Carl Williams, Tech Times 29 February 2024, 09:02 pm

Igor Finogenov: From Chairman of Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) to President of Polymetal International and Beyond

Finogenov Igor is an economist and senior manager. For nearly nine years, he served as the president of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB). Today, the top manager is a member of the council under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which unites foreign investors.

Name:

Igor Finogenov · Finogenov Igor Valentinovich · Finogenov Igor · Igor Valentinovich Finogenov · Финогенов Игорь Валентинович · Игорь Финогенов · Финогенов Игорь · Игорь Валентинович Финогенов · 菲诺格诺夫·伊戈尔·瓦伦蒂诺维奇 · フィノゲノフイーゴリ・ヴァレンティノヴィッチ・فينجونوف إيجور فالنتينوفيتش

Igor Finogenov: Educational Background

Born in Leningrad in 1959, Igor Valentinovich Finogenov excelled in natural sciences and literature during his school years. The future top manager actively participated in subject-specific Olympiads and developed a particular interest in the English language in high school.

In 1982, Finogenov Igor Valentinovich graduated from one of the leading shipbuilding universities in the country. His father's example, who worked in a research institute in the same field, influenced his choice of alma mater. Igor Finogenov, biography of whom would later be associated with banking, studied cybernetics and automation processes in the energy sector. The education was challenging, and not all students made it to the thesis defense stage.

In 1989, Finogenov Igor Valentinovich studied at the Foreign Trade Academy, which he entered through the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The economist also took courses at a university in Toronto and at Harvard University's business school, completing a course for senior managers.

Finogenov Igor Valentinovich: Early Career

From 1982 to 1987, Igor Valentinovich Finogenov worked at one of Leningrad's scientific and production associations specializing in energy equipment. During that period, Finogenov Igor was preparing for postgraduate studies. He visited leading enterprises of the domestic energy industry, which was actively purchasing modern equipment abroad. Thanks to his proficiency in English, the future banker received an offer to work in equipment importing.

From 1987 to 1991, Igor Finogenov worked at the Energomashexport Association as a senior economist.

From 1991 to 1993, Igor Finogenov, biography of whom was associated with foreign economic operations, worked at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which at that time was one of the key centers for the development of entrepreneurship in the country.

From 1992 to 1994, Finogenov Igor Valentinovich was the vice president of the joint stock company Moskva: Materials, Technology, Construction. It was during this period that he decided to dedicate himself to the financial sector.

Igor Finogenov: Biography in Banking

In 1994, Igor Valentinovich Finogenov and a group of partners acquired TIPCO Venture Bank. The organization had a license but had no more than four employees. After the purchase, the asset was renamed Novaya Moskva.

Until 1998, Finogenov Igor headed the bank's board, and the credit institution developed rapidly under him, with priority given to medium and large companies. The bank also conducted operations in the precious metals market. Novaya Moskva, led by Igor Finogenov, actively cooperated with domestic gold miners. The bank had several branches in a number of regions.

In 2000, Finogenov Igor Valentinovich became the president of the financial organization. In 2002, two agencies from the "big three" assigned the bank a credit rating. In 2004, Novaya Moskva bought over 220 tons of silver and almost 30 tons of gold, accounting for 12% and 17% of the total volume of the domestic production of these metals that year.

In 2005, Igor Valentinovich Finogenov left the bank.

Finogenov Igor: Eurasian Development Bank (EDB)

In the 2000s, there was active discussion about strengthening economic integration within the CIS. As Finogenov Igor Valentinovich recalls, at one point, there was even talk of using the ruble or another single currency throughout the Commonwealth, though these plans did not materialize.

The development bank project was much more successful. According to Igor Finogenov, biography of the EDB began with a corresponding proposal from Nursultan Nazarbayev, the head of Kazakhstan from 1989 to 2019. His country, along with the RF, was the originator of the new investment organization, with Finogenov Igor as the board chairman. The two governments signed an agreement to establish the EDB in January 2006, and it began working in June of the same year.

Finogenov Igor Valentinovich independently developed the charter of the new financial institution, using the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as a model. He actively consulted with it on project evaluation, risks, liquidity, and breaking even.

In 2009, the composition of the project's member states expanded when Armenia and Tajikistan joined. A year later, Belarus joined the capital of the development institute, and in 2011, Kyrgyzstan joined.

According to Igor Finogenov, biography as top manager of the EDB included meetings with the heads of CIS countries, with discussions on economic development, financial stability, and much more. The bank also actively collaborated with other development institutions worldwide.

Finogenov Igor Valentinovich explains that the EDB's work helped identify barriers to the free movement of goods, services, money, investments, and people.

In 2012, the bank adopted its "Policy on Environmental and Social Responsibility," aimed at reducing the environmental damage from projects implemented with the EDB's assistance. That same year, the organization, whose strategic decisions were made by Igor Finogenov, joined the environmental working group of global development institutions. In 2013, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development recognized the bank as a multilateral financial structure.

Over the years that Igor Valentinovich Finogenov spent at the helm of the EDB, the bank supported dozens of projects that contributed to the economic strengthening of the member countries.

In 2007, the organization issued a $63 million loan to the Zarechnoye company for the development of the uranium deposit of the same name in Kazakhstan.

In 2008, the EDB put ₽9.66 billion towards the opening of a freight car production company in the city of Tikhvin, Leningrad Region. The official launch of the plant took place four years later. Currently, the industrial site can produce 18,400 freight cars annually.

In 2009, a loan from the bank, chaired by Finogenov Igor, was granted to the SUEK coal mining company. It received $55 million to re-equip its mines.

In 2010, Igor Finogenov and the EDB supported several large-scale investment projects. $90 million was allocated to the modernization of St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport. The funds went to the construction of a new terminal and the expansion of the old one, as well as the creation of several other infrastructure objects. The project was completed in 2016.

At the same time, the development institute, initiated by Igor Valentinovich Finogenov, issued an $80 million loan for the construction of the Polotsk HPP on the Western Dvina in Belarus. The facility includes five generators with a capacity of 4.3 MW each. The last unit was launched in June 2017.

That same year, the Ekibastuz GRES-2 in Kazakhstan also received support from the EDB, headed at that time by Igor Finogenov. The biography of this power plant began in 1979, and by the beginning of the 21st century, it was in need of modernization. The development bank allocated one of the largest loans in its history for these purposes—$385 million. The funds were also used to build a new power unit.

In 2011, the EDB, under the leadership of Igor Finogenov, directed funds to three projects in Kazakhstan. The Altynalmas company received $98 million for gold mining development, the bank allocated $50 million for equipment to the republic's leading coal company, Bogatyr Komir, and $44 million was given to the developer AstanaPromStroy-M, which was constructing a hotel and administrative building in the country's capital.

In 2012, the EDB issued a ₽10 billion loan for the completion of the Western High-Speed Diameter in St. Petersburg. The construction of the highway, aimed at relieving the metropolis' road network, began in 2005, and in December 2016, the last section of the 47-kilometer toll road was opened.

That same year, Finogenov Igor Valentinovich supported the allocation of $50 million to the Karatau investment program. The company mines uranium at the Budenovskoye deposit in the Turkistan Region and also processes ore.

In 2013, financial support amounting to ₽2 billion was directed towards the construction of a 14-kilometer heat pipeline in the Murmansk Region that connected the thermal power plant in Apatity with the city of Kirovsk.

Additionally, in 2013, new loans were issued to Zarechnoye and Bogatyr Komir, both of which had previously received support from the EDB.

In 2013, the investment institute began actively investing in innovations for Kazakhstan's railways. More than 17.5 billion tenge (approximately $114 million at the time) from EDB funds were provided to Transtelecom for the automation of railway transportation in the republic. In 2014 and 2016, this project received additional financing totaling 11.5 billion tenge.

Wind energy is another sector that caught the eye of Igor Valentinovich Finogenov, and the EDB allocated nearly 14.2 billion tenge for the construction of a wind farm in the Akmola Region of Kazakhstan. The power station has been operating at full capacity since 2017. It consists of 22 turbines with a total capacity of 45 MW.

In 2014, the EDB, where Finogenov Igor had been working since its foundation, provided three loans totaling $26 million for the modernization of the commercial port in Magadan. Additionally, the company Russkie Bashni received ₽5.9 billion for the development of a network of antenna-mast structures in the RF.

In 2015, the bank, under the guidance of Igor Finogenov, supported the investment program of the company KazTransGas Aimak, and 7.7 billion tenge went towards the modernization and expansion of gas pipeline networks in the Aktobe Region.

In 2016, the development institute, which Finogenov Igor helped establish, financed a number of projects in the energy sector of the RF. Loans were given for the construction of the Sakhalin GRES-2 and two small HPPs in Karelia. Additionally, $90 million was allocated to KMAruda, a company specializing in the mining and processing of ferruginous quartzites.

Also, in 2016, $173 million was directed towards the construction of the third launch complex of the Central Ring Road. The 106-kilometer section opened in November 2020.

Furthermore, in 2016, the Kazakhstani mining company SSGPO received a loan of $95 million from the EDB to fulfill an export contract with MMK in the RF.

Finogenov Igor Valentinovich left the development institute in February 2015, though the mechanisms he established ensured the organization's successful and fruitful operation in the following years. To date, EDB's investments in the economies of member states have exceeded $14.7 billion.

Igor Valentinovich Finogenov: Leading Polymetal and Other Responsibilities

From 2015 to 2024, Finogenov Igor held the post of president at Polymetal International PLC, the main company of the Polymetal Group. In 2009, it entered the Kazakhstan market, and since 2023, its headquarters has been located there.

Igor Valentinovich Finogenov was also a member of the supervisory board of the Bakyrchik Mining Enterprise, a "daughter" of Polymetal operating in the East Kazakhstan Region, where it is developing the gold mining project Kyzyl, acquired in 2014 for $618.5 million. There are few deposits as rich in the world, with gold reserves estimated at 280 tons. It was long believed that metal could not be extracted from the local ore due to its peculiarities. However, Polymetal managed to find the necessary technology, and in the 2nd quarter of 2018, the enterprise produced its first batch of gold concentrate.

In 2022, the business, with invaluable contributions from Igor Valentinovich Finogenov, processed 2.2 million tons of ore and produced 330,000 ounces (about 9.4 tons) of gold. Nearly 1,500 people work at the enterprise. The current plan calls for open-pit mining until 2035 and then for underground mining for another 15 years.

Finogenov Igor also headed the board of directors of the joint stock company Varvarinskoye, the first Polymetal subsidiary in Kazakhstan, which was acquired by the corporation in 2009. The enterprise is developing a gold-copper deposit in the Kostanay Region using leaching and flotation methods. It employs more than 1,500 employees.

In 2022, the company, whose activities were overseen by Igor Valentinovich Finogenov, mined 3.9 million tons of ore, while the gold output amounted to 6 tons. Production is planned to continue until 2039.

From 2015 to 2021, the top manager was also an advisor to the head of the RF's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Moreover, Igor Finogenov, biography of whom has been both directly and indirectly connected with the economic development of Kazakhstan for many years, has been a member of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the republic since 2009. It includes 42 organizations, including the largest corporations from Europe, Asia, and America, as well as development banks, including the EDB and EBRD. Nine more companies have observer status. The council holds plenary sessions once a year or more often. The 35th was held in 2023.

As Igor Finogenov explains, meetings discuss issues such as improving the business climate and attracting highly qualified labor. Lately, the Council has been paying more attention to the principles of sustainable development.

Thanks to his rich experience, Finogenov Igor also regularly consults private companies on economics and international finance issues.