38 Facts About Sergei Polonsky

Sergei Yurievich Polonsky is a Russian businessman.

Sergei Polonsky is the owner and head of one of the largest real estate companies in Russia, Mirax Group.

Sergei Polonsky finished secondary school No 99 of the Vyborg District of Leningrad.

Sergei Polonsky completed his military service in the 21st Separate Air Assault Brigade, which was stationed in the time of the armed conflict between South Ossetia and Georgia in the combat zone at Tskhinvali.

In 2000, Sergei Polonsky graduated from the St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

In 2008 Sergei Polonsky attempted doctoral, but, considering the academic council biased, he withdrew the work and posted the text of the thesis for an open discussion on the Internet.

In 1994, when Sergei Polonsky was 22, he founded Stroymontazh LLC with his longtime friend Artur Kirilenko.

Sergei Polonsky rapidly amassed wealth and made a name for itself as one of Saint Petersburg's largest developers, eventually building Petrovsky Fort, a 540,000-square-foot complex that became the standard for business centers in the former capital.

Sergei Polonsky suggested a comfortable "town within the city" living concept where high-rise residential buildings are mixed with a cottage village named "Y".

The downturn hit Mirax Group hard; in August 2008, Sergei Polonsky published an open letter in his blog, where he said that during the previous year, Mirax Group could not receive any credit to continue construction and had not sold any real estate over the past few months.

The forecast came true with a half a year delay, and on 31 May 2011 Sergei Polonsky ate a piece of a true tie at Minaev LIVE, a TV show hosted by Sergey Minaev.

Sergei Polonsky described the steps taken by Alpha Bank as 'premeditated systematic actions aimed at divesting and acquiring' the corporation's assets adding that Mirax Group had been 'completely unready for the sudden turn of events.

Sergei Polonsky promised to fulfill all the obligations of the Group to complete the projects and repay the debts.

On 1 December 2011, Sergei Polonsky renamed his company "Potok", and this company inherited all the structures and liabilities of the former Mirax Group.

Sergei Polonsky became involved in the project through Mirax in 2005 at the request of the Moscow Mayor Resin Rosltak.

Sergei Polonsky claimed this was done unlawfully, leading to disputes between FTsSR and Mirax Group.

Sergei Polonsky has described FTsSR's actions as a raid in the media.

Sergei Polonsky maintains that he transferred 2.5 billion rubles to FTsSR prior to the termination of their contract, which would have been more than sufficient to meet the contractual obligations entered into by his companies.

Sergei Polonsky added that the remaining funds had not been diverted out of the project and had stayed within Mirax Group.

Sergei Polonsky sought to assure all investors that their apartments would be completed.

The embezzlement charges, Sergei Polonsky believes, are part of an attempt by FTsSR and the Moscow government to take the Kutuzovskaya project away from him and hand control to Arkady Rotenberg, a rival property developer with close ties to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Baglay and A Karachinsky were released from custody uncharged on 11 March 2013 and Polonsky was released on bail on 3 April 2013.

On 15 May 2015, Sergei Polonsky was arrested again in Sihanoukville, where authorities said he had been living for two years with an expired visa, which was not true at all.

Sergei Polonsky was put on a flight to Moscow via Vietnam on Sunday morning.

On 14 October 2013, at the request of the Russian authorities, Sergei Polonsky was issued with a "red notice" by Interpol and on 7 November 2013 the Russian Prosecutor's Office sent Cambodia an official request for Sergei Polonsky's extradition.

However, on 14 January 2014, the Phnom Penh Appeal Court ruled that the grounds given by Russia for Sergei Polonsky's extradition were insufficient.

Sergei Polonsky was eventually deported from Cambodia and sent back to Moscow on 17 May 2015.

On 7 May 2014, Sergei Polonsky filed a lawsuit at the UK High Court against his former lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky.

Dobrovinsky, a known advocate of numerous Russian oligarchs, was in fact, it transpired, selling the business to Roman Trotsenko, an existing shareholder in Potok, with whom Sergei Polonsky had previously refused to do business.

Sergei Polonsky claimed he had received only a few million dollars of the hundreds of millions he says he is owed, and alleged that the lawyers were acting for Mr Trotsenko all along.

In March 2015, Sergei Polonsky announced plans for a $1 billion lawsuit against US filmmaker 20th Century Fox because of similarities between himself and a villain in one of the studio's films.

Sergei Polonsky expressed interest in running for President of Russia in the 2018 Russian Presidential Election.

Sergei Polonsky filed registration documents with the CEC on the same day.

Sergei Polonsky's documents were rejected because the initiative group did not have enough members.

However, the party did not participate in the 2021 election, and changes to the Russian constitution in 2020 barred Sergei Polonsky from running for president in 2024 due to him obtaining Cambodian citizenship.

In 2003, Sergei Polonsky was elected vice president of the Russian Academy of Business and Enterprising, in 2004, he became Vice President of the public association of professional managers, the International Club of the Best Managers of the New Era.

In 2005, Sergei Polonsky was one of those who established the Russian Builders' Association, and until now remains its first vice president.

In 2004 Sergei Polonsky prepared for a spaceflight to the International Space Station, completing a full cosmonaut training course.