Andrey Molchanov

Famous for

Founder and primary shareholder of LSR Group, one of Russia’s leading construction holding companies. Former senator in the Federation Council representing Leningrad Region.

Assets

LSR Group is one of the biggest developers and manufacturers of construction materials in Russia. The company’s revenue for 2022 amounted to 91 billion rubles (about $1.358 billion). Its value as of the beginning of 2024 is approximately 101 billion rubles ($1.1 billion). As of 2023, Andrey Molchanov and his son owned 66.1% of the holding company’s shares.
He owned a 74-metre yacht called Aurora worth €130 million (about 9.1 billion rubles). The boat has been up for sale as of 2022.
Believed to be the owner of a Bombardier Global 5000 private jet with an estimated value of $50.4 million (about 4.59 billion rubles).

Interests and hobbies

Some media outlets report that Molchanov collects paintings.
The entrepreneur has also established a family museum of historical daily life in his great-grandfather’s house.

Professional history

Born on 24 September 1971 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg).

Molchanov graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 1993. His stepfather was vice-rector of the university at the time, and future President Vladimir Putin was assistant to the rector.

That same year Molchanov bought Stroydetal, a construction products company, as part of a privatization programme.

In 1994, he ran for a seat in parliament representing the party of government reformer Yegor Gaidar, but was defeated. From the mid-1990s, he participated in various political movements associated with Sergey Mironov, the future leader of the Just Russia party.

In 1994, he founded the Vozrozhdenie Peterburga (‘Revival of Saint Petersburg’) construction company to reconstruct and restore buildings.

In 1996 Molchanov bought LenStroyRekonstruktsiya (LSR), previously the main developer operating in central Saint Petersburg. The company’s name was soon adopted by the businessman’s entire group of companies.

Throughout the 1990s, Molchanov’s company acquired a number of companies in Saint Petersburg and the surrounding region involved in the production of bricks and reinforced concrete, as well as the mining of ores and sand. By the early 2000s, LSR Group had become one of the largest players in this market throughout the region.

In 1998, he completed his second higher education programme at the Russian Academy of Public Administration (now the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, RANEPA).

In 2001, the group entered the large-scale housing development segment. In the same year, Molchanov founded Mosstroyrekonstruktsiya, a construction company in Moscow, in order to expand the business to the capital region.

In 2003, he was awarded a doctorate in economics.

In 2007, Molchanov stepped down as head of LSR Group and was named Russia’s Assistant Minister for Health and Public Development.

A year later he became a senator in the Federation Council, representing Leningrad Region. Molchanov left his post in early 2013, when a law banning officials from owning property abroad was passed. He returned to running his holding company.

In 2014, LSR Group won an auction for 65 hectares of the former ZiL plant in Moscow. The redevelopment project provides for the construction of 1.57 million square metres of real estate.

Since 2018, Molchanov’s son Egor has held various management positions at LSR Group. In 2023, his father transferred 10% of the company’s shares to his son.

Since 2022, Molchanov has been under sanctions imposed by Ukraine for activities in areas of the economy that generate income for warfare.

In 2024, Molchanov was added to Canada’s sanctions lists and left his management positions at LSR Group.

Deals and ventures

$772 million (about 19.3 billion rubles) were earned by the shareholders of LSR Group when they sold 12.5% of the company’s shares during its IPO on the London and Russian stock exchanges in 2007.
28 billion rubles (about $736 million) was paid by Molchanov’s organizations in 2014 for the right to develop and redevelop 65 hectares of the former ZiL plant in Moscow. In 2022, LSR Group companies bought another 25.9 hectares of land in the area for 3.7 billion rubles (about $54 million).
Molchanov planned to invest up to 4 billion rubles (about $65.5 million) in 2015 to create the Hermitage-Moscow contemporary art centre in Moscow in cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum. In 2023, the Hermitage withdrew from the project, but LSR Group decided not to abandon the creation of the centre.
€56.7 million (about 3.68 billion rubles) is the estimated investment made in a hotel complex in Leipzig, which LSR Group began constructing in 2017 in cooperation with Germany’s S&G Development GmbH.
According to expert estimates, more than 5 billion rubles (about $58.8 million) was earned by LSR Group from the sale of 2.2 hectares of land on Petrovsky Island in Saint Petersburg in 2023.

Achievements

Ranked first in the rating of the 100 best top-level managers of the year according to the Delovoy Peterburg newspaper in 2017.
In 2017, he was recognized as the most influential businessman in Saint Petersburg by Fontanka.ru and Gorod 812.
He is the recipient of numerous state awards, including a second class Medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland, and a Medal In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg. He holds the titles Honourable Builder of Russia and Honourable Citizen of the Leningrad Region.

Criticism and disputes

Russian Forbes reported that Molchanov had connections at the top of the government and that they could have helped him build his business. The businessman himself denied this.
In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine seized assets belonging to Andrey Molchanov worth 4.08 billion rubles (about $60 million). Among them were two aerated concrete plants belonging to the Aerok company, part of LSR Group.
In 2023, Molchanov sought the bankruptcy of Vyacheslav Leibman, the founder of the Fenix holding company, through the courts. The latter owed Molchanov $1 million (about 58 million rubles) in 2017 and failed to repay it.

Attitudes to Russian–Ukrainian conflict

Has not spoken out publicly.

Community work

In 2011, together with Forbes billionaires Vasily Anisimov and Arkady Rotenberg, Molchanov established the Foundation for the Preservation of the Spiritual Heritage of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. The foundation prepared for the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Orthodox saint by erecting monuments in Astana, Minsk, Simferopol and on the Kulikovo Field, made a film about Sergius of Radonezh, and financed the restoration of the Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius.
LSR Group is actively involved in charitable activities. Since 2010, together with the Children are Waiting charitable foundation, the holding has helped 5,000 orphans to find a home. In 2022, the company built a temporary sheltered accommodation called Like Home for people with disabilities. The company also runs inclusive children’s art centres.
In 2022, Molchanov allocated $2.5 million (approximately 170 million rubles) for the restoration of architect Konstantin Melnikov’s house in Krivoarbatsky pereulok in Moscow.

Additional information

Married, six children.

Source for information: Forbes.com, Forbes.ru, Bloomberg.com, Kommersant.ru, Tadviser.ru, Fontanka.ru, Dzen.ru