Childhood and youth
The future entrepreneur was born on December 1, 1972. This happened in St. Petersburg, which at that time was still called Leningrad. Little Sergei joined the family of the Jew Yuri Polonsky and his wife Nina Makusheva.
The boy attended primary school on the Petrograd side - in one of the historical districts of the city. Polonsky completed his middle and high school studies in the Ukrainian city of Gorlovka, where his family moved in 1984.
Sergei Polonsky
In 1990, Sergei was drafted into the army to repay his debt to his homeland. He was sent to the airborne troops and was assigned to the Twenty-first Separate Air Assault Brigade as an anti-aircraft gunner. As part of this brigade, he took part during the armed conflict between South Ossetia and Georgia, and participated in the hostilities near Tskhinvali.
In 1992 he returned home and tried to find a job. Not finding a suitable place in Gorlovka and the terrain, I went back to St. Petersburg.
Polonsky, Sergey
Famous developer
Owner (formerly Nazvanie.net, before that Mirax Group LLC). From 2004 to 2011, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Mirax Group. Before that, he was the head of the Moscow branch of the St. Petersburg construction corporation Stroymontazh, and has been involved in construction projects in Moscow since 2000. Previously he headed Stroymontazh (1997-2001). Candidate of Economic Sciences.
Sergei Yuryevich Polonsky was born on December 1, 1972 in Leningrad [], [], studied at one of the city schools on the Petrograd side [], [], but in 1984 he moved to Ukraine to the city of Gorlovka, where he graduated from high school in 1989 [ ]. Immediately after this, Polonsky was drafted into the army and served in the military airborne forces - in the 21st separate air assault brigade [], [], [], [], which at that time participated in the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh [], [].
After finishing his military service in 1991, Polonsky went into business in Ukraine with his friend Artur Kirilenko: together they sold Herbalife, cherries, and sold ice cream on trains [], [], []. In 1993, Polonsky, together with Kirilenko, decided to start hiring Ukrainian workers in Russia, taking on a contract for the finishing of new buildings [], [], []. Kirilenko went to Moscow, where business did not work out, and Polonsky went to St. Petersburg, where one of his acquaintances had a hundred train tickets from Ukraine. Polonsky brought Ukrainian migrant workers to St. Petersburg. Subsequently, it was decided to import only female plasterers: according to Polonsky, out of a hundred male masons, “40 are alcoholics, 40 are parasites, 18 are idiots and two once laid bricks” [], []. In exchange for the work done, Polonsky received apartments on a mutual basis and, selling them through an agency, paid the workers. In 1994, Polonsky, together with Kirilenko, who moved to St. Petersburg, founded [], [], [], []. In 1995, Stroymontazh began selling apartments in houses [].
At the same time, Polonsky continued his studies, entering the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in 1993 [], from which he graduated in 2000 with a degree in economics and management in a construction enterprise [], []. In 2002, he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences on the topic “Formation of functional strategies for material and technical supply of construction production” [], [], []. In the spring of 2008, Polonsky was going to defend his doctoral dissertation, however, citing the fact that he was going to be “failed,” he withdrew it from the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) and instead carried out his “defense” on the Internet [].
In 1995, Polonsky earned his first million US dollars [], and in 1997 he became the general director of Stroymontazh LLC and retained this post after the company was transformed into a closed joint stock company in 1999 [], [], [], []. In 1996, Stroymontazh received the right to complete the construction of the Lenenergo building for half of the apartments in the building, and then Polonsky’s company began independent construction in St. Petersburg []. In 2000, Polonsky decided to start a business in Moscow, establishing branches of Stroymontazh - Lenstroymontazh LLC and Mirax-Lenstroymontazh LLC [], [], and then received the right to build the Korona residential complex in the south-west of the capital. Polonsky explained his rapid adaptation to the capital's development market by the fact that he was able to quickly establish connections with local business circles and the city administration, including Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and his wife, head of Inteko Elena Baturina [], [], [].
In 2001, Polonsky left the post of head of Stroymontazh, concentrating on work in Moscow, and in 2005 he became chairman of the board of directors and president of Mirax Group LLC (they decided to change the former name of Mirax-Lenstroymontazh LLC for euphony [], [] ). In a new one, which was headed by Kirilenko, who also became a co-founder of Mirax Group [], [], [], [], [], []. In 2006, Kirilenko and Polonsky agreed to divide the business: Polonsky retained 10 percent of the shares of Stroymontazh, and Kirilenko - 10 percent of the shares of Mirax Group [], [], [].
In addition to Korona, Mirax Group was involved in the construction of the Golden Keys-2 residential complex, Kutuzovskaya Riviera, House on Taganka [] and several business complexes, including the Federation Tower skyscraper, located in Moscow international business After completion of construction, the Federation was to become the tallest building in Europe (432 meters) [], []. In addition to participating in the management of Mirax, he participated in the development of the Big City project [], []. Polonsky helped Stroymontazh and Kirilenko start construction activities in France [], []. In addition to the construction divisions MiraxConstruction and Mirax - High-Rise Buildings, as well as the customer "Federation Tower" - - Polonsky's group of companies also included operational construction, medical, building the Mirax Plaza business center on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the tender company MiraxTenders and the developer computer business applications MiraxSoftware [], [], []. Mirax Group was involved in construction projects abroad: in particular, in Ukraine, Cambodia, the USA and Turkey. The largest of these was the Turkish Sungate Port Royal hotel, purchased in 2007 from the Cengiz Group for $340 million [], [], []. In total, the group included more than 30 companies []. In 2007, Polonsky already owned 85 percent of the shares of Mirax Group (through Mirax LLC) [], since he transferred 5 percent of the company's share to four members of the board of directors of Mirax Group []. In 2007, Polonsky sold Mirax LLC (whose value was estimated at approximately $10 billion) to his own Dutch offshore Mirax Group Holding BV (owner of 99 percent of the shares of the Cypriot offshore Heroten Holdings) for $8 million [], [], [] .
The press discussed information that Mirax Group was managed through a network of offshore companies and shell companies, and rumors that Polonsky sent all the money collected from investors to personal accounts abroad [], []. At the same time, in 2004, ZAO RosGlavMaterials Evgeniy Dondurei stated that Polonsky actively used “black PR” and threatened his competitors. However, it is known that she herself renamed herself “Stroymontazh” and tried to advertise under the name of the company of Polonsky and Kirilenko [], [], []. The press also published information about unsatisfactory compliance with safety standards at Mirax construction sites [].
In 2002-2003, Polonsky underwent training for a space flight at the Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City and at the NASA center. He planned to become a space tourist on the ISS: in October 2003, negotiations on a flight into space broke down due to the fact that Polonsky was only willing to pay $8 million for the flight. A year later, Polonsky offered $13 million for a space flight, but this time his candidacy was rejected by the pre-flight medical commission: it turned out that Polonsky’s height and weight were higher than acceptable (194 centimeters and 103 kilograms versus the maximum 190 centimeters and 80 kilograms) [], [ ], []. Despite this refusal, Polonsky claimed that he would fly into space no matter what, when “a new ship is built” []. However, the press wrote that Polonsky did not become an astronaut in 2004 for financial reasons [].
Polonsky is known for his extravagant behavior []. He has repeatedly stated the impossibility and undesirability of a fall in real estate prices in Russia [], [], and in March 2008, at a reception in honor of the opening of the MIPIM-2008 real estate exhibition in Cannes, he said: “Whoever doesn’t have a billion, let him go to hell! » [], []. The last phrase caused sharp criticism, including from the press and other businessmen, in particular Oleg Tinkov: according to him, if a person “became a billionaire in two years, he will also become bankrupt in two years” [], [], [].
In October 2008, after the onset of the global economic crisis, which negatively affected the Russian construction industry, Polonsky published an entry on his LiveJournal blog in which he promised to eat his tie if prices for Mirax Group apartments “did not increase” by 25 percent for one and a half of the year [], []. In the same month, Polonsky published an open letter to the Association of Builders of Russia in his blog, in which he called on the press to cover the topic of real estate only from the positive side, so as not to aggravate the crisis in the industry [], [], although before that he wrote that he likes to work during crisis and he understands how to do it [], []. Polonsky stated that reducing the cost of mortgage loans should save Russia from the crisis []. Later, in 2010, he also argued that in order to support the real estate market, the construction of non-luxury panel housing should be prohibited within the Moscow Ring Road []. In February 2010, Polonsky, entering the room where a meeting of Mirax Group board members was taking place, suddenly threw the phones of several top managers of the company against the wall, after which he immediately left. This and other unusual actions of the businessman gave rise to the press writing that he had mental health problems [], []. In March 2010, speaking at a press conference, the businessman, as confirmation that he was not crazy, showed reporters a tomography of his own brain. He also explained that he did not eat his tie because, in his opinion, prices had returned to pre-crisis levels []. However, in May 2011, Polonsky still kept his promise and swallowed a piece of tie during the live online broadcast of the writer Sergei Minaev [].
However, already at the beginning of 2009, the press began to publish information that, due to the crisis in the Russian real estate market, Mirax Group found itself in a difficult situation with loans. It was reported that the company could not pay a debt of $265 million to the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, as well as pay off other creditors (the total debt of Mirax Group was estimated at $779 million) [], []. Mirax Group itself estimated its value at $4 billion []. In July 2009, Alfa Bank bought Mirax Group's debt from Credit Suisse, after which it filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover part of the debt from the company - about 242 million rubles []. Experts suggested that Alfa Bank may continue to buy out the company’s debts in order to lead it to bankruptcy and take Mirax Group under its control [].
Also in July 2009, it became known that Vakif Bank, which acted as a creditor of the transaction for the purchase of the Turkish Sungate Port Royal hotel, could seize it from Mirax Group, since the company did not have the money to pay off the debt [].
In August 2009, at the request of Alfa Bank, the Moscow Arbitration Court, as an interim measure, seized the accounts and property of its subsidiaries: International Center OJSC and Mirax City CJSC. According to Kommersant, the plaintiffs’ petition for []. On August 20, Polonsky published an open letter on his blog in which he admitted that Mirax Group had not been able to sell a single square meter of real estate over the past month, and due to a lack of funds, the delivery dates for the properties would be revised and postponed. He also said that during the year the company was unable to obtain a single loan to continue construction. He also did not rule out the possibility that the group’s subsidiaries would become the property of Alfa Bank []. On August 21, to pay off creditors, Mirax Group announced the issue of two series of bonds, whose likely buyer was Heroten Holdings. The press wrote that instead of money, Mirax Group wants to issue Heroten Holdings bonds to creditors [], [].
In February 2010, under pressure from Vakif Bank, Polonsky sold Sungate Port Royal to Turkish investors for 190 million euros, 150 million cheaper than he bought it three years ago. Mirax Group's debts as of early 2010 were estimated at $500 million []. Also in January 2010, the Federal Center for Social Development (FCSD) unilaterally terminated the contract with Mirax Group for the construction of the Kutuzovskaya Mile residential area: the reason was that work on the sites of this project had not been resumed since 2009 due to the cessation of funding from Mirax side []. Polonsky’s structures refused to acknowledge the termination of this contract, and subsequently also demanded to recover 1.972 billion rubles from the Federal Center for Social Development for Work in 2008-2009; however, the court did not agree with the legality of this requirement [].
In October 2010, Polonsky addressed an open letter to Russian banks, in which he confirmed the company's total debt in the amount of $500 million (of which 70 percent were bonded loans and credit notes and 30 percent were debts to contractors and credit institutions). At the same time, the businessman asked to postpone the repayment of the company’s debt and issue loans to Mirax Group so that the corporation could complete the projects it had begun []. In February 2011, Sberbank decided to provide Mirax Group with a loan of $373 million for a period of 6 years. It was reported that the first tranches of the loan will be used to pay off debt to Alfa Bank [], [].
On March 3, 2011, at a press conference, Polonsky announced the decision of the board of directors of Mirax Group to liquidate the Mirax brand, promising that all of the group’s obligations to construct facilities and pay off debts would be fulfilled. He also asked that he no longer be considered a businessman [], []. In the same month, the company was renamed “Nazvanie.net”, and Polonsky himself, while remaining its owner, in his own words, “minimized his participation in operational management” [], []. On December 2, it became known that Polonsky’s company had changed its name again, this time to “Stream” (or “Stream Infinity”, also appeared in the media as a group [], [], []) [], [].
In April 2011, journalists from the Kommersant newspaper found out that Polonsky and the creator of the Azimut Hotel chain, Alexander Klyachin, at that time owned about 700 hectares of land in the area of the Moscow-St. Petersburg toll road being built through the Khimki forest. Of these, 140 hectares were put up for sale [].
In September 2011, the press again began discussing the situation around the Kutuzovskaya Mile housing complex. The Moscow authorities decided to continue its construction and transferred the right to do so to the FCSR []. Polonsky described this as a raider takeover of the project and went on a hunger strike at the construction site of the Kutuzov Mile [], but after a few days he stopped it and left the construction site []. This was preceded by another court refusal to satisfy the demands of the former Mirax Group [], although Polonsky himself linked the cessation of the fight for the “Kutuzov Mile” with a certain decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for the Moscow Region, which canceled previous decisions adopted in favor of the FCSR [].
In mid-September 2011, the famous businessman Alexander Lebedev, who participated with Polonsky in the recording of the NTVshniki program on the NTV channel, publicly hit him in the face [], []. In response, Polonsky demanded that the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation open a case on the fact of beating [], after which in early October 2011 a criminal case was opened against Lebedev on charges of hooliganism []. Shortly after this, Polonsky also filed a lawsuit against Lebedev in a British court, accusing him of libel: the immediate reason for this was Lebedev's interviews in the British press, in which he stated that he hit Polonsky in response to his aggressive behavior [], []. On September 26, 2012, it became known that the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the city of Moscow charged Lebedev with hooliganism and assault [].
In June 2012, Polonsky left his post as manager of Potok, remaining the main owner and chairman of the board of directors of the group []. In July of the same year, it became known that Polonsky, having bought out the shares of minority shareholders, became the owner of 100 percent of the shares of Potok [], [].
Polonsky was compared to another notorious Russian businessman, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, and Polonsky himself admitted that he likes the way Chichvarkin conducts business [], []. At a meeting of the General Council of the organization of entrepreneurs “Business Russia” in May 2010, Polonsky told Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov that 80 percent of Russian businessmen are “sitting on suitcases” and stood up for Chichvarkin, who shortly before published an open video message to the President of Russia. In response, Surkov reminded Polonsky of the statement about “those who do not have a billion” and asked businessmen to “be more modest” and not “show off their wealth” [].
In 2001, Polonsky was awarded the “Honorary Builder of Russia” badge [], [], and was also awarded the Order of Honor and Valor, the “Person of the Year 2005” award, as well as a number of industry awards [], []. He is vice-president of the Association of Builders of Russia [], [], a member of the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Mayor and Government of Moscow, president of the International Youth Chamber [], [] and a member of the general council of the public organization “Business Russia” []. In 2008, Forbes magazine estimated Polonsky's fortune at $1.2 billion and ranked him 96th on the list of the richest Russian citizens []. According to Finance magazine, in 2008 Polonsky ranked 40th among Russian billionaires with a fortune of 106 billion rubles, but in the spring of 2009 Polonsky was in 348th place with only 2 billion rubles [], [].
Polonsky's hobbies included scuba diving and tourism. He also knows how to fly an airplane and a helicopter [], [] and is interested in medical qigong [].
Polonsky has three sons []. It is known about the eldest that his name is Stanislav []. Polonsky's middle son was born from his marriage to Natalya Stepanova, the owner. They divorced in 2007, and the press explained the sale of Mirax LLC to a Dutch offshore company by Polonsky’s reluctance to pay Stepanova large alimony payments. The businessman’s ex-wife was unable to win $250 million (a quarter of the jointly acquired fortune) and, according to the court’s decision, could only count on paying 150 thousand rubles a month for child support. However, Polonsky himself claimed that his son would live “like the crown prince” [], [], [], []. The mother of the third son, who was named Mirax, was Polonsky’s friend, Yulia Drynkina [].
Used materials
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Polonsky did not overcome the Kutuzov Mile. — RBC Daily
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"Alpha" is pursuing Polonsky. — Vedomosti
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Business
Having held more than two hundred meetings with builders and land sellers, Sergey, together with his friend Artur Kirilenko, in 1994 founded and headed Stroymontazh LLC, a company engaged in the construction, renovation and sale of apartments.
Later, to the listed services, completion of unfinished projects of other organizations was added. In 1996, the first such contract was drawn up, according to which Stroymontazh LLC undertook to complete an apartment building for Lenenergo employees.
Businessman Sergei Polonsky
By the end of the nineties, the company of Polonsky and Kirilenko took one of the leading positions in the real estate market of St. Petersburg. At the same time, Sergei himself is studying at the State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering with a degree in Economics and Management in a Construction Enterprise.
In 2000, the entrepreneur graduated from university, receiving a qualification as an economist-manager. At the same time, Stroymontazh LLC entered the Moscow market. A year later, Sergei became a member of the Entrepreneurship Council under the mayor and government of Moscow, as well as a member of the organization of entrepreneurs “Business Russia”.
Sergei Polonsky
In 2002, Polonsky defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic: “Formation of functional strategies for material and technical supply of construction production.” Also, 2002 was marked for Polonsky by entering the post of senator of the International Youth Chamber.
In 2004, Sergei became vice-president of the International Club of the Best Managers of the New Era society, and also completed an astronaut training course to visit the International Space Station as a space tourist. However, this idea could not be realized due to the protest of employees of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. Polonsky's candidacy was not suitable in terms of physical parameters (height 1.93 m - noticeably above average).
Businessman Sergei Polonsky
In addition, in 2004, the Moscow branch of Stroymontazh LLC, headed by Sergey, rebranded, becoming a separate organization of Mirax Group. The St. Petersburg department remained with Kirilenko. Polonsky retained 10% of the shares of Artur Kirilenko’s company, and Artur retained 10% of the shares of Sergei’s company.
A year later, the entrepreneur resigned from the Entrepreneurship Council under the Moscow government and became vice-president of the Russian Builders Association. At the same time, Polonsky began speaking to students of the capital’s universities - MGIMO, Moscow State University, MFPA, HSE and others, conducting master classes on entrepreneurship and personal growth.
Enterprise of Sergei Polonsky "Mirax Group"
Before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, Mirax Group managed to implement such development projects as “Crown”, “Golden Keys II” and “Federation Tower”, as well as work abroad: in Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and even in America.
In 2009, Sergey became the head of the Department of Management in Development at the Moscow Financial and Industrial Academy "Synergy". Also that year, Polonsky and Kirilenko exchanged 10% shares of each other's companies, becoming full owners of their enterprises.
Sergei Polonsky
In 2010, Polonsky left the business organization “Business Russia”. In 2011, Sergei was mentioned in Forbes as one of the nine most unusual entrepreneurs in Russia. In 2013, he became the subject of a documentary book by Jesse Russell and Ronald Cohen.
After a series of scandals associated with Polonsky’s name, the entrepreneur returned to normal work in 2020. Now Sergey acts as a shareholder and investor in commercial organizations.
Entrepreneurial activity
1994 - together with friends A. Kirilenko and N. Pavlova, he organized a construction and finishing company. Soon it took a leading position in St. Petersburg, and in 2000 it entered the Moscow construction market.
2000 – graduated from the St. Petersburg University of Architecture and Civil Engineering with a degree in Economics and Management in a Construction Enterprise.
Member of the board of directors of Mirax Group. It was this company that sold such residential complexes as “Golden Keys - II” and “Crown”, as well as business and “Pollars”.
Sergei Polonsky is known as the author of the “city within a city” concept. The essence of this concept is to use not only high-rise residential buildings, but also a cottage community called “Y” for comfortable living.
2002-2007 – worked on the construction of the residential complexes “Kutuzovskaya Riviera”, “House on Taganka”, “Mirax Park” and the “Federation” complex. The last building was recognized as the best in the world according to FIABCI.
2008 – due to the financial crisis, the construction of most Mirax Group projects was suspended.
2009 – began to head the department of “Management in Development”, which was opened on a contractual basis with the IFPA. Young specialists were trained here for construction companies.
2011 – the Mirax Group brand was liquidated. However, work on unfinished facilities has resumed.
2012 – Polonsky became the owner of the Potok8 company. In the same year, he became a shareholder and investor in commercial structures united within.
Personal life
The first years after the army, Sergei was married to Natalya Stepanova, with whom he has a son, Stanislav.
Sergei Polonsky and his wife Olga Deripasko
After his divorce from Natalya, Polonsky became involved with yoga instructor Yulia Drynkina. From his second wife, Polonsky has three children - daughters Aglaya and Marusya and son Mirax (named after his father’s company, and not vice versa). At the beginning of the 2000s, the couple divorced.
Since 2004, Polonsky lived in a civil marriage with Olga Deripasko, whom he married in June 2020, while in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center.
Biography of Sergei Polonsky: personal life and professional activities
Sergei Yurievich Polonsky, whose biography will be discussed in this article, was born in Leningrad on December 1, 1972. After school, he served for two years in the airborne forces, where he met his future partner, Artur Kirilenko. The first steps in business were not easy for them. They had to sell ice cream, pick cherries, sell Herbalife, fish, sugar substitutes, etc. Soon they became interested in the construction business. To understand the subject, Sergei Polonsky, whose biography is interesting to many readers, entered the correspondence department of the architectural university together with Kirilenko. In 1994, they opened and a year later earned their first million. After graduating from the university in 2000, Sergei continued his studies, starting to write a dissertation. Two years later he successfully defended it. In 2008, Polonsky attempted to defend his doctorate, but, considering the academic council to be biased, he withdrew the work and posted the text of the dissertation for open discussion on the Internet.
Personal life
The biography of Sergei Polonsky is as ambiguous as his actions and statements. The phrase he used to greet guests at the real estate exhibition in Cannes is quite well known: “Whoever doesn’t have a billion can go to hell.” The billionaire's attitude towards family life is also radical. According to close friends, it has always been difficult for him to get along with women, since he thinks only of himself. In 2007, Polonsky's only marriage ended in divorce. According to the terms of the marriage contract, Natalya and Sergei retained their own property. Mirax went to the billionaire, and the ex-wife remained the owner of Stroyconsultgroup. But there were some minor problems with alimony. According to the biography of Sergei Polonsky on one of the trusted sites, his official income is 300 thousand rubles. Although in 2008 his fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at $1.2 billion.
Professional activity
In terms of professional activity, the biography of Sergei Polonsky is filled with a number of ups and downs. The takeoff can be considered the early 2000s, when the billionaire’s company was entrusted with the construction of several residential complexes: “Crown”, “House on Taganka”, “Kutuzovskaya Riviera”, “Golden Keys-2”. One of the most ambitious projects was the Federation Tower, which was supposed to be the tallest building in Europe. But soon confidence in Polonsky’s company began to decline, since all the facilities were built with borrowed funds, which, naturally, promised Mirax financial problems in the future. The decline began in 2007, when, due to debts, Sergei had to sell his company for only $8 million. In 2009-2010, he lost several major projects. His debts were bought out by banks, and his property was seized. In March 2011, the ex-billionaire announced to journalists the liquidation of Mirax and asked not to be considered a businessman. In 2013, law enforcement agencies revealed a large theft ($5.7 billion) in the Kutuzov Mile project, when Polonsky became the main defendant in the fraud case and hastily left the country. Currently hiding in Israel, which does not extradite its citizens. This is the sad note on which the biography of Sergei Polonsky ends. Although one can hardly call it sad for the former businessman. This story only ended badly for the thousands of shareholders he deceived.
Scandals
In 2011, during one of the September episodes of the television program “NTVshniki,” a conflict ensued between Sergei Polonsky and Alexander Lebedev, a banker and aviation entrepreneur, during which Lebedev insulted Polonsky and caused him minor bodily harm. The case went to court.
On July 2, 2013, the Ostankino court found Alexander Lebedev guilty of violating the law (“hooliganism motivated by political hatred”). Sentence: 150 hours of community service.
While Polonsky was busy squabbling with Lebedev, entrepreneurs Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, through a raid, tried to seize control of the Kutuzov Mile construction site, where work was led by Sergei. Having reported this to his subscribers on LiveJournal, the entrepreneur went to deal with the Rotenbergs.
As a result, it came to inspections as directed from above, and an interesting fact surfaced. Polonsky embezzled two and a half billion rubles - half the amount contributed by shareholders for the construction of the Kutuzovskaya Mile residential complex. Sergei went on the run and on August 13, 2013 was put on the international wanted list. The completion of the Kutuzov Mile project was entrusted to the Federal Center for Social Development.
Arrested Sergei Polonsky
On November 5, 2013, Polonsky’s case was transferred to Interpol. Around the same time, Sergei, along with two other immigrants from Russia, was arrested in Cambodia - the crew of the ship was illegally imprisoned. Three months later, Sergei managed to get bail and a written undertaking not to leave, after which he immediately fled the country - first to Switzerland and then to Israel, where he tried to obtain citizenship based on his paternal nationality.
Due to the refusal of the Israeli government, Polonsky was forced to return back to Cambodia, where he was caught for violating immigration laws. Even after the previous story, rumors spread among the citizens of the country that the entrepreneur had bribed the Cambodian leadership. To restore his reputation, the government put the entrepreneur on a flight to Moscow.
Sergei Polonsky behind bars
Upon arrival in the capital, Polonsky was sent to a pre-trial detention center. Sergei was offered a pre-trial deal, but he refused. The investigation dragged on for several years. In July 2020, the entrepreneur was found guilty of stealing someone else's property causing material damage on an especially large scale. However, Sergei was still released, since “the statute of limitations for the criminal case had expired” - his defense attorney did their best.
Business and career of Sergei Polonsky
By the beginning of the new century, it showed its best side and became one of the first construction companies on the St. Petersburg real estate market. In 2000, the oligarch decided to expand his company and wanted it to be known not only in St. Petersburg, but throughout the Russian Federation, and began to conquer the Moscow real estate market. At this time, she created several new, extraordinary and original projects for Russia in the construction activities of Moscow, and thereby earned respect and increased her reputation among Polonsky’s business partners and other construction companies.
Polonsky candidate
In 2004, the capital branch of a well-known company carried out some kind of reboot, changed many of the company’s rules and changed their goals, and even changed the name to “Mirax Group” . But the familiar Stroymontazh also remained in St. Petersburg, it was led by Arthur Kirilenko, but not for long, after 6 years the company went bankrupt.
Despite the capital's business rules and more serious and important partners, Sergei Polonsky's business always went very well and brought him considerable capital. And in 2004, the head of the company decided to implement a very long-awaited project, with the loud name “Federation Tower”. This project became the main symbol, and then of the whole of Moscow. Simultaneously with this discovery, the company organized and came up with all sorts of new developments and plans. And it introduced a couple of bright and demanding options for building a VIP class. For example: residential complex “Korona”, business center “Europe-Building” and even “Golden Keys-2”.
Sergey Polonsky "Mirax Group"
In 2005, the head of Mirax Group decided to further expand his business and promote the company to the All-Russian level, but after a few days he abandoned this vague idea. Then making this decision would have been a mistake, because there was not the required number of workers, namely excellent engineers, architects, builders and managers.
But two years later, when Polonsky thought about the European market, about the full promotion of the company in European countries and possible capital, the necessary personnel were immediately found and of the highest level. The company began the construction of a very fashionable and now famous “city-club” “Astra Montenegro”, it was located in the resorts of Montenegro. And later, construction began on a project of similar scale - “Le Village Royal” in the Swiss Alps. These two projects brought furor and delight to world markets, and Sergei Polonsky’s reputation as a leader and the company’s reputation rose. Soon, the requested company flooded the real estate markets of the United States of America and the resort of Cambodia. After the USA, the company developed the latest construction programs in Hanoi and Geneva. A very large project was launched in the UK.
Polonsky in Cambodia
But not everything was always good in the company, just like in any other company, they also had troubles. At the end of 2000, when the war of crisis was sweeping across the world, the company suffered greatly. Many construction programs were frozen due to lack of funds for construction. And in 2009, the capital’s court seized the largest shares of the company because of an outstanding debt to Alfa Bank , and the amount was not small - $241 million. After some time, all debts were repaid, but due to such a stain on the company’s reputation and serious financial problems, the leader decided to change the name to “Potok”.
Sergei Polonsky announced plans to nominate his candidacy for the presidential election
Already in 2011, the popular Forbes magazine included Sergei Yuryevich in its lists of the most eccentric owners and oligarchs of the Russian Federation. The entire Russian people know his phrase “Whoever doesn’t have a billion can go to hell ,” and the moment with eating his own tie on Sergei Minaev’s “Minaev Live” program. But it’s worth thinking about the latter; then he kept his word. The situation was connected with an incorrect forecast for the rise in prices for VIP class real estate; Polonsky said that if his version of 25% was not followed, he would eat his tie. And, alas, the flamboyant businessman turned out to be wrong.
Sergei Polonsky oligarch
In 2009, the oligarch was appointed head of the Department of Development Management at the capital's Synergy Financial and Industrial Academy. And in the same year, business partners Kirilenko and Polonsky exchanged 10% of the shares of their companies, and became full-fledged leaders and owners of their companies.
In 2010, the outrageous oligarch decided to leave the organization of entrepreneurs “Business Russia”. He was later mentioned again in Forbes as one of the nine shocking and unusual capitalists of the Russian Federation. In 2013, Sergei became the main character in the book by Ronald Cohen and Jesse Rusell.
After Polonsky’s many scandals, the capitalist decided to return to normal life in 2017; at the moment he acts as an investor in commercial enterprises
But these are not all the interesting and surprising moments from the life of the oligarch. For a long time, Sergei Yuryevich was preparing to fly into space, but at the very last moment he abandoned this task due to health problems.
Preparing for the flight of Sergei Polonsky
And in the summer of 2014, a criminal case was opened against Sergei Polonsky. He was suspected of large-scale fraud (residential complex "Kutuzovskaya Mile") and theft of capital from partners of the residential complex "Rublevskaya Riviera" , then a very large amount of money disappeared - 3.2 billion rubles.
The court issued an arrest in absentia, but two years later he was deported from Cambodia, where he had lived on his own island since 2012, then he was taken under arrest and placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Moscow.
Polonsky detention
Sergei Polonsky now
Upon his release, Polonsky did what no one expected of him. He announced that he was going to run for president.
Sergei Polonsky in 2020
The latest news on this topic is that on his Twitter account (Sergei abandoned Instagram back in 2020, stopping posting photos there from the Cambodian islands), the newly minted candidate announced that he intends to spend $10 million on the presidential campaign.
