Grigory Beryozkin

Grigory Berezkin (9 August 1966) is a Russian businessman. He is the owner and CEO of ESN Group and RBC Group. Since 2012, his primary focus has shifted toward social entrepreneurship and philanthropy, when he joined the Board of Trustees of Russian branch of Reach for Change foundation.

Biography Grigory Berezkin was born on 9 August 1966 in Moscow. His father, Viktor, was a renowned chemist and one of the world's leading experts in chromatography. His mother, Lyudmila, headed a research division at the Research Institute for Fertilizers and Insectofungicides named after Ya. V. Samoilov.

In 9th and 10th grade he attended the School of Young Physicists and Young Chemists. In 1988, he graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in Petrochemistry. and in 1993, he defended his PhD thesis in Chemical Sciences.

Business career

Early business career While still working on his PhD thesis, Berezkin began exploring business opportunities. In 1989, he co-founded a cooperative that developed IT systems for oil refineries in the Urals and Siberia.

In the early 1990s, using profits from this business, he invested in cable production for the oil industry. He imported equipment from Sweden and organized the production of cables for oil pumps. At the time, such cable was in short supply in Russia.

In 1994 he became deputy general director of Komineft and simultaneously its general representative in Moscow.

In 1995, Berezkin collected the required number of voter signatures and ran as an independent candidate for the State Duma in a single-member constituency. He was among 2,628 candidates who contested single-member seats in the election, but was not elected The election was monitored by 993 international observers from 61 countries. Members of the observation mission assessed the election as free and fair.

In 1997, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of KomiTEK.

Electric Power In 2000, Berezkin took control of Kolenergo, a power system operating largely above the Arctic Circle, under a management agreement lasting until 2003. ESN Group was established to manage this asset.

As part of an anti-crisis programme at Kolenergo, Berezkin overhauled management by introducing international standards adapted to local conditions and implemented financial reforms, including changes to pricing, financial controls and debt restructuring, as well as signing an agreement linking electricity prices to aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange. In 2008, he launched the Moscow edition of Metro, part of an international newspaper franchise published in major cities worldwide. Berezkin created a new business model focused on cost efficiency and advertising revenue, developed quality content that attracted readers. The newspaper’s readership grew, and by 2019 the weekly readership had reached about 6 million. In 2020 Berezkin sold the business to a strategic investor.

He bought a 65% stake in a RBC (Russian media group) in 2017. Following the acquisition, he retained the existing editorial team and focused on the company’s development. RBC expanded its digital infrastructure and range of services, operating across online media, print, television and radio. Its digital platforms have a monthly audience of tens of millions of users. RBC is a publicly listed company that regularly publishes financial statements for its shareholders. The organization supports social entrepreneurs working on projects for children and young people by providing funding, mentoring and business support. Berezkin joined its board.

He organised an exhibition of works by Titian in Moscow, which brought paintings from Italian museums. The project was carried out in cooperation with Russian and Italian cultural institutions.

Personal life and activities Berezkin has been involved in skiing since childhood and competed at university level. He has also taken part in international competitions, including the European Championships. He has supported athletes competing at the Winter Olympic Games.

Awards Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2 June 2013, Italy);

Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy (9 January 2020, Italy).

Sanctions Berezkin was sanctioned by European Union in April 2022. However, the EU did not renew sanctions against him after they expired in September 2023, and Berezkin was removed from the sanctions list. The grounds of sanctions did not stand in the European court of justice. They were based on an article written by AI bot Carmen.

The review of Berezkin's designation lasted approximately 18 months and reportedly involved an examination of more than 1,000 pages of materials concerning his business activities over the previous three decades. In September 2023, following a review of individual designations, the Council of the European Union removed Berezkin from the EU sanctions list.