GOING TO THE SENATE

NEWS FROM MAJOR COMPANIES

Last week, the Federation Council ended the protracted spring session. Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov and his deputies were summoned to the Kremlin, where their work was highly appreciated. However, as it turns out, not everyone was satisfied with the work...

Last week, the Federation Council ended the protracted spring session. Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov and his deputies were summoned to the Kremlin, where their work was highly appreciated. However, as it turns out, not everyone was satisfied with the work of the senators.

According to the information we have, the founder of one of the largest financial groups in modern Russia, Mikhail Fridman, intends to "remove" his man from the Federation Council - Senator from the Voronezh Region Gleb Fetisov. Moreover, there is no need to look for a candidate for a vacant seat: Friedman himself wants to become a senator.

The formula “if you want a job done well, do it yourself” is a constant success in Russia. Probably, the head of Alfa Group was guided by it when he decided to change the oligarch's suit to the senator's chair. And although the press service of Alfa Group calls the talk about the ambitions of his boss for a seat in the upper house of the Federal Assembly rumors, this does not change the essence of the matter. If such rumors spread, sooner or later, Mr. Friedman will take the coveted position.

Today, the interests of Alfa Group in the Federation Council are represented by the president of Alfa's subsidiary of Alfa-Eco, Gleb Fetisov. De facto, of course. De jure, Mr. Fetisov is - the official wording - a member of the Federation Council from the Legislative Assembly of the Voronezh Region. And the head of the Legislative Assembly of the Voronezh Region, which delegates its representative to the Federation Council, is Yevgeny Lyamtsev, a former subordinate of Mr. Fetisov. Mr. Lyamtsev served as an executive director at Alfa-Eco.

What did Gleb Fetisov, who has been sitting in the upper house of the Russian parliament for three years, not please his boss? Why did Mikhail Fridman decide to leave big business and become one of 188 senators, replacing his hired worker in this post? The answer, which lies on the surface, is that Friedman is afraid that the campaign against the oligarchs may spill over to him. Moreover, such conversations are sometimes heard on the sidelines of the authorities.

Not without it. But - as we all remember from the example of top managers and co-owners of Yukos - you may not have time to become a senator, but once you become one, you can stop being one. The year is 2004, not 1996, and the mandate of the upper house is no longer that cherished armor that will protect against prosecution by law enforcement and fiscal authorities. Financial analysts and political scientists agree that the point is not only Mikhail Fridman's desire to hide from possible claims behind the walls of the Federation Council, there is another reason.

According to observers, Gleb Fetisov did not fulfill the tasks assigned to him and failed a number of strategic projects of Alfa Group, which, using the position of senator, he had to lobby in the highest offices.

The main defeat of Fetisov, the lobbyist, was the fight for the Sheremetyevo-2 airport. Alfa Group, without hiding, stated that it was going to receive Sh-2 in trust. Alone and for a long time. It is clear that such a complex issue could not be resolved through conventional negotiations. To make the right decision, it was necessary to use all the levers. This is where Senator Fetisov could come in handy. However, it was of no use. Or rather, could not be useful. As a result of a long struggle, Alpha received only part of the airport, the second went to a consortium organized by the National Reserve Bank (NRB) and Aeroflot. The alphas did not want to be content with a part and tried to initiate a scandal designed to change the state of things. And again, the “profile” help of Fetisov was required. The scandal failed. Everyone stayed on their own.

Another large-scale failure of Fetisov happened already in the field of legislative activity. During the consideration by the upper house of the law “On Communications” adopted by the State Duma, Fetisov was tasked with preventing the ratification of the law, many of whose provisions categorically did not suit Mikhail Fridman, who has quite significant assets in the telecommunications business. Despite the fact that the president of Alfa-Eco then managed to rally a group of professional lobbyists (called “anti-presidential” by journalists) who agreed to support the interests defended by Fetisov, the law was nevertheless approved and sent for signature to the president.

Just before the closing of the spring-summer session, Fetisov again makes an unforgivable mistake. It is tasked with preventing the ratification of the law “On Advertising” adopted by the State Duma, which seriously restricts beer advertising. The fact is that Alfa-Eco recently bought a 15% stake in one of the largest beer producers, SUN Interbrew, and the adoption of the “anti-beer” law not only introduced it into serious losses, but also put an end to future plans: Alfa-Eco planned to acquire at least a controlling stake in the beer giant. And this time, Fetisov's actions were unsuccessful - the law was ratified and sent for signature to the president.

As they say in the Alfa Group itself, Gleb Fetisov did not understand two important things. First, an aggressive style of doing business is good in business, but completely unacceptable in politics. After all, the main quality of any successful politician is flexibility. Fetisov is used to going ahead. And the history of Alfa-Eco is the best confirmation of this. Here is the storming (in the literal sense) of the Achinsk alumina refinery in 1996, and the seizure of the Smirnov trading house in 2000, and the undercover purchase of a 25 percent stake in Megafon OJSC in 2003, and much more. Fetisov tried to act in the Federation Council in the same way as he acted as the head of Alfa-Eco. Did not work out. This is first.

Secondly, in politics it is important to choose the right allies. Fetisov, on the other hand, relied heavily on outsiders - for example, on Leonid Mayevsky. In fairness, it should be noted that the retired deputy Mayevsky is actively carrying out Fetisov's orders. Active, but bad. Just as bad as some other "public figures" who found themselves in the field of "journalistic investigation".

And - what is the worst thing for a lobbyist - the failures became known to the general public. Roughly speaking, Fetisov "lit up". Lobbyists are like scouts: they are successful only when no one knows about them and their work. When the whole country (not to mention the elite) knows that such and such a gentleman is a lobbyist for such and such a group, the effectiveness of his work is sharply reduced. And why does big capital need inefficient “assets”? Get rid of them...

All of the above was more than enough to make Mikhail Fridman doubt the competence of his protégé and think about how to defend his interests in the Federation Council himself. After all, as it was said at the beginning, "if you want a job done well, do it yourself."