Goldovskiy’s early life
Yakov Goldovskiy (Iakov Goldovskiy) was born in the city of Kryvyi Rih in the Ukrainian SSR in the year 1962 on February 26. He moved to Tashkent in 1983 and commenced his studies at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME). At the end of the 1980s, Goldovskiy started a small-scale production business in the city of Lyubertsy.
Entrepreneurial activity
Goldovskiy became the co-founder of the first foreign-invested enterprise in the USSR in the year 1990. The company JV “Columbus,” which he founded with Bulgarian businesswoman Lora Vidinlieva, became the leading exporter of woodworking products and the producer of materials made from raw leather. After moving to Vienna in 1991, Goldovskiy founded Rosetto GmbH in 1992. A partnership with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Rosneft allowed Rosetto to process around 6 million tons of oil on a yearly basis between 1994 and 1997.
Later in SIBUR
Goldovskiy also founded a closed joint-stock company, Gazoneftekhimicheskaya Kompaniya, and became a co-founder of an open joint-stock company, Gazsibcontract, in the year 1996. After the privatization of SIBUR in 1998, Goldovskiy entered the SIBUR management staff. He then created the Production and Technological Complex (PTC SIBUR), forming a centralized management system in the company. Goldovskiy became the de facto owner of the company in 1999 and acquired controlling stakes by 2001. Under Goldovskiy, SIBUR became the largest petrochemical company in Russia, also acting as a tyre manufacturer and plastic and PET producer.
Leaving SIBUR
Goldovskiy started to prepare SIBUR for an IPO in 2000 by planning an issuance of the company’s corporate bonds for the value of 2 billion rubles. Yet, tensions with the Gazprom managerial board emerged, and Goldovskiy had to transfer his SIBUR assets to the corporation, managing to retain blocking stakes due to a preliminary agreement.
Expanding Internationally
Goldovskiy acquired a number of assets for the production of PET across Europe, constructing a PET production facility with the capacity of 330 thousand tons yearly in Klaipeda in 2004. In 2004, Goldovskiy also became the owner of the Korund chemical plant in Dzerzhinsk that was a major producer of plexiglass, cyanide compounds and PVC pipes in Russia. Goldovskiy managed to end the financial struggles of the company by initiating a restructuring and recovery program.
RAFO Onesti Refinery
Goldovskiy started a business venture in Romania in 2006 by acquiring the RAFO Onesti oil refining facility. Goldovskiy closed the company’s debts amounting to 200 million euros in legacy tax debt. Later, Goldovskiy’s team ran into a conflict with a minority shareholder, including an enforced seizure of the enterprise by Romanian authorities, forcing Goldovskiy to file for bankruptcy. However, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) later confirmed the unlawful actions of the Romanian authorities and awarded Goldovskiy financial compensation.
United Petrochemical Company (UPC) Venture
In 2011 Goldovskiy founded the OJSC United Petrochemical Company in a joint venture with ANC Bashneft and AFK Sistema with the aim of establishing a vertically integrated petrochemical group on the basis of Bashneft’s production base in Bashkiria and Goldovskiy’s facilities in Dzerzhinsk. Goldovskiy participated in attracting over 5 billion dollars from large-scale investments. Despite its initial success, a legal dispute over privatization emerged in 2014, and the project had to be suspended.
Current projects
Goldovskiy is currently working on expanding cyanide production for a gold mining business in the MENA region. Goldovskiy’s plans include the construction of the largest sodium cyanide plant in the region in Alexandria. The joint construction project with the Czech Draslovka Holding already amounted to 160 million euros of investment in the first stage.
