running his business since 2018. In Primorye, there are about 20 points of the catering network called “Food – and the point.” Even the brand book – circles and other elements – seems copied to the business owner. “Food – and the point” is registered as a trademark, now the businessman is looking for a lawyer and intends to go to court.
This is pure plagiarism. After all, they wrote to us in social networks, everyone noticed this similarity, it is simply impossible not to pay attention to it. In general, we will fight,” said Ponkratov.
However, he is unlikely to be able to overcome Govor, whose empire includes casinos, hotels, restaurants, oil and gold mining business. And most importantly – tightly fused with the authorities.
