Barber bogies from Tikhvin

Railway Gazette, 25 february 2010

RUSSIA: Testing has begun of prototype 18-9855 Barber S-2-R wagon bogies produced at the Tikhvin Railway Car Building Plant, which is being developed by ICT Group to introduce international technologies to the Russian wagon market. The bogies are designed for 25 tonne axleloads, and follow the 18-9810 bogies designed for 23•5 tonnes.

Russian miner Polymetal eyes new projects

Reuters, 10 July 2008

* plans to acquire promising deposits in

* expects EBITDA to triple in 2008

* believes company undervalued at $2.5 billion

ICT gets in a mine in Kazakhstan

Kommersant, #300, 8 December 2006

ICT Group and the ’s Oriel Resources Plc. closed the deal yesterday to merge ICT’s metallurgical asset – Tikhvin Ferroalloy Works – and Oriel’s Voskhod, one of the largest chromite fields in the world.

Nomos poised for big change

Vedomosti, #225, 29 November 2006

NOMOS BANK is planning to go ahead with its initial public offering in 2008, but before this happens, the bank’s majority holder ICT Group will earmark US $100m to help the bank develop its retail business and win more corporate clients among medium-sized companies. Yesterday, Ilya Yuzhanov was replaced as chair of the NOMOS BANK Supervisory Council by Nikolai Dobrinov, Vice President of ICT Group and co-owner of NOMOS BANK. Yuzhanov will continue as a director at large, while Dobrinov will have to shoulder the responsibility of making the bank’s new, ambitious five-year plan work.

ICT Group finds money in Kazakhstan

Kommersant, #223, 29 November 2006

The Eurasian Development Bank to pay for the development of the Voskhod mine.

ICT Group co-owner Alexander Nesis and Ingosstrakh co-owner Alexander Mamut have landed a financing solution to develop Voskhod, one of the largest chromite ore deposits in the world. As Kommersant has found out, ’s Oriel Resources Plc., which Nesis and Mamut are about to buy into, has sealed a deal with the Eurasian Development Bank (EADB) to secure the bank’s participation in the project. EADB has pledged US $60m to Oriel.

ICT fights for Nomos Bank

Vedomosti, #224, 28 November 2006

Ex-antitrust policy chief Ilya Yuzhanov may step down as chair of the Supervisory Council at Nomos Bank to be replaced by Nikolai Dobrinov, co-owner of ICT Group, which owns a majority stake in Nomos. The bank plans to rethink its entire strategy following the replacement.

ICT Group to dig in Kazakhstan

Kommersant, #170, 13 September 2006

As Kommersant has found out, ICT Group, controlled by Alexander Nesis, is talking to the ’s Oriel Resources Plc. about purchasing the Voskhod chromite mine in. According to analysts, even with high shipping costs, Voskhod will provide cheap raw materials for Tikhvin Ferroalloy Works, an ICT Group member.

According to a source close to ICT shareholders, the Group is negotiating the purchase of the Voskhod chromite field with its owner, the ’s Oriel Resources Plc. “They’ve been talking for about six months, and are now close to a deal. Mr. Nesis’ partner in this project, financier Alexander Mamut, is actually handling the talks. He’s probably in for a share,” the source told Kommersant. Another source with insider knowledge of the subject claimed the deal may be closed “in a matter of a month, or even a week.” He said the asset together with prospected ore deposits was worth around US $400m when purchased by Oriel, and the current buyer is “guided by that figure.” No other details are known.

ICT takes control of Nomos Bank

Vedomosti, #164, 4 September 2006

ICT Group, which holds 19.9% of shares in Nomos Bank, plans to bring its share up to 55.4% by the end of the year. ICT President Alexander Nesis and his Vices Alexey Gudaytis, Nikolai Dobrinov and Mikhail Ushakov stand as beneficiaries for the consolidated equity stake. Consolidation will be achieved through buyout from current shareholders, including Nomos co-founder Igor Finogenov, Nomos President Dmitry Sokolov, a few defense companies, the Russian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and others.

Developing Ideas

Expert Northwest, #6, 13 February 2006

Nikolai Dobrinov: “When massive replacement of railway vehicle fleets kicks off, we’ll be right there with our product.”

ICT Group divested itself of some of its key assets last year, having sold off the Polymetal mining company, Baltiyskiy Zavod, and Incotec Shipping.

My product is a business, not ships or gold nuggets

Vedomosti, #224, 29 November 2005

ICT Group CEO Alexander Nesis is set to manufacture new companies for sale.  

ICT Group has sold off most of its core assets in the past year. According to analysts, ICT shareholders have earned around US $1 billion from the sale of Baltiyskiy Zavod shipyard, Polymetal gold mining concern, and Interterminal logistics chain. Why is Alexander Nesis, ICT majority holder, so desperate for hard cash? Nesis told Vedomosti how he plans to spend his billion dollars, why he hates IPOs, and why nationalization is bad for business.

Ships and Metals

Forbes, June 2004

Alexander Nesis wanted to create a shipbuilding monopoly, but that did not work. He was more fortunate in gold and silver mining.

Alexander Nesis likes to do business on a grand scale. The two assets he has chosen to commit to are impressive. Baltiyskiy Zavod is a sprawling industrial complex on 65 hectares in downtown St. Petersburg, surrounded by a palisade of naval cranes. Hundreds of warships have been built here, from battleships for the 1905 Russo-Japanese War to the Peter the Great, the most recent nuclear-powered missile cruiser.

The second asset is Polymetal – an empire of mines and prospecting operations stretching from the Urals to the Kurile Islands, including the third largest silver deposit in the world.

These companies could be a self-perpetuating revenue base for their owner, but Nesis is not the kind of person to hold on to his assets forever. He has other things in mind.

When the contract is sealed, it’s tool late to invest

Vedomosti, #21, 10 February 2003

St. Petersburg . ICT Group has recently unveiled plans to set up a holding group, centered around Baltiyskiy Zavod, bringing together a number of naval engineering companies and Iceberg design bureau, a specialist designer of icebreakers. ICT President Alexander Nesis reckons that by consolidating specialist manufacturers, ICT Group will put itself in a better position to win hundreds of millions of dollars in export contracts.

Sitting on a Pot of Gold

Expert Northwest, #15, 27 August 2001

Alexander Nesis, General Director of ICT ZAO and Polymetal MNPO OAO, aspires to become ’s precious metals mogul.

The props and characters change so fast these days one can barely keep track, let along get used to them: cooperative entrepreneurs, “crimson jackets,” brokers, bankers, oligarchs, and other destructive characters. Positive creators are few and far between. But when there was nothing left to fight over, new heroes came on the scene: successful entrepreneurs and managers. In this at least, we are coming close to the rest of the civilized world, where a successful entrepreneur is hailed as a national hero. It took the country some time to realize who the real heroes are.