Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich - a young poet, writer, former general director of the Kommersant publishing house, the owner of several magazines, as well as newspapers, including Vedomosti. He is the founder of the consulting agency "Clear Communication", a close friend of the disgraced oligarch Boris Berezovsky and a good friend of the largest Russian businessman and billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Demyan Kudryavtsev. Biography
Let's start from the very beginning. Born in Leningrad Kudryavtsev Demyan. Date of birth - December 17, 1971. After receiving secondary education, he enters the State University at the Faculty of Journalism. However, not having finished his studies, the young man decides to move to a permanent residence in Israel. His whole family remains at home.
A new stage in life. Emigration
After moving, the young man goes to the army, after which he decides to continue his studies and enters the University of Jerusalem at the Faculty of Philology.
The country and new friends received a Russian emigrant. Demyan quickly developed a large circle of friends. Among them was A. Nosik, with whom they worked on several projects. Friends unofficially released a humorous supplement to the local daily. Kudryavtsev found many areas for implementation. He has been involved in publishing the Inhabited Island magazine, as well as the electronic magazine EYE.
In his free time, a young man wrote poetry. Thanks to his work, he very soon became known both in Israel and at home. In 1991, the young man released his first collection of poems.
Since this area did not bring a lot of income, Demyan was constantly looking for something new and did not refuse one-time projects. So, having skills in the computer field, as well as design, he was able to implement a project to celebrate the 3000th anniversary of Jerusalem. He created a graphic journey through the streets of the city and its attractions. Another of his great work was the creation of international telephone communications at the price of regular calls. He succeeded in using the same computer technology. However, these projects did not bring quick profits. Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich increasingly begins to recall his homeland and try to realize himself in the Russian market of services.
The development of Internet technologies and the first major project
In Russia, Kudryavtsev found his first serious project. The nineties became the time of the development of the Internet, when it entered almost every home. At this time, Kudryavtsev Demyan and Artemy Lebedev set up a website design company.
At the same time, an Internet service provider called Cityline is being created. Its founder was Emelyan Zakharov. Such companies were new to Russia, so the providers themselves were involved in the development of sites and filling in their information. It took time and people to complete the entire amount of work. While searching for employees, Zakharov gets acquainted with Kudryavtsev. The young and talented Demian made a lasting impression on the founder of Cityline, and they immediately became friends.
Moving home has become a settled issue. In Moscow, Demyan Borisovich becomes one of the founders of Cityline. In parallel, the young man works in a company funded by Zakharov’s company. At Netskate, Kudryavtsev is involved in the development and creation of the first entertainment Internet sites, whose popularity is growing day by day.
Acquaintance with Boris Berezovsky
At the same time, Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich met with Boris Berezovsky, who will become his senior comrade for many years. Berezovsky was not one of the founders of the company, he entered it later, when the popularity and success of the company became apparent. One of the main founders of the company is George Schuppe, being in kinship with Boris Abramovich, invited him to join the founders, and he immediately agreed.
Berezovsky quickly found a common language with all members of the collective, however, he developed the most strong relations with Kudryavtsev. This happened due to one incident. Demyan Borisovich had to present the project developed by the company at a meeting of prime ministers. Demyan Kudryavtsev, whose photo speaks of him as a person who does not follow fashion and does not pay much attention to her, was forced to change his image for the presentation. He shaved and put on a formal suit. The meeting was excellent. After this event, Berezovsky began to entrust all responsible tasks only to Kudryavtsev. In an interview, Boris Abramovich calls Demyan his spiritual mentor.
Demyan Borisovich was a personal adviser in managing the main companies of Boris Abramovich: Kommersant and the ORT television channel. The young man wrote speeches for the responsible speeches of the oligarch. So, he prepared the election idea of “Unity”. Demyan Borisovich even wrote the first few speeches for the future president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
Moving abroad
When the oligarch’s relations were spoiled with many influential people and he decided to sell the channel, Kudryavtsev helped in the preparation of documents and himself supervised the processing of the transaction. At that time, few people could trust Berezovsky, but Demian always entered into a narrow circle of people close to him. After completing the sale of ORT in 2000, the oligarch decides to leave the Russian Federation. Even at this moment, Kudryavtsev remains faithful to him and goes with him first to France and then to London.
Here a young man settles not far from his mentor and comrade. Demyan Kudryavtsev, whose family moves with him, rents an apartment abroad. Here Kudryavtsev continues to manage the main Russian companies of Boris Abramovich. He continued to own the radio station Our Radio, the publishing house Kommersant and the TV-6 channel.
Homecoming
Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich, whose citizenship is still Israeli, comes to Russia by visa. Once, he was refused a document extension without explanation. The young man himself considers everything to blame for his cooperation with Berezovsky. Kudryavtsev succeeds in fully completing documents and becoming a full-fledged citizen of the Russian Federation only in 2005.
Political Affairs
In 2005, Berezovsky decided to finance the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan. He relied on a group promoting Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Organizational and management issues were decided by Kudryavtsev. Having made not so many financial investments, Berezovsky, in gratitude, received a share in the gold mining asset, which ranked second in Kyrgyzstan in terms of gold reserves. The oligarch created a company that was engaged in the management of production, and among the shareholders was the name of the young assistant to Berezovsky - Demyan Borisovich.
Role in the coup in Ukraine
Another political project of Berezovsky was the "orange revolution" in Ukraine. During the presidential campaign, he made an initial bet on Viktor Yushchenko, whose prime minister was to be Poroshenko. All organizational and financial issues were decided in Ukraine by the assistant oligarch - Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich.
However, soon Boris Abramovich met Yulia Tymoshenko, who at that time was very popular in Ukraine and had many supporters among citizens.Berezovsky changes his mind and demands that the future president choose Tymoshenko as prime minister.
This was his mistake. For help and financial support in carrying out the coup and revolution, he hoped to make a profit again in the form of gratitude of the new leaders, but everything happened differently. The oligarch was deceived. He was denied entry to Ukraine.
Work at Kommersant
In 2005, Berezovsky decided to carry out personnel changes at Kommersant. After the first not very successful attempts, Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich became the general director of the publishing house. The following year, the oligarch transfers his shares to his partner Badri Patarkatsishvili, who immediately plans to sell Kommersant. Kudryavtsev began to search for a buyer. Soon, the billionaire showed the greatest interest in ID. Alisher Usmanov, and the deal was completed.
Change of head of the publishing house and other changes in Kommersant
After the sale of ID changes in personnel policy. Kudryavtsev’s candidacy remains in doubt for some time, but the love of the team and his professionalism win, and he remains in the position of Director General.
In a new place, Kudryavtsev introduces many changes, most of which become successful and bring ID considerable profit. So, he decides to create a radio station and television channel, several magazines. The newspaper is changing its appearance. She becomes color, her site is changing. Now he doesn’t just publish news, he advertises on it. The site becomes open to all comers, news is constantly published on it. Thanks to this innovation, site profits have skyrocketed.
In 2008, Kommersant won the competition for the publication of bankruptcy announcements. Thanks to this alone, the company earned twenty million dollars in 2011.
Demyan Borisovich also had not very successful projects. So, the TV channel and radio station did not bring profit. Kommersant TV has become completely unprofitable.
In 2011, a forced dismissal occurs.
Having lost the main business, Kudryavtsev decides to establish the consulting company "Clear Communications". She captured many areas, including development.
Purchase of the newspaper Vedomosti
In 2015, Kudryavtsev makes a purchase of shares in the Finnish company Sanoma Magazines. Sanoma sold its companies in one package; it included the publishing house of United Press and the Moscow Times, Vedomosti. Initially, Demyan Borisovich acquires only a part of the shares, but soon other founders (Dow Jones and Pearson) come out with an offer to buy the whole package. The owners were forced to take such a step because of the introduction of a new law in the Russian Federation, which limited the share of ownership of foreign shareholders in Russian media. The young man long ago refused Israeli citizenship, but he could not prove this to the Russian services, and he did not plan to break the law. Demyan Kudryavtsev, whose wife was in the shadows for a long time, decides to register the company Moskutayims LLC for his wife. The firm is controlled by The Moscow Times, as well as several United Press magazines. Demyan Kudryavtsev, whose wife (Yana Mosel-Kudryavtseva) became the main founder of the company, has been its leader since November 2015.
Poet and writer
In Russia, a young businessman continues to write. Here are his collections of poems: “The Practice of Russian Verse” (2002), “Proper Names” (2006), as well as “Civil Lyrics” (2013). Soon Demyan Borisovich decided to try his hand at writing a novel. In 2008, his work “Twins” was published. The detective novel was praised by critics and was included in the National Bestseller Award Long List and the Andrei Bely Shortlist. Kudryavtsev is recognized as a poet and writer. He becomes a laureate of a poetry festival held in Colombia.
In parallel, Kudryavtsev Demyan Borisovich (whose photo is presented above) holds master classes in business schools, and is also a frequent guest of television programs.
