The meaning of Romanovsky Konstantin Danilovich in a brief biographical encyclopedia. Thank you for being alive
) - Russian mineralogist and archaeologist. He belonged to a large family whose life was connected with mining; among his brothers, in particular, Gennady Romanovsky.
Biography
Graduated. He worked as a mining engineer at the Ural state-owned plants, while simultaneously engaged in mineralogical research, the result of which was “Tables for determining minerals and ores using a blowpipe” (). Then he managed the Miass Mining Plant and finally the Bogoslovsky Plant. He was a member of the Ufa Provincial Statistical Committee.
He worked a lot in the archeology of the Orenburg and Ufa provinces; left large collections of coins and various antiquities obtained during his excavations of mounds.
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Excerpt characterizing Romanovsky, Konstantin Danilovich
“He wants to watch the battle,” Zherkov said to Bolkonsky, pointing to the auditor, “but his stomach hurts.”“Well, that’s enough for you,” said the auditor with a beaming, naive and at the same time sly smile, as if he was flattered that he was the subject of Zherkov’s jokes, and as if he was deliberately trying to seem stupider than he really was.
“Tres drole, mon monsieur prince, [Very funny, my lord prince," said the officer on duty. (He remembered that in French they specifically say the title prince, and could not get it right.)
At this time, they were all already approaching Tushin’s battery, and a cannonball hit in front of them.
- Why did it fall? – the auditor asked, smiling naively.
“French flatbreads,” said Zherkov.
- This is what they hit you with, then? – asked the auditor. - What passion!
And he seemed to be blooming with pleasure. He had barely finished speaking when an unexpectedly terrible whistle was heard again, which suddenly stopped with a blow to something liquid, and sh sh sh slap - the Cossack, riding somewhat to the right and behind the auditor, collapsed with his horse to the ground. Zherkov and the duty officer bent down in their saddles and turned their horses away. The auditor stopped in front of the Cossack, examining him with attentive curiosity. The Cossack was dead, the horse was still struggling.
Published an interview with a businessman, a native of the Urals. According to the magazine, Konstantin Romanovsky no longer has any business left in Russia. IN last years it works, and quite successfully, in Mongolia. Infpol.ru presents to its readers this interesting interview about how an entrepreneur with a Russian mentality can develop active activities in the neighboring steppe country. At the same time, solve pressing problems for the Mongols. After all, one of its activities is related to the construction of thermal power plants. Let us remember that this country faces an acute shortage of energy resources. Intentions to build a hydroelectric power station on the Selenga River are being vigorously discussed in the press, and propaganda is being conducted against the construction of a cascade.
Konstantin Romanovsky, a businessman of the first wave, who built the Harbin restaurant in Yekaterinburg, is launching a project worth $67 million in Mongolia. Chinese and German competitors were left hanging, the article says. The material begins with a dossier on Konstantin Romanovsky.
Born on September 6, 1960 in the city of Kizel, Perm Region. Education: 1977-1982 — study at the Sverdlovsk Institute of National Economy (specialty: “engineer-technologist of public catering”). Career: 1982-1984 — service in Afghanistan; 1984-1985 - forwarder; 1985-1987 - director of the canteen; 1987-1989 - Deputy Director of Canteen Trust No. 3; 1989-1991 - Director of the Harbin cooperative; 1991-1995 — General Director of the Harbin JV; 1995-2000 — General Director of the company “Geohekon”; 2000-2005 - Director of the company "FGA"; since 2005 - shareholder of enterprises in Mongolia: Gobi-Ural, Mogoin Gol, Khuden. Family: Married, three daughters and a son. Hobbies: Hockey
Beginning of Mongolian history
Konstantin Romanovsky has no enterprises left in Russia, except for a company that accepts and clears Mongolian coal through customs. But there is no particular need for it - consumers are increasingly switching to direct deliveries. Mr. Romanovsky's business is now in Mongolia. Last year he was going to move his family there so as not to live in two houses, but for various reasons this has not yet happened.
— My business in Mongolia began in 2002, when Mongolian friends with whom I studied at the institute asked for help - they needed large metal containers - two tanks of 3 thousand tons each to equip an oil depot on the border with China, - recalls Konstantin Romanovsky. “I undertook to manufacture, supply and assemble these metal structures. For this work, the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia awarded me the Order for Economic Development. Then we started mining coal.
Seeker of adventures
Just five years ago, Ulaanbaatar was surrounded by yurts. In winter they were heated with coal, and there was thick smog in the city - this was a big problem. But over the past two or three years, Ulaanbaatar has changed. Now it is the real capital of the Asian state, where 1.5 million people live. - half of the country's inhabitants. The other half is in 15 regional aimags. Previously, foreigners felt very comfortable in Mongolia - prices here were two to three times lower than in Russia. I really liked it. Now everything has changed, including due to the devaluation of the ruble. On weekends, Mongols travel to neighboring Buryatia to buy groceries, a distance of 300-400 km, because food has become cheaper in Russia. Buryat retail turnover these days increases to record amounts, and queues appear at the border.
To resettle people from yurts, the state launched large-scale housing construction using borrowed $7.5 billion - now every family can purchase an apartment with a mortgage at 6-7% per annum for a period of 30 years. The country's leaders hoped that the construction industry would become the engine of the economy, and they actually succeeded. In particular, cement, which was previously imported from China, is now produced at its own factories. At the same time, Russian or Chinese valves are still used; metallurgical production has not been developed, although there is enough coal and iron ore in the country. There is a shortage of energy capacity, and this is an area where foreign investors can make good money.
With the construction program, however, it didn’t turn out quite the way we wanted. It soon became clear that the population did not have enough money to buy housing, and the Mongols probably regretted that they so recklessly rushed to build houses instead of investing in other industries. For example, in coal mining, which is developing despite the global fall in prices. And since the coal mines are located in another part of the country, residents of Ulaanbaatar have to go to work hundreds of kilometers from home.
Under Soviet rule, relations between Soviet Union and Mongolia were trusted. Mongols still see Russia as a like-minded person who is ready to help. But after the collapse of the USSR, ties weakened. Judging by the actions of the Russian side, those at the top decided to sell assets and leave Mongolia. By and large, Russia participated in two large enterprises - the Erdenet plant, which processed copper ore, and Rostsvetmet, where they mined fluorspar and silver ores. They say that all the years after perestroika, these companies did not bring dividends to the country - the Mongols showed such costs that the profit was minimal. At the same time, the Oyu Tolgoi copper deposit, which is ten times larger than Erdenet, was recently taken control of by the French company Areva.
Mongols sometimes ask me: “Konstantin, do you really expect to make money here?” And I’m already making money and I’m going to launch a new project.
Did not get along
Gobi-Ural was the first enterprise that I created in Mongolia in 2005 to solve the organizational and transport problems of shareholders of a coal mine at the Tavan Tolgoi deposit. In the absence of infrastructure, their only buyers were the Chinese, who imposed an enslaving contract on the mining company and took coal at $8 per ton, while the world price was at $120. Then we built a coal warehouse at the nearest Choir railway station, a railway dead end where 24 cars can be driven, and equipped the weighing facility with equipment and loaders. Coal was delivered to the station by 30 coal trucks. As soon as all this appeared, we were able to send coal to Russia, Japan and South Korea.
In April 2007, the Gobi-Ural company shipped the first batch of coal to the Russian enterprise Altai Koks. From that moment on, the number of requests for supplies began to increase and in a short time exceeded our capabilities - they were limited only by throughput Mongolian railway and shortage of wagons. We planned to launch two enrichment factories with a capacity of 300 thousand tons of concentrate per year and a total turnover of $60 million. It was assumed that we would invest 30% of the money ourselves, 30% would be given by banks, and the rest would come from coal consumers.
The plans collapsed due to disagreements between the founders - the shares of Russian and Mongolian partners in the capital of the company were the same, and this made it difficult to negotiate. Our Mongolian friends preferred to wait for the situation to resolve itself. If we were talking about strategic issues, we lost time and money, and the investor was the Russian side. When disputes prevented us from completing the enrichment plant, I decided to leave to start from scratch.
On the stock exchange, I purchased shares in a coal mine located in another aimak and gradually collected a controlling stake so that no one would interfere with my decisions. This is how the second Mongolian company “Mogoin Gol” appeared. I again researched the quality of fuel, bought Chinese equipment and trucks, built a processing plant and began selling coal concentrate to Russia. All this took three years, but now no one could confuse my plans.
Mogoin Gol supplied coal to Altai-Koks, Severnaya Central Processing Plant (Kemerovo), Gubakha Koks, and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. At first they transported it by car - 900 km through Kyzyl (Tuva) to Abakan (Khakassia), then along railway, and then the aimak built an asphalt road in the direction of Erdenet, and we began sending goods from there. Over time, small buyers were abandoned in favor of the largest - Magnitogorsk. Unlike metallurgical plants, which have created their own raw material base, Magnitka continues to purchase part of its resources. And it is always calculated correctly.
Business was booming until the price per ton of coal on world markets dropped to a historic low of $80.
Thank you for being alive
The global coal market is unpredictable—that’s the problem. The forecasts of banks and independent analysts are far from reality, so you can only rely on your own instincts. Mogoin Gol's problems were aggravated by the fact that Russian enterprises bought our coal for rubles, while in Mongolia we paid in tugriks, which turned out to be a more stable currency. When the ruble to dollar exchange rate fell from 32 to 70, it became unprofitable to work - workers, office workers and car drivers had to be fired. We have not shipped coal for more than a year, except for 50 thousand tons sold on the domestic market. But this is minuscule.
But at the beginning of 2017, the price of coal jumped to $300 per ton, and a rush began in the industry. Market participants learned to work on the brink of profitability even at $80 - since then their costs have not increased, and everyone counted on high profits. But no miracle happened - very soon the price dropped to $160. It will be good if it stays at this level for a couple more years.
In lean times, no one expected sales to slow down. Each ton of coal brought $100 in profit. When the Chinese gave $30 million for my stake, I refused, for fear of selling myself short. And now I bite my elbows - in a falling market, I could buy out my share of the business for some $5-6 million.
But it’s a sin to complain - I was lucky, and many of the largest traders went bankrupt. Several years ago I met with a Chinese entrepreneur, the owner of an international corporation that has earned billions of dollars from Mongolian coal. He invested the proceeds on shares with the Japanese in a Canadian field and completely went bankrupt. Now he is hiding from the Hong Kong mafia, to whom he owes money.
There is, however, some good news. A company from Australia, developing a neighboring field, is starting to lay a railway line that will go through our mine. As soon as construction is completed, we will be able to send goods not by road transport, but by wagons - to China, or through Kyzyl - to Russia. It is more profitable for Mogoin Golu to work with Russian enterprises - they pay more, although the Chinese are ready to buy a lot. China is already exporting about 200 thousand tons a year from Mongolia, and appetites are only growing. In 2017, we entered into an annual contract with Magnitogorsk - the plant is ready to buy up to 50 thousand tons of coal per month (revenue is about $6 million). At the same time, we are establishing contacts with the Chinese - one contract has already been signed, and two more companies have shown interest in our coal. If the ruble falls again, this will allow me to ship only to China. The economics there are clear.
Powered by electricity
Three years ago there was a conflict between the two countries. The Russian State District Power Plant, which has been providing electricity to half of Mongolian aimags since Soviet times, refused supplies due to a large debt. Mongolia was not happy that Russia sold it electricity at almost twice the price it paid to China. Another reason for the discontent was that Russian hydroelectric power stations in the Angara-Yenisei basin generate electricity from water flowing from Mongolian territory, and Mongolia does not use its water resources. To correct this omission, the country's leaders decided to build a hydroelectric power station on the Selenga River - with the help of Chinese contractors and money World Bank, who agreed to finance this project. The paradox was that the locations for these hydroelectric power stations were indicated by our engineers during the Soviet era.
Russian environmentalists became worried, because the Selenga is the main source that feeds Lake Baikal. Even one hydroelectric power station can catastrophically lower the level of the lake if it uses water from the river to turn turbines. And here we were talking about a cascade of three stations. Moreover, the shallowing of Lake Baikal was not the only threat - it was believed that the dams would interfere with the migration of rare fish species. Mongolia would also have environmental problems if its pastures were flooded, and in recent years the countries have been negotiating alternative energy sources.
Immediately there were people who wanted to create energy capacities in Mongolia and make money by selling (cheap) electricity. Some suggested using the energy of the sun and wind, others - launching Atom stations. And we were sure that it would be easier for a country with huge coal reserves to develop thermal power plants. All that remained was to take a step from theory to practice, for example, to build a thermal power plant in one of the energy-deficient areas.
For the new project, we created the third Mongolian enterprise “Khuden”. The founders were three partners - me, my friend Sergei Pisarev and Indian businessman Niirav Shiv. Lately Mr. Shiv released scaffolding and formwork in India, England, the USA, Australia and Ukraine (several years ago he acquired a pipe plant in Donbass and is now worried about its fate). For $10 million, we bought a site in Ulaangom (in western Mongolia) with a license for coal mining - first for a small volume, to check the quality of the fuel and the estimated size of reserves. The mine itself had already been explored under Soviet rule, and we had this data, but the banks where we were going to apply for loans required that the documents comply with international standards.
Konstantin Romanovsky and his companion Sergei Pisarev. Photo: DK.RU
The research cost us another $400 thousand.
— The project with the construction of a thermal power plant in Ulaangom interested me for three reasons. Firstly, I come from Lake Baikal, and at one time I headed the first fund for the protection of this unique natural site, so the news about the environmental threat to the lake due to the possible construction of a hydroelectric power station on Selenga did not make me happy. Secondly, the launch of a thermal power plant is beneficial to both parties - Mongolia will receive cheap electricity, and domestic companies will supply and install equipment. In essence, VEB is issuing a tied loan, which implies the participation of only Russian businesses. Thirdly, I have been friends with Konstantin Romanovsky since the days when he was one of the first entrepreneurs in Yekaterinburg who opened the Harbin Chinese restaurant, and I want to help him in his new business. I would be glad if the leadership of Mongolia sees in our PPP project an opportunity to eliminate the energy shortage and prevent environmental damage to Lake Baikal.
Money for the Russian manufacturer
There were two tasks - to obtain guarantees from the Mongolian government that the state would agree to buy all the electricity that the thermal power plant in Ulaangoma would produce, and to find an investor who would finance its construction. We negotiated sales with officials from the Ministry of Energy of Mongolia and the Center for Energy Development. Our competitors were NCPE (China) and Siemens (Germany), which offered their own options. We weren’t particularly afraid of the Chinese - their thermal power plants are already operating in the south of Mongolia, and malfunctions often occur there, leading to power outages. Another thing is Siemens with its advanced technologies and financial capabilities. Remembering that in Russia Siemens representatives gave bribes to officials, we assumed the same scenario in Mongolia.
By that time, it became obvious that Russia could not ignore the environmental risks associated with the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Selenga. The country's leadership ordered the search for acceptable solutions, and we believed that the Huden company would be given the green light. The production part of the project was handled by SB Electrotechnical Company from St. Petersburg, which offered to equip a turnkey thermal power plant for $67 million. With these calculations, we turned to Vnesheconombank, which at that time was already financing the reconstruction of the thermal power plant in Ulaanbaatar - the old turbine was replaced with a more powerful one. Of course, we did not come from the street, but secured the consent of the Russian Trade Mission in Mongolia to include our construction project in the Russian program for lending to the most important objects. Now we are talking about a thermal power plant with a capacity of 60 MW (two stages of 30 MW each). VEB, which considered the project realistic, agreed to allocate 85% of the amount in rubles - for nine years at 8.3% per annum. The rest will be invested by shareholders.
According to preliminary calculations, the thermal power plant in Ulaangoma will pay for itself in 5.5 years. With operating costs of $3.5 million per year and an electricity price of 0.07 per kWh, the power plant will generate about $17.5 million in profit annually. Our thermal power plant will not solve all of Mongolia’s energy problems, but it will provide electricity to an industrially backward region of the country. And this is one of the PPP options that allows the country’s government to abandon the cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Selenga River, which my friend Sergei Pisarev advocates.
The devaluation of the ruble turned out to be to our advantage. According to some reports, competitors' projects were much more expensive. Their payback period exceeded 10 years, and this did not suit the Mongolian side, which was interested in the thermal power plant passing the stage as soon as possible investment project and started paying taxes. Therefore, the Khuden enterprise received guarantees from the Mongolian government.
This summer we begin construction.
- General Director of the company "".
Biography of Konstantin Romanovsky
In 1982 he graduated from the Sverdlovsk Institute of National Economy, majoring in public catering technology engineer.
1982-1984 - service in Afghanistan;
1984-1985 - forwarder;
1985-1987 - canteen director;
1987-1989 - Deputy Director of Canteen Trust No. 3;
1989-1991 - Director of the Harbin cooperative;
1991-1995 - General Director of the Harbin JV;
1995-2000 - General Director of the Geohekon company;
2000-2005 - Director of the company "FGA";
Since 2005 - General Director of the Mongolian-Russian joint company Gobi-Ural (Mongolia).
Family: married, three daughters and a son.
Hobbies: hockey.
Activities of Konstantin Romanovsky
In Yekaterinburg, Konstantin Romanovsky is known as the man who opened the first Harbin. His next business project, the Delhi Hotel, remained unfinished. Then there was a time out.
Four years later, Romanovsky returned to business to start supplying meat from China (beef, pork, poultry), built on the street. Artinskaya refrigerator, designed for 1 thousand tons of freezing, but abandoned its intentions when the Russian government limited importers with quotas. Join the ranks of smugglers transporting Chinese meat through the port of Vostochny under the guise of building materials, he didn't want to. Having leased the base with the refrigerator to the Fortek-97 company, Konstantin Romanovsky began to look for new opportunities, organizing a coal mining company on the Mongolian-Chinese border in 2005.
