Alexander Svetakov Story

Career

In 1993, Svetakov founded the Absolut Holding Company along with his friends, Gleb Galina and Andrew Truskov. At the same time, they also founded the Absolut Bank as well. The bank progressed leaps and bounds and by 2006, the Absolute Bank was in the top ten mortgage lender in Russian markets. In between, Svetakov had sold around 8% shares of Absolut Group to International Finance Corporation. The trio made Absolut Bank get into the top 25 banks in Russia.

In 2007, Svetakov realised the oncoming financial crisis and thereby, the Absolut Bank was sold to the Belgium Group, KBC. This helped Svetakov in managing his assets during the recession of 2008.  

Wholesome Success with Absolut Group

Having sold the Absolut Bank, Svetakov turned his attention towards the Absolut Group. Earlier, the group used to deal in real estate and trading business only. But Sevtakov intended to diversify the business and hence, he also started investing in number of other sectors such as coal and gold mining, food production, asset management and insurance.

It is worth mentioning that in 1998, when Absolut Group was a small entity and was going through the recession crisis of 1998, Sevtakov purchased numerous State-owned farms and by the turn of the millennium, Absolut Group was one of the land owning giants of Moscow. This turned out to be a masterstroke as it helped Absolut Group make its mark in the real estate sector. He continued his land acquisition spree and today, the Absolut Group owns more than 10 million square meter of plots. He has a vision to expand his business throughout Russia. 

Career Highlights

Though Svetakov’s career has been nothing short of a fairy tale. But it would have been impossible without the tactical nous shown by Svetakov during the recession periods of 1998 and 2008. He bought the land in 1997 because Government had to cope up with the losses on the global front. And thereby, they had to oblige to Svetakov’s offering prices. 

Personal Life

Mr Svetakov remains behind the scenes and is not overly involved with the media as well. He is a divorcee and has three children. He currently lives in Moscow. Mr Svetakov is a noted philanthropist and he has his own Absolut Help foundation which helps and aids orphans and disabled.

He is of a view that there is a need to return the benefits which he has reaped from the society. He’s a fine example of how an entrepreneur can put more in the world than take out.