Who in Russia receives the highest salary? The editor-in-chief of Forbes explained the absence of an estimate of the salary of VTB President in the ranking. Income of Andrei Kostin in recent years according to Forbes
Forbes magazine has published a new list of the country's highest paid people. As it turns out, it is quite possible to live well on a salary in our country even during a crisis. It all depends only on the size of this very salary.
10. Mikhail Kuzovlev - $9.5 million per year.
Former president of the Bank of Moscow, and now head of the board of Russian Capital bank. It is noteworthy that last year Mr. Kuzovlev received $17 million, almost twice as much as this year. The crisis, however, is it easy for anyone now? 
9. Vladimir Yakunin - $11 million per year.
The former head of Russian Railways, who left his post in August of this year. Last year his salary was $15 million. This year he also had to “shrink.” 
8. Ruben Aganbegyan - $11 million per year.
Chairman of the Board and General Director of Otkritie Holding OJSC. It is impossible to say whether Mr. Aganbegyan’s income increased or decreased, because he was not previously included in this list. 
7. Mikhail Shamolin - $11.6 million per year.
President of AFK Sistema. A year ago, his income was $15 million. 
6. German Gref - $13.5 million per year.
The head of Sberbank was also among those whose income decreased this year. Last year, he earned $16 million. 
5. Ivan Streshinsky - $15 million per year.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metalloinvest and member of the Board of Directors of USM Holdings. Unlike previous members of the list, his income remained the same as last year. 
4. Dmitry Razumov - $15 million per year.
General Director of the Onexim Group. His salary also remained unchanged compared to last year. 
3. Igor Sechin - $17.5 million per year.
Head of Rosneft. Unfortunately, it is not possible to say how much Mr. Sechin’s income has decreased over the year. The fact is that Forbes assessed his previous remunerations, but did not have the right to publish them due to the lawsuit brought by Sechin against the editors. However, revenues for the year still decreased. 
2. Andrey Kostin - $21 million per year.
The one who had the worst of it was Andrey Kostin, Chairman of the Board of VTB. Just a year ago his salary was $37 million, and now it’s a measly $21 million. How can you even live on that? 
1. Alexey Miller - $27 million.
But Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, was luckier than anyone: he is the only one on this list whose income even increased at the end of the year. Last year he received $25 million, this year he received $27 million. Probably a bonus, or 13th salary. In any case, Mr. Miller topped the list of the highest paid top managers in Russia for the first time, this is a success. 
the site calculated how much top managers of Russian state-controlled companies earn.
Minimum wage in Sechin style
Let’s make a reservation right away: the salary amounts presented in our rating are underestimated. Companies and banks do not disclose how many bonuses were paid to a specific executive. In official reports - only the general meaning.
For example, in 2017, 11 members of the Rosneft board received a remuneration of 3 billion 895 million rubles. On average, each person receives 354 million per year. It is logical to assume that Chairman of the Board Igor Sechin got more. But exactly how much is a secret. Even despite the recent recommendations of the Central Bank to indicate earnings by name.
The game of hide and seek on the part of government managers has been going on for several years. They refuse to disclose information about their property.
When making calculations, Sobesednik relied specifically on average values, less than which the heads of state-owned companies could not earn even theoretically. In practice, their remuneration is two times higher than that of “ordinary” top managers.
And we have not yet taken into account income from owning shares and from bank deposits. So the real income of the heads of companies is many times greater than what we can prove.
At the same time, the considerable yield of managers does not imply their effectiveness. Net profit of the same Rosneft last years fell, and the salaries of the top of the company grew. The other day, Sechin also asked Vladimir Putin for tax benefits. But he didn’t offer to reduce his salary.
One grain at a time
State managers receive money not only from their main place of work. They, as a rule, sit on the management bodies of other companies - both controlled and third-party. Thus, the head of Gazprom PJSC Alexey Miller is also the chairman of the board of directors at Gazprombank, SOGAZ, Gazprom Neft, and Gazprom-Media.
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9639 euros Saulius Bilis, general director of the natural gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, receives a month in Lithuania.86 times less than his Russian colleague Alexey Miller. But among the heads of state-owned enterprises in the post-Soviet republic, this is the largest income.
According to Sobesednik’s calculations, Miller’s monthly salary is more than 58 million rubles. This is a thousand times more than most Gazprom employees. For example, at Gazprom Dobycha Krasnodar LLC, a 100% subsidiary of Gazprom, they receive an average of 58 thousand rubles. per month. In Gazprom Transgaz Volgograd, where 5 thousand people work, there are 44 thousand each.
Anatoly Chubais is also torn on several fronts. He sits on the board of directors of JSC Rusnano (1 million rubles per annum), is on the board of directors of PJSC Pipe Metallurgical Company (another 11 million) and, most importantly, chairs LLC Management Company Rusnano (41 million rubles). In addition, he collaborates with Skolkovo and heads NovaMedica LLC and RusnanoMedInvest LLC. The figure for 2016 is about 326 million rubles. Chubais promised to lead Rusnano until his retirement. His annual income would be enough for almost 30 thousand pensioners.
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We have a lot of money. There are just so many of them.
Anatoly Chubais.
State bankers
As it turned out, German Gref earns more at Sberbank than Andrei Kostin at VTB. But in fairness, Sber’s revenue is more significant.
A couple of years ago, State Duma deputy Vasily Shvetsov proposed “tying” the earnings of heads of state corporations to the salary of the president. According to his idea, no one should receive more than the head of state. However, this initiative did not find support from the Duma majority, and the author of the bold document himself could not be re-elected to the next convocation of parliament.
So Putin can still ask for a loan from his old friend, the head of Sberbank. They started working together back in 1991 at the St. Petersburg City Hall. Moreover, the state values Gref’s talents higher than the entire Russian hockey team. For winning the Olympics, 100 million “prize money” was allocated to the entire team, and half a billion to Gref alone.
Medvedev is envious
The salary of another top manager close to the president, Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov, is 400 times higher than the average for the state corporation (44 thousand per month). Chemezov has been friends with Putin since the time they worked together in Germany. Today he is one of the most influential people in the country. Many resignations and appointments of governors are also associated with his name.
In the regions where Rostec operates, the name of Chemezov inspires awe. There is a whole empire under his management: a total of 453 thousand people work in the corporation’s structures.
But the chairman of the board of Inter RAO UES, Boris Kovalchuk, is connected not only with the president (through his father’s dacha in the Ozero cooperative), but also with the prime minister. During his studies at St. Petersburg State University, Dmitry Medvedev was his teacher. Today, Kovalchuk, who is responsible for the electric power industry, earns 21 times more than Medvedev - officially, of course.
The only top manager of state-owned companies who is not afraid to officially declare income is the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov. He boldly points out that for his work he has an income of more than 14 million rubles. per month. Meanwhile, Russian Railways is looking for a foreman for a salary of 52 thousand rubles. And a loader - for 20 thousand.
For future employees railway the amounts of income of top managers probably seem fantastic. But if there is one thing that is implausible in Russia, it is the focus of the political establishment on building a just society.
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The material was published in the publication “Interlocutor” No. 10-2018.
In February, state-owned companies traditionally publish reports for the final quarter of the previous year, which contain information on management earnings. At the end of 2016, the total amount of payments to the Gazprom board decreased by 9.4% - for the first time since 2012. Rosneft reduced the salaries of board members by 16%, although due to bonuses the total amount of payments remained virtually unchanged.
What is officially known
Using the example of five state-owned companies from different industries, we can track how payment amounts have changed.
The total annual income consists of wages, bonuses, commissions, remuneration for participation in the work of the management body and other types of remuneration. At Gazprom, the majority of income comes from salaries (1.2 billion rubles in 2016), at Sberbank, Rosneft and Russian Railways - bonuses (2.9 billion rubles, 2 billion rubles and 1.6 billion rubles). respectively). Aeroflot does not disclose details. Moreover, the average annual income of a board member exceeds the average annual income of an ordinary employee by 50–300 times.
The exact amounts of executive earnings are usually not disclosed. In May 2015, Rosneft published the “Standard on payments and compensation to top managers”, for the first time revealing the mechanism for calculating salaries and bonuses to its management. It follows from the document that the salary of Rosneft President Igor Sechin is 15–20 million rubles. per month, that is, up to 240 million rubles. in year. The remaining top managers receive from 10–50% of the president’s salary. In addition, the president is entitled to an annual bonus of 150% of his salary and other payments.
What unofficial data is there?
Since 2012 its ranking of the 25 most expensive top managers published annually by Forbes. The top positions in it are traditionally occupied by the heads of state-owned companies (Gazprom, Rosneft, VTB).
How much do other senior executives earn?
Top managers' salaries quite comparable to the income of some federal officials. The annual income of the richest member of the government - Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov - in 2015 amounted to 455.6 million rubles. Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev earned 153.8 million rubles, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov - 144.7 million rubles.
According to a study by Equilar, the average annual salary of top managers 100 largest companies USA at the end of 2015 reached $14.5 million (883 million rubles in terms of the average annual dollar exchange rate in 2015).
The biggest scandals surrounding the earnings of top managers
In 2014, the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin filed a lawsuit against Forbes magazine, which estimated his income in 2012 at $50 million. The Savelovsky Court of Moscow sided with Mr. Sechin, obliging the magazine to refute this information as untrue.
In August 2014, the head of JSC Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin stated in his blog that he is not obliged to publish information about his income, noting that as the head of a state-owned company, he submits “data on his income to the tax office and the government.” He added that the publication “carries a certain threat” to members of his family. In January 2015, the head of Russian Railways stated that he agreed to obey the relevant government order. Later he reported that his salary was 4 million rubles. per month. His successor Oleg Belozerov officially disclosed his annual income.
In November 2016, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that the bonus of the head of Russian Post, Dmitry Strashnov, based on the results of 2014 (95.4 million rubles) was accrued illegally and should have amounted to no more than 3.2 million rubles. Materials regarding the initiation of a case of abuse of power were sent to the RF IC. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications came out in defense of Mr. Strashnov, saying that the reward was justified. According to the press service of Russian Post, from the beginning of 2016 to the present, Dmitry Strashnov’s salary is 307 thousand rubles. per month without extra charge for access to information constituting state. secret (50% of the monthly salary), as well as payment for business trips and vacation pay. No annual bonuses were paid at the end of 2015 and 2016.
In 2016, the annual publication of the Forbes salary ranking of top managers was published without indicating the amount of remuneration for VTB President Andrei Kostin. This was explained by the fact that “the VTB Group, until the publication of the material, did not provide data on the key management employees to whom the total remuneration is distributed.” As the Vedomosti newspaper wrote, journalists suspected the owner of the ACMG group, which publishes the Russian version of the magazine, Alexander Fedotov, of interfering in editorial policy. In January, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Nikolai Uskov called the refusal to publish the salary of the head of VTB “his personal decision.”
How do experts explain the decline in income?
Igor Polyakov, leading expert at the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (CMAP): “This may be due to the desire to maintain a certain competitiveness, because the payroll of top managers hangs a significant burden on the company’s expenses. Second, and this is related to international rather than domestic activity - after a decision is made to reduce production quotas, companies can predict a decrease or stabilization of some revenues. Third, the analysis shows a high level of stratification in terms of wages in companies with state participation. Last year, the State Duma even raised the issue of limiting salaries and severance pay, the so-called “golden parachutes.”
Vladislav Zhukovsky, economist, member of the presidium of the Stolypin Club:“The first and most important thing you need to know about the salaries of top managers of state-owned companies: tales that they are forced to pay record salaries and bonuses, which amount to billions of rubles annually, supposedly so that they do not go to the private sector or foreign companies. This point of view is in some way a manipulation of public opinion. Nobody needs officials who have become state managers abroad - there has not been a single precedent. Secondly, you need to understand that our wages, salaries and bonuses for top managers are not tied to the efficiency of labor productivity in the company. For example, Gazprom’s net profit has fallen significantly, revenue is declining, but board members still receive record amounts. And the formal slight decrease in wages due to the fact that money in the economy has become very difficult and public opinion is pressing, so we decided to put a good face on a bad game, let off steam and defuse the situation.”
Mikhail Zhukov, CEO of HeadHunter: “Top managers are definitely not in danger, because taking into account bonus payments, vacation pay and travel allowances, their income has definitely not fallen. It’s difficult to say what it will be like next year, but at least this year the reduction in wages will not affect their total income. It is quite possible that such actions by company management are a purely demonstrative decision, a reaction to press reports about the income levels of top managers, which clearly irritated the Russian population, which receives much less.”
Olga Dorokhina, Evgeniy Kozichev, Mikhail Malaev, Olga Shkurenko
I’m writing a post in the hallway and I hear 15 special forces soldiers smashing something in our office. Judging by sounds, breaking dishes and destroying furniture.
The formal reason for the next raid is our refusal to delete the investigation. Medvedev and Usmanov ordered to open a criminal case against the director of FBK Ivan Zhdanov, and as part of this case, a “search” is underway in the premises of FBK and Navalny LIVE.
However, this time we have good reason to believe that this raid has a specific customer. And the Kremlin is pleased, and defends its personal interests. Everything is exactly the same as in the case of by Svetlana Medvedeva's plane.
A very important state banker - the head of VTB Andrei Kostin - would not want you to see him. And while we were doing the investigation, we called the head of Kostin’s apparatus, who also oversees the security service. I think you understand what the VTB security service is: the most corrupt and corrupt part of the FSB.
Watch, help spread and support us, it's important now:
The information is scandalous, and we were all waiting to see how Kostin, Asker-zade and Medvedev (who was simply bombarded with questions about his wife’s plane during the press conference) would answer us.
Nothing meaningful was said out loud in response. Nevertheless, we detected some responses immediately.
Our lovers did what they do best. They have classified data about the movements of their aircraft. And at the same time, Svetlana Medvedeva’s plane. And at the same time, all the other planes taken offshore.
We don’t know how they did it: they paid the sites publishing such information, or intimidated them, but look for yourself - here is a popular aircraft tracking service. This is where we used screenshots in our investigations. We try to find Naili's plane - an error, we try to find Svetlana's plane - there is no such thing.
Don't think about it, the planes continue to fly, continue to send signals with their coordinates, but now we are not supposed to know about them.
And at the same time, the state bank VTB issued a statement that all these planes had long been sold to “third parties” and now they have nothing to do with the bank or anyone associated with the bank. And I quote: “VTB Leasing” has nothing to do with their further operation, leasing, etc.”
Well, there are some Medvedevs and Asker-zades flying around somewhere. Somehow they pay 7 thousand euros for one hour of flight. Crew salary. Maintenance. Insurance. VTB has nothing to do with this.
And now we will prove the opposite.
So, the VTB Leasing company once bought several dozen passenger aircraft. As you can guess from the name - to lease them, for long-term lease, to various large airlines: Aeroflot, Russia, Pobeda, etc. Along with these “large” aircraft, VTB Leasing also acquired several private aircraft. These planes, as we understand now, were never intended for real lease; they were needed to serve all sorts of crooks who weren’t entitled to planes, but really wanted them. Therefore, VTB Leasing bought them in its own name and operated them itself.
When the planes belonged to VTB, they were serviced by the Air Enterprise Business Aero company. They organized flights, hired pilots, handled logistics, armor, and so on. Traces of this can be found in government procurement documents. Here they are fulfilling a contract to organize flights for Ministry of Finance officials.
And a few years ago, the email of one of the secretaries at VTB was hacked; it is publicly available and is on the website of investigative journalists. And there you can see how Business Aero organizes flights on several different Bombardier aircraft. For example, a plane is being ordered for opera singer Anna Netrebko:
But another one is for former Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich. It is this plane that will subsequently be stolen and given to Svetlana Medvedeva for use:
The Business Aero company is owned by two people.
The first one, Bukov, is very easy to find. He is a VTB contractor and received half a billion rubles from the bank for security services.
At the time of the conclusion of the contract, private security company "Alternative" belonged to Dmitry Nikolaevich Bukov
In addition, Bukov is a member of the amateur hockey team VTB.
But the second man is mysterious. His name is Vorontsov Alexander Yurievich. And it is hidden worse than Naili’s planes and yachts. No matter how you Google it, no matter how you look, it is generally unclear what kind of person this is. Who is the super-close and super-reliable owner of an air carrier who is not afraid to entrust such secrets as, for example, passenger lists for each flight?
This was not an investigation, but some kind of pursuit! First we found his photograph. Here is a man signed “Alexander Vorontsov” and standing next to Kostin at the “Russia Calling” forum.
We tried to buy this photo, well, to see what was written on the badge, but at first we were refused, and then RIA Novosti completely deleted this photo from their photo archives.
Then we found his phone number and found a very similar man on a tractor on WhatsApp, asked - and nothing.
And then he deleted this beautiful photo too.
We found the cars he parks - and these are VTB official cars.
How close is the solution? And then we just called Kostin’s reception. And they simply asked Vorontsov’s position point blank. And they told us about it!
So, Vorontsov Alexander Yuryevich is the chief of staff of the head of VTB Bank Andrei Kostin. His most trusted employee and closest confidant. It was he who was involved in ordering flights from VTB and, on the other hand, in directly organizing them as the founder of Business Aero.
But this is our scheme before. Now, as we know, VTB does not own the planes. They are sold out, and at least three of them belong to the same anonymous offshore company from Belize. This is the plane on which Svetlana Medvedeva flies, Naili’s plane and another plane that is used as a replacement if, for example, Asker-zade’s main plane is under maintenance.
According to the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, the aircraft we need are all operated by the same operator - Skyline Aviation.
A completely unknown company, registered in San Marino specifically, apparently, to service boards stolen from VTB. We take an extract from San Marino and find out that it is managed by a certain Russian director Oleg Gurov.
This same Gurov is the director of Business Aero, which belongs to Kostin’s chief of staff.
In addition, both companies, Russian and San Marino, use for their purposes the same mail server, registered to the Business Aero company.
That is, the new Skyline company, “not related to VTB,” is simply a foreign counterpart of a Russian company owned by the chief of staff of the head of VTB.
Quite simple. VTB had planes, they were controlled by Kostin’s chief of staff. The planes were stolen, and Kostin’s chief of staff continues to fly them.
They steal. They hide it. And they lie. They just endlessly lie to our faces. They pretend to be a fashionable advanced bank, but in fact it is just a bottomless state cash desk, where they put a mediocre oaf - Putin's friend, so that he would provide everyone with a beautiful life and not forget himself. And so it will be until we finally throw all these Putins, Sechins, Kostins and Asker-Zades off our necks.
Andrei Kostin was personally received in the November Russian Forbes ranking by the publication’s editor-in-chief Nikolai Uskov. He stated this in an interview with Dozhd. When asked why, for example, the salary of Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin was published, Uskov replied that the editors were “more confident” in Sechin’s salary, “because” Rosneft“publishes the proportion in which the head’s actual remuneration is calculated,” but VTB does not publish such data.
He called the rating of highly paid top managers a “subjective assessment of the editors,” who at the same time try to present the numbers “as objectively as possible.” “As for salaries themselves, many salaries are open. Basically, if something is open, then the amount of remuneration for the entire top management is open. We know this figure. And in the situation that has developed, we - not for the first time, by the way - decided that we will limit ourselves to the figure of which we are confident. That is, an objective figure,” explained the editor-in-chief.
When asked whether the decision not to publish Kostin’s salary was discussed with the owner of the magazine, Alexander Fedotov, Uskov replied: “I cannot, of course, fully comment on such things, but I can say that anyway, without my decision, nothing would have been possible.”
The ranking of “The 25 Most Valuable CEOs” was published in the December 2016 issue of Forbes and was published on the publication’s website on November 24. The rating was topped by the Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, whose remuneration, according to Forbes, in 2015 amounted to $17.7 million. Second place goes to the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin ($13 million), third place to VTB President Andrei Kostin and He is the only one of the 25 top managers in the rating that does not indicate the absolute amount of remuneration. The editors indicated that the assessment was not published because “VTB Group, until publication, did not provide data on key management employees to whom the total remuneration in the amount of 6.1 billion rubles is distributed. (data from the consolidated statements of VTB Group for 2015).” At the same time, from the rating methodology, which is described by the editors, it directly follows that when assessing remuneration, journalists do not always use official data from the companies themselves.
After this, Forbes journalists wrote a letter to the owner of the ACMG group (publishes the Russian version of the magazine) Alexander Fedotov. As several sources close to the publication told Vedomosti, the authors of the letter suggested that when compiling this rating, Fedotov interfered in editorial policy.
Uskov also commented on the change of top management in this interview RBC. He recalled that the situation as a whole “was getting worse and worse before our eyes,” and “the political discourse was changing.” “And of course, against the backdrop of this Crimean mobilization, the TV channel “Liza Osetinskaya - Roman Badanin” - this was absolutely impossible. And it was all going to end badly, that was obvious. It’s going to end badly, and it seems to me that the team itself felt it and even went for some aggravation,” he added. He explained that freedom of speech rests on such journalists who “at the moment of suffocation, jerk their legs, hit their knees, push, etc., also behave aggressively,” “and this allows society to see what is happening to them at this moment ” and “that freedom is becoming less.” “I think that the team escalated, believing that it would still be bad and that sooner or later it would still be unbearable. And resisted any possible compromise,” he said.
