St. Petersburg Businessman Andrey Berezin Creates an Unusual Industrial Cluster
It appears that the multi-million-ruble loan and the attention of the head of the region are considered a great victory for the enterprise. If we look at the recent history of the plant, we can come to the logical conclusion that today’s results are only a consequence of some correct and timely decisions that were made in the past.
Investors as Positive News
Last year, the plant’s fate was under serious doubt. Its financial results left much to be desired, and the material base is not only morally outdated, but primarily worn out.
The loss of this enterprise would have been a problem for the town, but the town administration is not infinite in terms of its capabilities either. Specialists remember a lot of cases in recent years when industrial sites went bankrupt. Metal works KSM Severo-Zapad, with a staff of 150 people and a revenue stream in the billions, quickly disappeared, despite many efforts to save it.
Experience Has Already Been Gained
Despite this, is it possible to think that everything will stop there, that Berezin’s structures will just give money for purchasing new machines and expect better results? On the contrary, the holding’s previous experience in the industrial field testifies that plans usually go much further.
The robot is undergoing final revisions and approvals before being put into mass production. As many specialists say have pointed out, the market will not let it get stale. Clinics are waiting not only in Russia, but are also established in China, India, and several other countries (primarily in South-East Asia). There are two reasons for this interest; the first reason is the price, which is significantly lower than the market counterparts. The second reason is the tremendous number of opportunities the device offers clinicians. This is because it can be used directly during surgery by targeting critical areas. This results in high efficiency with minimal to no side effects.
The plant team achieved equally significant results in biochip development. The devices ended up being indispensable in diagnosing various viral agents, including coronavirus. The new generation of biochips currently being created at the plant can dramatically expand the prospects for the development of genetic medicine, including making full-scale genetic diagnostics of humans available.
The company is also working on projects in the field of high-frequency currents, including a device for heating asphalt surfaces. Based on the principles of ultrashort pulse location, a sensor for remote estimation of ice cover thickness at various objects is being created. Russian oil companies, including Gazprom Neft, are interested in the latter development for the improvements it could make in efficiency for the task.
The agreement with Almaz-Antey Holding is another promising notion for the plant. The St. Petersburg-based company will make traction batteries for crewless cars, which Almaz Antey plans to create based on its own E-Neva platform.
Lyceum as a Сonfirmation of Ambitions
A private entrepreneur with a solid grip and interest in innovations took up its realization because he saw considerable economic prospects in restoring the former giant. Berezin spoke about these ideas in a recent interview regarding the topic: “Today, we see successfully and actively developing enterprises in the sphere of domestic electronics, which confidently passed the pandemic, increased production volumes, and are profitable, so we have reason to believe in this industry, despite the crisis, inflation, and sanctions. By the way, inflation has led to the fact that today it is already cheaper to produce some products here than in China. And this trend will continue. Thus, our electronic products have all the chances to meet the domestic market’s needs and gain broad export prospects. And the international deficit for the components of the component base for electronics, which has developed over the last year, only confirms that investing in this kind of development and production is strategically more than profitable.”
During the last year, much work has been done in this direction. The company has started with the conclusion of formal and informal agreements with all of the largest universities in the city and ending with the promotion of some partnership projects. For example, lines of support from Euroinvest for educational sites of the L. Euler Foundation, which helps young mathematicians develop their learning and pursue a career in the field.
The latest initiative has caused a mini sensation in its scope. In the summer, Berezin stated that the holding company started to create a principally new educational institution in St. Petersburg, the governor’s academy for gifted children. Euroinvest intends to undertake, among other things, the design and construction work that has already begun.
The plot for the academy was found within the city boundaries, on the shore of Lake Bolshoye in the Kaselevo neighborhood. It is spacious enough to house several buildings, including classrooms and living quarters, laboratories and creative areas, a sports complex, and a beach with a pier.
The holding was also concerned about the selection of teaching staff. According to Berezin himself, there have already been agreements that the basis of the lyceum staff will be teachers from one of the best schools in the city, the Physics and Mathematics Boarding School №45.
Thus, it is clear that the approaches of the Euroinvest holding and its head, Berezin, are working. They are good at stabilizing the work of industrial enterprises and organizing their renewal. Moreover, the feasibility of the declared ambitious aims of creating scientific and production clusters out of separate plants is confirmed. Therefore, it is probable that in a year or two, the efforts of the holding management will bring about systemic changes in the industrial sector of the whole Northwestern region of Russia. Despite this, suppose the authorities and businesses of the country are interested in accelerating the development of the industrial sector. In that case, they should pay the closest attention to the experience of Euroinvest today.
History and Biography:
Berezin was born in 1967 in Leningrad. He studied at secondary school #239 with a profound study of mathematics. In 1990 he graduated with honors from Leningrad Ustinov Mechanical Institute. In 1990 he graduated with honors from the Leningrad Ustinov Mechanical Institute, where he specialized in automatic control systems for aircraft. After his graduation, he enrolled in postgraduate school and simultaneously went into business.
In 1993 he became one of the co-founders of the North-West Fisheries Company. In 1995, together with Yury Vasilyev, he founded the investment company Euroinvest and became its Chairman of the Board.
Today Euroinvest is a diversified holding company that includes companies and projects from various economic sectors.
One of the directions of Euroinvest work is legal and engineering support for the developing land plots and territories in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region, and other areas.
At the end of 2017, Euroinvest Group created its construction division Euroinvest Development, which is engaged in the construction of housing and other objects, thus forming an entire cycle development business.
A relatively new direction for Euroinvest is the agro-industrial sector. For example, Agrocluster Krasnoye Znamya in the Pskov region specializes in producing grain and fodder for livestock.
In May 2017, the management of the Euroinvest investment company established the Euro Venture fund with an initial amount of € 10 million. Priority areas for investment are innovative developments in the scientific and technical sphere, as well as projects in the creative industry.