Mikhail Balakin

Mikhail Dmitrievich Balakin (Russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Балакин, born April 20, 1961) is a Russian billionaire, and chairman of the SU-155 group of companies.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Mikhail Balakin was born to a family of builders. He graduated the Kuibyshev Moscow State University of Civil Engineering with a degree in civil engineering and a concentration in heat and gas supply and ventilation.^[3]

Career

He worked his way up from master to chief engineer over the following eight years. In 1990 he was named director of Construction Management No. 155 (SU-155).

He became co-owner and general director of SU-155 when the company became a publicly traded entity in 1993.^[1][4][5]

In 2000 he moved to work in the Moscow mayor’s office, where he was responsible for the construction of municipal projects and the renovation of substandard (dilapidated) housing. The Moscow International House of Music, the new stage for the Bolshoi Theatre, Square of Europe near the Kiyevsky railway station and the MGU Library^[6] were remodelled while he was working for the mayor of Moscow.^[7]

After deciding to leave the mayor’s office in 2005, he returned to the helm of SU-155, where he is the chairman.

Business

Balakin is the majority shareholder of the SU-155 Group of companies,^[8] comprising over 80 industrial and construction businesses. SU-155 revenue in 2013 rose by 35% to 114.2 billion roubles.

Balakin was one of the shareholders of NS Bank,^[9] but he sold his shares in the bank in April 2013.^[10][11]

He divested himself his assets in management companies that were originally part of the SU-155 Group in 2014 in order to concentrate on the core business of the Group.^[12][13]

Status

Included in Forbes rating of richest Russian businessmen since 2005 (except for 2009), and in Forbes global rating since 2010:^[14]

• in 50th place of 100 richest businessmen in Russia for 2005, with assets worth $550 million;^[15]
• in 57th place of 100 richest Russian businessmen in 2006, with assets worth $800 million;^[16]
• in 53rd place of 100 richest Russian businessmen in 2007, with assets worth $1.2 billion;^[17][18]
• in 34th place of 100 richest Russian businessmen in 2008, with assets worth $4 billion;^[19]
• did not appear in list of 100 richest Russian businessmen in 2009;^[20]
• in 41st place of 100 richest Russian businessmen in 2010^[21] and 616th place in Forbes global rating,^[22] with assets worth $1.6 billion;
• in 40th place of 200 richest Russian businessmen in 2011^[23] and 512th place in Forbes global rating,^[24] with assets worth $2.3 billion;
• in 46th place of 200 richest Russian businessmen in 2012^[25] and 683rd place in Forbes global rating,^[26] with assets worth $1.9 billion;
• in 57th place of 200 richest Russian businessmen in 2013^[27] and 831st place in Forbes global rating,^[28] with assets worth $1.8 billion;^[4]
• in 52nd place of 200 richest Russian businessmen in 2014, with assets worth $1.9 billion.^[29]

Social and political activity

Balakin has been a member of the Public Council of the Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector since 2014.

Philanthropy

Balakin and the SU-155 Group of companies that he heads are actively involved in the construction and restoration of churches.

Between 2002 and 2005, the SU-155 Group of companies restored the cathedral of St. Nicholas of Myra (the White St. Nicholas) in Serpukhov (Moscow region), founded in the sixteenth century; the cathedral was restored based on sketches and photographs.^[30]

Between 2009 and 2012, the Naval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt was restored, having been closed in 1929 and used as a movie theater, housing for officers in the Baltic Fleet, a concert hall and a branch of the Central Naval Museum in Soviet times.

Construction of a new church in Shcherbinka (Moscow) proceeded in 2014 with the support of Mikhail Balakin and the SU-155 Group – the church containing the icon of Our Lady “Queen of All Creation”, which had been halted earlier after repair of the foundation and when funds collected for the construction ran out.

Restoration was begun in 2014 on the church of St. Nicholas in Butki in Serpukhov (Moscow region). The church was closed in Soviet times and gradually fell into ruin.

Along with the churches mentioned, the SU-155 Group has laid the foundation and built the church of the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary in Yasenevo (Moscow) and the church of the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary in Ivanovo, as well as restoring the Sunday school for the church of Sts. Boris and Gleb in Zyuzino (Moscow) and the church of Holy Father Sergius of Radonezh in Verkhnyaya Vereya (Nizhny Novgorod region).^[30]

Awards and prizes

Awards have been presented at various times by the Russian Orthodox Church: the Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow III class in 2005, the Order of Holy Father Serafim of Sarov III class in 2007, the Medal of Holy Prince George Vsevolodovich III class and the Order of Holy Father Serafim of Sarov II class in 2014.^[31] He was awarded the title “Builder Emeritus of the Russian Federation” in 2008.

He was awarded the Order of Honour in 2014.^[32][33]

Family

Balakin is married and has one daughter.^[1]

Hobbies

Balakin enjoys skiing, collecting wines, and playing chess.

See also

• SU-155

References

External links

• Official biography of Mikhail Balakin on the homepage SU-155 (in English)
• Ekaterina Gerashchenko. «По-моему, цена на жилье и так запредельная» (interview with Mikhail Balakin) Kommersant, 22.04.2014. (in Russian)
• Ekaterina Gerashchenko. «I Think Housing Is Overpriced» (interview with Mikhail Balakin) Kommersant, 22.04.2014. (in English)