DMITRIY MUN

Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, at age 14 he won the 1958 U.S. Championship. In 1964, he won the same tournament with a perfect score (11 wins). Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6-0 scores. After another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.

In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, chess's international governing body, over the match conditions. As a result, the Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was named World Champion by default. Fischer subsequently disappeared from the public eye, though occasional reports of erratic behavior emerged. In 1992, he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under a United Nations embargo at the time. His participation led to a conflict with the US government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia. The US government ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest. After that, Fischer lived as an émigré. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and held for several months for using a passport that the US government had revoked. Eventually, he was granted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a special act of the Icelandic Althing, allowing him to live there until his death in 2008.

Fischer made numerous lasting contributions to chess. His book My 60 Memorable Games, published in 1969, is regarded as essential reading in chess literature. In the 1990s, he patented a modified chess timing system that added a time increment after each move, now a standard practice in top tournament and match play. He also invented Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960, a chess variant in which the initial position of the pieces is randomized to one of 960 possible positions.

Fischer made numerous antisemitic statements and denied the Holocaust; his antisemitism, professed since at least the 1960s, was a major theme in his public and private remarks. There has been widespread comment and speculation concerning his psychological condition based on his extreme views and unusual behavior.

Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1943. His mother, Regina Wender Fischer, was a US citizen, born in Switzerland; her parents were Polish Jews. Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Regina became a teacher, a registered nurse, and later a physician.

After graduating from college in her teens, Regina traveled to Germany to visit her brother. It was there she met geneticist and future Nobel Prize winner Hermann Joseph Muller, who persuaded her to move to Moscow to study medicine. She enrolled at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, where she met Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher, a German biophysicist, whom she married in November 1933. In 1938, Hans-Gerhardt and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. The reemergence of anti-Semitism under Stalin prompted Regina to go with Joan to Paris, where Regina became an English teacher. The threat of a German invasion led her and Joan to go to the United States in 1939. Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had already separated in Moscow, although they did not officially divorce until 1945.

At the time of her son's birth, Regina was homeless and shuttled to different jobs and schools around the country to support her family. She engaged in political activism and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single parent.

In 1949, Regina moved the family to Manhattan and the following year to Brooklyn, New York City, where she studied for her master's degree in nursing and subsequently began working in that field.

In 2002, Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer published an investigative report which stated that Bobby Fischer's biological father was actually Paul Nemenyi. This was not confirmed by Fischer or his (by then deceased) mother. Nemenyi, a Hungarian mathematician and physicist of Jewish heritage, was considered an expert in fluid and applied mechanics. Benson and Nicholas continued their work and gathered additional evidence in court records, personal interviews, and even a summary of the FBI investigation written by J. Edgar Hoover, which confirmed their earlier conclusions.

Throughout the 1950s, the FBI investigated Regina and her circle due to her supposed communist views and due to her time living in Moscow. FBI files note that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the United States, while recording that Nemenyi took a keen interest in Fischer's upbringing. Not only were Regina and Nemenyi reported to have had an affair in 1942, but Nemenyi made monthly child support payments to Regina and paid for Bobby's schooling until his own death in 1952. Peter Nemenyi was reported to have told friends around him that Fischer was his half-brother while engaging in efforts to help Fischer after Paul died in 1952.

In March 1949, six-year-old Bobby and his sister Joan learned how to play chess using the instructions from a set bought at a candy store. When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina did not have time to play, Fischer was left to play many of his first games against himself. When the family vacationed at Patchogue, Long Island, New York, that summer, Bobby found a book of old chess games and studied it intensely.

In 1950, the family moved to Brooklyn, first to an apartment at the corner of Union Street and Franklin Avenue and later to a two-bedroom apartment at 560 Lincoln Place. It was there that "Fischer soon became so engrossed in the game that Regina feared he was spending too much time alone." As a result, on November 14, 1950, Regina sent a postcard to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad inquiring whether other children of Bobby's age might be interested in playing chess with him. The paper rejected her ad, because no one could figure out how to classify it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, the "Dean of American Chess", who told her that Master Max Pavey, former Scottish champion, would be giving a simultaneous exhibition on January 17, 1951. Fischer played in the exhibition. Although he held on for 15 minutes, drawing a crowd of onlookers, he eventually lost to the chess master.

One of the spectators was Brooklyn Chess Club President, Carmine Nigro, an American chess expert of near master strength and an instructor. Nigro was so impressed with Fischer's play that he introduced him to the club and began teaching him. Fischer noted of his time with Nigro: "Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive factor in my going ahead with chess."

Nigro hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952. In the summer of 1955, Fischer, then 12 years old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club. Fischer's relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956, when Nigro moved away.

In June 1956, Fischer began attending the Hawthorne Chess Club, based in master John "Jack" W. Collins' home. Collins taught chess to children, and has been described as Fischer's teacher, but Collins himself suggested that he did not actually teach Fischer, and the relationship might be more accurately described as one of mentorship.

Fischer played thousands of blitz and offhand games with Collins and other strong players, studied the books in Collins' large chess library, and ate almost as many dinners at Collins' home as his own.

In March 1956, the Log Cabin Chess Club of West Orange, New Jersey (based in the home of the club's eccentric multi-millionaire founder and patron Elliot Forry Laucks), took Fischer on a tour to Cuba, where he gave a 12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havana's Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing two. On this tour the club played a series of matches against other clubs. Fischer played second board, behind International Master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and Fischer were the club's leading scorers, each scoring 5½ points out of 7 games.

In July 1956, Fischer won the US Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8½/10 at Philadelphia to become the youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13. At the 1956 US Open Chess Championship in Oklahoma City, he scored 8½/12 to tie for 4th–8th places, with Arthur Bisguier winning. In the first Canadian Open Chess Championship at Montreal 1956, he scored 7/10 to tie for 8th–12th places, with Larry Evans winning. In November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern States Open Championship in Washington, D.C., tying for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and Arthur Feuerstein, with Hans Berliner taking first by a half-point.

Fischer accepted an invitation to play in the Third Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy Tournament in New York City (1956), a premier tournament limited to the 12 players considered the best in the US. Playing against top opposition, the 13-year-old Fischer could only score 4½/11, tying for 8th–9th place. Yet he won the brilliancy prize for his game against International Master Donald Byrne, in which Fischer sacrificed his queen to unleash an unstoppable attack. Hans Kmoch called it "The Game of the Century", writing: "The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies." According to Frank Brady, "'The Game of the Century' has been talked about, analyzed, and admired for more than fifty years, and it will probably be a part of the canon of chess for many years to come." "In reflecting on his game a while after it occurred, Bobby was refreshingly modest: 'I just made the moves I thought were best. I was just lucky.'"

In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe at New York, losing ½–1½. When the US Chess Federation published its rating list in May, Fischer had the rank of Master, the youngest player to earn that title up to that point. In July, he successfully defended his US Junior title, scoring 8½/9 at San Francisco. In August, he scored 10/12 at the US Open Chess Championship in Cleveland, winning on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier. This made Fischer the youngest ever US Open Champion. He won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6½/7. He then defeated the young Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6–2 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.

Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989 he was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Horowitz was the chess columnist for The New York Times, writing three columns a week for ten years. He was the owner and editor of Chess Review magazine from 1933 until it was bought out and taken over by the United States Chess Federation in 1969 and merged into Chess Life. Chess Review magazine was founded in 1933 as a partnership between Horowitz and Isaac Kashdan; however, Kashdan dropped out after just a few issues and Horowitz became sole owner. Before that, Horowitz had been a securities trader on Wall Street. He had been partners with chess masters Maurice Shapiro, Mickey Pauley, Albert Pinkus and Maurice Wertheim. Horowitz dropped out and devoted himself to chess, while the others stayed on Wall Street.

Horowitz was a leading player in the U.S. during the 1930s and 1940s. He was U.S. Open Champion in 1936, 1938, and 1943. In 1941, he lost a match (+0−3=13) with Samuel Reshevsky for the U.S. Chess Championship. He played on the U.S. Team in four Chess Olympiads, in 1931, 1935, 1937, and 1950; the first three of which were won by the U.S. In a famous USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945, Horowitz scored one of the only two wins for the U.S. by defeating GM Salo Flohr. He split his "mini-match" of two games against Flohr, and in the 1946 edition of the same event, split his mini-match against Isaac Boleslavsky.

In his book Modern Ideas In The Chess Openings, Horowitz proposed a defense against the Danish Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2). Rather than play the usual 5...d5, Horowitz suggested keeping both pawns and playing 5...c6. This would be followed up by ...d6, ...Nd7, ...Nc5, and ...Be6. Although infrequently played, the defense has not been refuted. Horowitz is credited as the inventor of the defense; it is called Horowitz Defense by GM Nigel Davies in the Foxy Openings DVD Dashing Danish.

Horowitz vs. Salo Flohr, USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945:

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Ne2 Bf5 7. Ng3 Bg6 8. h4 h6 9. h5 Bh7 10. c3 Qb6 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. a4 a5 13. Qf3 e6 14. 0-0 Bc2 15. Bf4 Bb3 16. Bd3 e5 17. Be3 Bd5 18. Be4 Qb3 19. dxe5 fxe5 20. Rad1 Bxe4 21. Qxe4 Qe6 22. Rd2 Nf6 23. Qf3 Rg8 24. Rfd1 Rg4 25. Nf5 e4 (diagram) Black appears to be winning material, since White's attacked queen has no move that continues to defend the knight on f5. 26. Bb6! A powerful shot, leaving Black with no effective way to stop the threatened mate on d8, e.g. 26...Nd5 27.Qxg4; 26...Be7 27.Qxg4! Nxg4 28.Ng7+ Kf8 29.Nxe6+; or 26...Qc8 27.Nd6+ Bxd6 28.Qxf6 Be7 29.Qh8+ Bf8 30.Rd8+ Qxd8 31.Rxd8+ Rxd8 32.Bxd8 Kxd8 33.Qxf8+. 26... Rxg2+ 27. Qxg2 Qxf5 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Rxd8+ Ke7 30. Qg3 Nd7 31. Bc7 Qd5 32. c4 Qg5 33. Qxg5+ hxg5 34. Ra8 Ke6 35. Bxa5 f5 36. Bc3 f4 37. a5 g4 38. b4 f3 39. Bd2 Kf7 40. Ra7 g3 41. Rxb7 1–0

• All About Chess, Collier Books, 1971
• The Best In Chess (with Jack Straley Battell), E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1965. LCCN 65-19965
• Chess for Beginners, Fireside Books, 1950, ISBN 0-671-21184-6
• Chess: Games to Remember, David McKay, 1972. OCLC 309191.
• Chess Openings: Theory and Practice, Fireside Books, 1964 ISBN 0-671-13390-X (hardback) and ISBN 0-671-20553-6 (paperback)
• Chess Opening Traps, Coles Publishing Company Limited, 1979
• Chess Self-Teacher, Harper & Row, 1961, ISBN 978-0-06-092295-5
• Chess Traps, Pitfalls, and Swindles (with Reinfeld), Simon and Schuster, 1954. OCLC 2731999.
• The Complete Book of Chess (with P. L. Rothenberg) Collier-McMillan, 1969. OCLC 59804206.
• First Book of Chess (with Fred Reinfeld), Harper & Row, New York, 1952. ISBN 978-0-389-00225-3.
• The Golden Treasury of Chess, ISBN 0-88365-065-7
• How to Think Ahead in Chess (with Reinfeld), Simon and Schuster, 1951. ISBN 978-0-671-21138-7.
• How to Win At Chess (A complete course with 891 diagrams)
• How to Win in the Chess Openings, ISBN 0-671-62426-1
• Learn Chess Quickly, Doubleday, 1973. OCLC 9653926.
• The Macmillan Handbook of Chess (with Reinfeld), Macmillan, 1956. OCLC 1237807.
• New Traps in the Chess Opening, Arco Publishing Company, Inc., 1964. ISBN 0-668-02191-8, LCCN 64-17715.
• The World Chess Championship; a History, Macmillan (USA), 1973. OCLC 604994.
• Also published as From Morphy to Fischer, Batsford (UK), 1973.
• The New York Times Guide to Good Chess, Golden Press, 1969. LCCN 75-85392.

Kirill Nikolayevich Shamalov (Russian: Кирилл Николаевич Шамалов; born 22 March 1982) is a Russian businessman, the ex-husband of Katerina Tikhonova[a] and the ex-son-in-law of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was the former economic advisor to the Russian government. He is the younger son of Nikolai Shamalov, a co-owner of Rossiya Bank. Shamalov is a vice-president of Sibur holding.

Shamalov is the younger son of Nikolai Shamalov.

Shamalov was educated at Saint Petersburg State University, where he obtained a degree in jurisprudence.

Shamalov became an industry leader in 2012 when the owners of Sibur promoted him from Vice President of Business Administration to Deputy CEO. Shamalov owned 0.5 % stake in the company, while in June 2013 his offshore company Kylsyth Investments Limited based in Belize acquired 3.8 % stake in the company for only US$100. In August 2014 his Russian company Yauza 12 with the help of a loan from Gazprombank purchased an additional 17% of Sibur from Gennady Timchenko, owner of Sibur, for roughly $2.2 billion.

In April 2017, Bloomberg reported that Shamalov sold his shares of Sibur that he purchased from Timchenko to Leonid Mikhelson, the other owner of Sibur.

In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals. Since his February 2013 marriage to Vladimir Putin's daughter Katerina and to join the elite billionaires group close to Vladimir Putin, Shamalov had become a major shareholder in Sibur in less than 18 months and a year later had received a billion dollar loan from Gazprombank, which was under United States sanctions (EO 13662), and had purchased a 17% stake in Sibur from Gennady Timchenko, who was under United States sanctions (EO 13661).

In February 2013 at Igora, a small ski resort at the 54 km marker along the Priozerskoe highway (Russian: Приозерское шоссе; A-121) near Sosnovo (Russian: Сосново) in the Priozersky District of the Leningrad Oblast, Shamalov married Katerina Tikhonova, Putin's second daughter. In January 2018, Shamalov separated from his wife. He allegedly lost 50% of his wealth due to this separation. Later in 2018, Shamalov reportedly married Zhanna Volkova.

SIBUR is the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia and one of the fastest-growing companies in the global petrochemicals industry. Company purchases hydrocarbons and processes them into plastics, rubbers and other high value added products.

The Group sells its petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: Olefins & Polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP films, etc.) and Plastics, Elastomers & Intermediates (synthetic rubbers, EPS, PET, etc.).

SIBUR’s petrochemicals business utilises mainly its own feedstock, which is produced by its Midstream segment using by-products purchased from oil and gas companies. The group owns and operates Russia's largest and most extensive integrated midstream asset base for processing and transportation of APG and NGLs , located primarily in Western Siberia, which is the largest oil and gas producing region in Russia and where the Group sources most of its feedstock.

SIBUR’s production facilities are located in over 20 Russian regions and employ around 22,000 employees. The company’s products are used in the chemical, fast-moving consumer goods, automotive, construction, energy and other industries in 80 countries worldwide. According to Forbes magazine's ranking of Russian companies by revenue for 2019, Sibur was the 13th-largest in Russia.

The company has international presence: an office in Vienna, five offices in China, and an office in Istanbul. SIBUR has an extensive portfolio of clients in key regions for the company – Russia, Europe and China.

As of today, SIBUR is a leading emerging markets petrochemical group and the largest petrochemical producer in the Russian market, according to IHS.

SIBUR’s newest petrochemicals facility ZapSibNeftekhim ranks in Top-5 largest petrochemicals projects in the world and is Europe’s largest petrochemicals plant by capacity.

The Group is currently working on a new project Amur Gas Chemical Complex, which is set to become the largest base polymer facility globally by capacity.

SIBUR has three operating segments: two petrochemicals sub-segments – olefins & polyolefins and plastics, elastomers & intermediates – and a midstream (LPG, naphtha, natural gas) segment. These business segments vary in their end-user markets, supply and demand trends, value drivers, and, consequently, their profitability, however, they are highly integrated with most of the feedstock for the petrochemicals business supplied by the company’s own Midstream segment.

At the core of the group’s operations is the Midstream segment. SIBUR acquires by-products of oil and gas extraction (APG and raw NGL) and transports them to gas processing plants (GPP) and gas fractionation units (GFU). GPPs process APG to produce marketable natural gas, as well as raw NGLs feedstock, while GFUs fractionate NGLs to produce LPG and naphtha, which are the main feedstock for petrochemical production.

The LPG and naphtha produced by SIBUR is then either sold externally or secured as feedstock for the Group’s petrochemical business.

SIBUR's feedstock processing infrastructure includes seven out of the nine existing GPPs in Western Siberia, five compressor stations and three gas fractionation units.

Midstream facilities:

• Yuzhno-Balykskiy GPP based in Ugra region)
• Belozerniy GPP based in Nizhnevartovsk
• Gubkinskiy GPP based in Gubkinskiy
• Vyngapurovskiy GPP based in Purovskiy region
• Nizhnevartovskiy GPP based in Nizhnevartovsk
• Yuzhno-Priobskiy GPP (50%) (joint venture with Gazprom Neft Group)
• Zapsibtransgaz based in Nizhnevartovsk

SIBUR uses NGL to create olefins, which are then turned into polyethylene and polypropylene via polymerisation. Polypropylene is also used to produce BOPP films, which is an important material for packaging.

O&P facilities:

• ZapSibNeftekhim (100%)
• Poliom (50%, JV with Gazprom Neft Group)
• BIAXPLEN (100%)
• Tomskneftekhim (100%)
• NPP Neftekhimia (50%) (joint venture with Gazprom Neft Group)
• Sibur-Kstovo (100%)
• RusVinyl (50%) (joint venture with SolVay).

SIBUR's PE&I facilities produce the following products:

• plastics and organic synthesis products (PET, glycols, expandable polystyrene, DOTP, alcohols and acrylates)
• elastomers (rubbers)
• methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and fuel additives
• intermediates

These are used in the chemicals, FMCG, construction, automotive, agriculture and other industries.

• Sibur-Neftekhim
• Sibur-Khimprom
• Polief
• Sibur-PETF
• Voronezhsintezkauchuk
• Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (100%, JV with SINOPEC through Sibur-Sinopec Rubber Holding Company Limited, 74.99%)
• Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited (25.10%) (joint venture with Reliance Industries Limited).

AK Sibur, the group's predecessor, was established by government decree in March 1995. The integration was underpinned by the production cooperation of petrochemical enterprises from the former Soviet Union (FSU), while Gazprom became the driving force of petrochemical asset consolidation around SIBUR. Although petrochemicals were not its core business, the gas company embarked on the mission set by the government to create a powerful national player in the deep hydrocarbon conversion market.

In 1995, the new company absorbed gas processing plants and infrastructure assets of Sibneftegazpererabotka; Permsky Gas Processing Plant producing petrochemical products and NIPIgaspererabotka, a design institute.

In 1998, in addition to Gazprom, entrepreneur Yakov Goldovsky became a co-owner and head of SIBUR. Towards the end of 1998, AK Sibur started its transformation into a vertically integrated petrochemical holding with a full production chain from the processing of raw materials through to the manufacture of finished goods. AK Sibur subsequently built up assets by buying stakes in petrochemical companies all over Russia, including some 60 companies. As a result, the company accumulated huge debts in excess of USD 1 bn with no finance to repay them.

By 2001, Gazprom had acquired a 51% stake in AK Sibur, thus gaining control of the company. In 2003, Alexander Dyukov was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of AK Sibur, and a new management team was formed. Under new management, the company improved its operational and financial results and reached an agreement with its creditors.

In 2005, in accordance with a debt restructuring plan, AK Sibur established SIBUR Holding (whose legal successor is today's SIBUR), which consolidated all the assets of AK Sibur. A 25% interest in SIBUR was sold to Gazprom, and the remaining 75% was sold to Gazprombank, while the proceeds were used to repay the debt owed to Gazprom. In December 2005, AK Sibur Holding was renamed SIBUR Holding.

In 2007, Gazprom, as part of its strategy to exit from non-core businesses, disposed of its interest in the company by selling its 25% stake to the Gazfond private pension fund. In 2008, Gazprombank attempted to sell its 75% stake in the group as a part of a management buyout. However, the sale was not completed due to the unavailability of financing. In a series of transactions completed between November 2010 and November 2011, Leonid Mikhelson, a Russian entrepreneur and a co-owner of NOVATEK, acquired a controlling stake in the group. That same year energy trader Gennady Timchenko, ex-co-owner of Gunvor trading house, acquired a 37.5% stake in SIBUR. Between 2012 and 2017, there were several changes in shares. In 2013 member of Board Kirill Shamalov bought 3,8% shares of the company. As a result, Mikhelson's equity interest totalled 42.23% of the Group's share capital, Timchenko’s stake stands at 17%, Kirill Shamalov has 3,9%; Chinese Sinopec and Silk Road Fund got 10% each and the total stake of current and former managers amounted to 10.6%.

Since 2011, SIBUR completed a number of selective divestments, selling its tyre and mineral fertiliser businesses. Instead, the company focused on investing in polymers. At the end of December 2011, SIBUR exited SIBUR-Russian Tyres, having sold a 75% stake to the company's management and the remaining stake to the partners of Vadim Gurinov, the CEO of SIBUR-Russian Tyres. At the end of December 2011, SIBUR sold its mineral fertiliser assets to Uralchem (Mineral Fertilisers, Perm) and Siberian Business Union (Kemerovo Azot and Angarsk Azotno-Tukovy Zavod).

After the decision has been made to focus on polymer business the company started investing into the expansion of the midstream infrastructure, which, once in place, would provide the necessary feedstock for SIBUR’s polymer facilities. Overall, between 2012 and 2019, the Company completed 14 large-scale investment projects, with total capital expenditures amounting to 210 billion roubles. The expansion and modernisation of its assets allowed the Company to capitalise on growth opportunities in both gas processing and petrochemical markets in Russia. The new strategy was supported by the rebuilding of the company’s management in 2016, replacement of a CFO and the devolving of power to regional operations. It provides more efficient way of management when important solutions can be made operatively without long way of approval from central office.

The first expansion stage included the construction of an extensive transport infrastructure, including pipelines to deliver APG, as well as an increase in gas processing fractionation capacities.

In 2012, the Yuzhno-Balykskiy gas processing plant launched a low-temperature condensation and rectification unit.

In 2014, SIBUR completed construction of the linear part of the Purovsky GCP–Tobolsk–Neftekhim product pipeline, which has a total length of 1,100 kilometres.

In 2014, SIBUR commissioned the second fractionation unit, which made the total capacity of the Tobolsk site hit 6.6 mtpa up from 3.8 mtpa in 2011. In 2016, SIBUR completed another project aimed at further expansion of the gas fractionation capacity in Tobolsk from 6.6 to 8 million tonnes a year.

In 2016, Stage 2 of the Vyngapurovsky GPP was commissioned.

As a result, SIBUR's gas processing capacity grew to 25 bcm in 2016, while the recovery of desired fractions in APG processing increased to over 90% in 2016.

By 2020, SIBUR is planning to launch ZapSibNeftekhim on the basis of the Tobolsk Production Site which is to become Russia's largest petrochemical complex, permitting SIBUR to double polymer production.

Polyolefins

In 2013, SIBUR launched a new world-class polypropylene (PP) plant in Tobolsk (previously named Tobolsk-Polymer), one of the largest PP facilities globally and No 1 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). With an annual capacity of 500 kilotonnes of PP, the plant significantly increased the Group's polyolefins production capacity.

In 2014, production was started at the RusVinyl plant.

That same year, SIBUR made a final investment decision to proceed with ZapSibNeftekhim (ZapSib) - the largest state-of-the-art petrochemical facility in Russia and one of the five largest global investment projects in the petrochemical industry. The project envisaged greenfield construction of a new world-class petrochemical complex in Tobolsk, within SIBUR's petrochemical hub, that would include an ethylene cracker with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes and polyolefins production (annual PE capacity of 1.5 million tonnes and annual PP capacity of 0.5 million tonnes). Construction started in 2015.

In 2019, the company completed construction and start-up procedures at all of ZapSib's production and processing facilities ahead of schedule, and production of PP and PE got under way.

Gradually bringing ZapSib to full production capacity remains SIBUR's chief strategic priority in 2020. ZapSib reached 68% production capacity at the end of the first quarter of 2020, which is in line with industry benchmarks. During the quarter, ZapSib produced 115,000 tonnes of polypropylene and 259,000 tonnes of polyethylene. With the continued ramp-up, SIBUR expects a significant upside in EBITDA and cash flows from ZapSib in the near future.

The total investment budget for the ZapSib project was revised downwards from $9.5 billion to approximately $8.8 billion as of 31 March 2020. The Group has already invested $8.2 billion as of 31 March 2020, with residual capital expenditures estimated to be around $0.6 billion. The group had committed credit lines available for the project in the sum of $0.4 billion as of 31 March 2020.

In June 2019, SIBUR and Sinopec signed a distribution agreement to supply PE to China from the group's ZapSibNeftekhim plant.

Niche segments and new products

In 2012, second phase of AlphaporTM expandable polystyrene production line was officially launched at SIBUR’s production site in Perm. The design capacity of the new line is 50,000 tonnes of EPS per year, and with its launch the Company’s aggregate polystyrene design capacity in Perm has reached 100,000 tonnes per year.

In 2013 SIBUR commissioned its new chemical complex at Voronezh - Thermoplastic Elastomer Production (TEP) Plant. The new plant has increased Sibur’s production of TPEs from 35,000t yearly to 85,000t a year.

In 2018, SIBUR completed the construction phase of the production of TPE at its compounding site in Voronezh, which added an annual capacity of about 50,000 metric tonnes.

In September 2019, SIBUR and Sinopec signed a framework cooperation agreement to produce SEBS (styrene, ethylene and butylenebased block copolymers) and a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) production.

Therefore, SIBUR has begun works on a new major petrochemicals project Amur Gas Chemical Complex, a facility set to become one of the world’s largest and most advanced basic polymer producers.

On August 18, 2020, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and other officials including members of SIBUR top management oversaw the sinking of the first pile in the plant’s foundation via video link from the construction site in the Amur region.

The Amur GCC project envisages construction of a basic polymer production facility with a total capacity of 2.7 mtpa (2.3 mtpa of polyethylene and 400 ktpa of polypropylene). The facility will feature a unique and the world's largest cracking unit for the first-stage processing of incoming feedstock.

Amur GCC will be launched in synch with the gradual ramp-up of Gazprom's Amur Gas Processing Plant to its full capacity, so that the latter could supply ethane and LPG to Amur GCC for processing into high value-added products. SIBUR and Gazprom signed agreements in May 2018 and September 2019, respectively, on long-term ethane (final) and LPG (preliminary) supplies totalling 3.5 million tonnes per annum.

The completion of construction and commissioning is scheduled for 2024–2025. Once in operation, Amur GCC will give a major boost to the growth of non-commodity exports, as Amur GCC’s polymer production capacity is 1.35 times higher than total polymer exports in 2019.

SIBUR considers Amur project to be another potential pillar of the company's expansion in the higher-value-added petrochemicals segment. This project would develop petrochemicals production in Eastern Siberia based on ethane and LPG feedstock expected to be supplied from Gazprom's Amur GPP to SIBUR's Amur GCC.

SIBUR will develop the Amur GCC through a joint venture with Sinopec, one of the world's leading petroleum and petrochemical holdings and SIBUR's long-standing partner. Sinopec got 40% in this project.

In 2018, SIBUR has launched the construction of a maleic anhydride (MAN) production facility at SIBUR Tobolsk. Maleic anhydride is used in the construction, agriculture, automotive, paint and varnish, furniture, pharmaceutical and other industries. It serves as feedstock for films, synthetic fibres, pharmaceuticals, detergents, fuel components and oils. MAN improves the durability of end products, enhances their waterproof properties, resistance to temperature stress and mechanical impacts. With a planned capacity is 45 ktpa, the facility is scheduled to go online in 2021, bringing new high-tech jobs to the market. MAN is currently not produced in Russia and domestic demand is covered by imports.

SIBUR is also working on a TPE expansion project: ramping up trial production of thermoplastic elastomers (SBS polymers) at SIBUR’s Voronezh site.

In 2013, SIBUR first entered the global debt capital market, placing its debut eurobond, due in 2018, raising $1 billion in gross proceeds. In October 2017, the company successfully completed an offering of $500 million in eurobonds due in 2023. In October 2018, the Group bought back approximately USD 192 million of its notes due 2018 in a tender offer.

On 23 September 2019, the group floated $500 million in five-year eurobonds on the Irish Stock Exchange. The bonds are due in 2024 with an annual interest rate of 3.45%. Total demand exceeded $1.3 billion. The offering saw the company's bonds purchased by global investors, more than half of whom were not Russian. On 1 July 2020, the company had raised USD 500 m following the offering of 5-year Eurobonds on the Irish Stock Exchange. The coupon rate is 2.95%, which is a record low for Russian corporate issuers.

Besides eurobonds, SIBUR organised a RUB 15 bn BO-01 and BO-02 series exchange-traded bond placement. The semi-annual coupon rate of the BO-01 and BO-02 bonds was fixed at 5.50%, making it the lowest-ever rate for a market placement by a Russian corporate issuer. On 7 July 2021, SIBUR organized a RUB 10 bn BO-03 series exchange-traded bond placement. The books closed at the lower end of the final guidance range, with the coupon set at 7.65% per annum and the issue enjoying best-in-class distribution at this coupon rate. The issue achieved the narrowest spread to OFZs (ruble-denominated Russian Treasury bonds) on the local bond market in the company’s history.

In February 2018, the credit rating agency Moody's upgraded SIBUR's rating to Baa3.

In June 2019, Fitch Ratings upgraded SIBUR's rating to BBB- from BB+, judging the company's outlook to be stable.

In August 2019, Standard & Poor's gave SIBUR a BBB- rating. As a result, the company now has investment-grade credit ratings from all of the Big Three credit rating agencies.

In May 2020, Standard & Poor's affirmed SIBUR’s credit ratings at investment grade and revised outlook to negative which indicated the risk of a delayed recovery in petrochemical pricing in 2021. In June 2021, Fitch and Moody's affirmed SIBUR’s credit ratings at investment grade with outlook stable.

Rumours of an initial public offering (IPO) have been reported in the media numerous times. By the end of July 2018, it became clear that the SIBUR was considering an IPO. Several sources in the sector reported that SIBUR was holding talks with banks about an offering. Discussions involved floating 10–15% of the company's shares. In September 2018, Dmitry Konov suggested that the company might list 15% of its shares in the second quarter of 2019.

In June 2019, Konov announced that the long-anticipated IPO would take place no sooner than 2020 and suggested Moscow as the main venue for the listing. In February 2020, Konov stated that he did not believe the IPO would be held in 2020 due to the current economic climate. In April 2021 Sibur and TAIF have announced a consolidation of their petrochemical businesses. Konov stated the IPO would not take place until the deal is closed.

In the event an IPO takes place, SIBUR's shares could become a new blue-chip stock in the Russian market.

In 2009, SIBUR acquired a 50% stake in BIAXPLEN, a Russian producer of BOPP films. In March 2012, SIBUR gained control of the BIAXPLEN group of companies by increasing its stake from 50% to 100%. At the time of the acquisition, production facilities belonging to the BIAXPLEN group comprised three plants located in the Nizhny Novgorod, Kursk and Moscow regions with a total annual capacity of 78,000 metric tonnes of commodity films.

In 2011, SIBUR acquired JSC Acrylate, the only CIS-based producer of acrylic acid and its esters, from ATEK Group.

In July 2019, SIBUR and Gazprom Neft consolidated 100% of the authorised capital in Poliom, a polypropylene plant in Omsk. Sibgazpolimer, a joint venture between the two companies, has signed an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in Poliom from the Titan Group.

In November 2019, Tatneft completed the purchase of SIBUR's petrochemical facilities in Tolyatti (SIBUR Togliatti and JSC Togliattisintez).

In April 2021, Sibur bought a controlling stake in oil and gas refiner company TAIF with a view to consolidate the assets. The deal sets to be closed by the end of September 2021, while the merge of Sibur and TAIF is inspecting by European Commission.

In October 2021 Sibur bought 100% of shares of TAIG group, the deal been approved by European Commission. The whole TAIF group is appraised at 26,8 billion dollars, its majority interest - at 4 billion dollars, and the rest of the shares - at 3 billion dollars. The deal should also reduce stakes of Sibur`s majority stakeholders. The share of Leonid Mikhelson - from 36 to 31%, Gennady Timchenko - from 17 to 14,45%, the stake of current and ex-top-management - from 14,5 to 12,325%, Sogaz - from 12,5 to 10,625%, Silk road Fund and Sinopec - from 10 to 8,5%.

In 2015, the company welcomed its first foreign investor after a deal was closed in December that made Sinopec a strategic investor in SIBUR with the purchase of a 10% stake from SIBUR's shareholders. The deal was one of the first steps in building a long-standing relationship between the Russian and Chinese companies.

In January 2017, the Silk Road Fund, a Chinese investment fund, acquired a 10% stake in SIBUR from SIBUR's shareholders.

In July 2020, the company revised its dividend policy for the period starting from 2020, increasing dividend payouts from 35% of net profit to not less than 50% of adjusted net profit.

In June 2007, SIBUR established RusVinyl, a 50/50 joint venture with SolVin Holding Nederland. The joint venture was established to construct a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant with an annual capacity of 330 kilotonnes of PVC and 225 kilotonnes of caustic soda.

In February 2012, SIBUR entered into a joint venture arrangement with Reliance Industries Limited, which established a joint venture called Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited, in which SIBUR owns a 25.1% stake. The joint venture was established for the development of a butyl rubber production facility in India with an annual capacity of 120 kilotonnes. It started production in 2015 and become operational in 2020. Now this is the region’s first butyl rubber halogenation plant. In addition, Sibur agreed to share proprietary butyl rubber technology, staff training and access to the complex equipment of polymerization reactors, which is unprecedented for a Russian company and marks a unique case of partnership between the two countries.

In August 2013, SIBUR and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) entered into a joint venture developed on the site of the Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (KZSK), where Sinopec purchased a stake of 25% plus one share in KZSK.

In 2018, SIBUR Group established a 50/50 joint venture, PTC, with SG-Trans, a major Russian railway operator.

In September 2019, the group acquired a 50% stake in Manucor, which became a 50/50 joint venture between the Group and PS Film, a member of the PillarStone Fund, a BOPP films producer located in Italy.

On June 5, 2019, SIBUR and Sinopec signed a Term Sheet for a potential Joint Venture that could be based at Amur Gas Chemical Complex. Subject to SIBUR's final investment decision, Sinopec is expected to have a 40% share in the JV. The final investment decision for the project is still under consideration and is dependent on Sinopec's entering the joint venture and Russian government’s decision to implement a negative excise tax on ethane and LPG. The Ministry of Finance is finalizing the text of the draft amendments to the Tax Code. In its extended configuration Amur GCC is projected to operate a world-scale cracker together with polyolefin units with a total capacity of 2.7 mtpa (2.3 million tonnes of PE and 0.4 million tonnes of PP). In September 2019, SIBUR signed a gas supply deal with Gazprom, which would allow Amur plant to increase potential output by 80% to reach the extended configuration.

In april 2021 SIBUR announced merger with another key company on the Russian petrochemical market - Tatarstan based holding TAIF. After the merger is completed, the united company will become one of the TOP-5 world’s petrochemical companies according to experts.

In December 2021, RusVinyl plant got a new CEO, Marc-Andre Lahalle, as a substitute for Guenther Nadolny after 10 years of service of leadership of the German top-manager. The new CEO has been already worked for the joint venture of Sibur and "Solvay" from 2009 to 2014 as deputy CEO and as production director as well, before moving to Solvay Indupa in Brazil and in Argentina and also to Solvay Silica as COO. As per Guenther Nadolny, he`s retiring from active business career.

As of December 2019, ownership of SIBUR was divided as follows: Leonid Mikhelson, 48.5%; Gennady Timchenko, 17.0%; current and former managers of SIBUR Holding, 14.5%; Sinopec, 10%; Silk Road Fund, 10%.

In December 2021, Mubadala Investment Company confirmed the purchase of 1,9% of SIBUR Holding, its local partner, being the biggest investment of the state-owned fund in Russian economy.

Management Board PJSC SIBUR Holding:

Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board

Mikhail Karisalov, member of the Management Board

Alexey Kozlov, member of the Management Board

Sergey Lukichev, member of the Management Board

Alexander Petrov, member of the Management Board

Kirill Shamalov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board

Vladimir Razumov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board.

In 2019, SIBUR ranked 39th in the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies Rating by revenue.

SIBUR is one of the best employers in Russia – the hh.ru rating of Russian employers ranked the company third among the country's 100 best employers in 2019.

Between 2012 and 2017, SIBUR demonstrated the highest increase (+54%) in labour productivity among Russian companies according to ACRA Rating Agency.

Randstad's rating recognises SIBUR as the most attractive employer in the chemical industry.

SIBUR received an international Customer eXperience World Award in the "Best customer experience in b2b" category among industrial companies in 2020 and 2021.

Dmitrov located 65 kilometers (40 mi) to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Moscow Canal.

Population: 61,305 (2010 Census); 62,219 (2002 Census); 65,237 (1989 Census)

History

Dmitrov is one of the oldest urban areas in Moscow oblast. The town was originally founded by Yury Dolgoruky in 1154, where his son Vsevolod was born. Its name is explained by the fact that Vsevolod's patron saint was St. Demetrius.

In the 13th century, the settlement marked a point where the borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tver, and Pereslavl-Zalessky converged. The settlement itself belonged to the princes of Galich-Mersky, located much to the north, until 1364, when it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Both Dmitry Donskoy and his grandson Vasily II granted Dmitrov as an appanage to their younger sons, so Dmitrov was the capital of a tiny principality. In 1374, it was given town rights.

The reign of Ivan III's son Yury Ivanovich (1503–1533) inaugurated the golden age of Dmitrov. It is during his reign that the black-domed Assumption Cathedral in the kremlin and a smaller monastery cathedral of Sts. Boris and Gleb were built. Thereafter, the town passed to Yury's brother, Andrey of Staritsa. In 1569, it was seized from Vladimir of Staritsa, added to the Oprichnina and consequently went into a decline. The town suffered further damage during the Time of Troubles, when it was ransacked by the Poles.

The Vvedenskaya Church dates from the 1760s

In 1812, Dmitrov was briefly occupied by the Grande Armée. The Anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin spent his last years there after the Russian Revolution. In the 1930s, the local kremlin was excavated by Soviet archaeologists. In November 1941, German troops occupied the town and crossed the Moscow-Volga Canal from there.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Dmitrov serves as the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with eighty rural localities, incorporated within Dmitrovsky District as the Town of Dmitrov As a municipal division, the Town of Dmitrov is incorporated within Dmitrovsky Municipal District as Dmitrov Urban Settlement.

Transportation

Dmitrov is a railway junction of the Moscow (Savyolovsky terminal)–Savyolovo branch and the Dmitrov–Alexandrov branch. The railway provides an efficient service to Moscow. Dmitrov is also a cargo port on the Moscow Canal.

Bus routes connect Dmitrov with Moscow (Altufyevo), Sergiyev Posad, Dubna, Taldom, Lobnya, Laryovo, and other destinations.

Miscellaneous

• Dmitrov's altitude above sea level is 179 meters (587 ft).
• In a national competition in 2005, Dmitrov was recognized as the best-run town in Russia.
• t.A.T.u. shot their video for Nas Ne Dagoniat (Not Gonna Get Us) in Dmitrov

Natura Siberica aims to provide natural products made from wild Siberian plants and herbs. It was founded by Andrey Trubnikov in 2008. As of 2017 Natura Siberica operates 70 own brand stores, and sells its products in more than 40 countries. As of March 2019 Natura Siberica produces up to 200 different products, including products for body, skin, hair, and makeup which are sold in 60 countries.

The company operates three plants in Russia, and in 2014 it set up a production facility in a former Coca-Cola plant in Estonia. Overall, the company employs about 4,000 people.

Andrey Trubnikov passed away intestate on 7 January 2021, due to consequences of chronic diseases.

Trubnikov's loss provoked a huge corporate dispute, because his 60% stake was automatically put under trust and crisis management and 40% stake belongs to his 1st wife, Irina Trubnikova. On the 1st of September 2021, Natura Siberica stopped the production and sales of several company's trademarks and 80 retail stores were closed, after OU Good Design of Irina Trubnikova terminated the multi-license contract with "Pervoye Reshenie", main legal entity of Natura Siberica, as well as with Natura Siberica operational company.

On 21 May 2020, a huge fire accident took place at Dmitrovsky pilot plant of aluminium tin tapes in facilities, rented by Natura Siberica. The plant was inevitably almost burnt. Two claims were put at the Arbitration court by the plant as well as by En+Recycling company, whose claim was subsequently replaced by Ingosstrakh. In August 2021, according to the court's decision, all belongings of "Pervoye Reshenie", main legal entity of Natura Siberica company, was put under arrest. Two employees of Natura Siberica were also found guilty.

In September 2021, the Arbitration court of Moscow region charged Natura Siberica to pay about 2,9 billion roubles, upholding in part the claim of Ingosstrakh (1,494 billion roubles instead of 1,5) and of Dmitrovsky pilot plant of aluminium tin tapes (1,365 billion roubles instead of 2,7), both related to Oleg Deripaska. Only a couple days after, Natura Siberica put three claims, one of them being about 1,67 billion roubles, in the Arbitration court of Moscow against Irina Trubnikova, co-owner of the company and 1st wife of Andrey Trubnikov, as well as against her Estonian-based company, OU Good Design. The respondent party is supposed to make detrimental actions for Natura Siberica reputation and financial health by funneling abroad its underpriced trademarks in 2020. At the end of September 2021, Natura Siberica fired Irina Trubnikova with dismissal for absence without leave and for injuries to the business.

In January 2022, Natura Siberica production resumed its activity in Dmitrov under the new CEO of all holding`s companies, Felix Lieb, former Sistema top-manager.