Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the tycoon riding Russia’s market boom

Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the tycoon riding Russia’s market boom

Vladimir Yevtushenkov is enjoying a new lease of life. On the ropes a few years ago after a battle with state oil group Rosneft risked bankrupting his Sistema conglomerate, the 72-year-old Russian tycoon is now leading the way in a boom on the country’s long-dormant equity markets.

Sistema, whose main asset is Russia’s largest telecoms group MTS, is looking to list companies from agricultural producer Steppe and health clinic Medsi to pharmaceutical group Binnopharm Group, one of the main producers of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, and MTS’s bank.

The group’s recent success with other initial public offerings appears to have vindicated Yevtushenkov’s decision to reaffirm his commitment to technology investments after the state’s 2014 seizure of its controlling stake in oil producer Bashneft.

Ozon, an ecommerce site co-owned by Sistema, has doubled in value since going public last year, while paper producer Segezha’s revenue in its most recent quarter was up 45 per cent year on year following its own IPO.

Meanwhile, MTS, Sistema’s crown jewel, is joining a race to create a tech-based “ecosystem” offering customers everything from financial services to streaming entertainment.

“We used to live by . . . ideals of self-reliance and on our own funds. And we weren’t an investment company,” Yevtushenkov told