A few months earlier, this list of the richest entrepreneurs had already been replenished by a participant from Russia: Vitaly Orlov, the owner of the Norrebo Holding company, as the commentators explained, "rose" on sanctions. And according to experts, Denis Stengelov was helped by the economic crisis to become a billionaire. In difficult times, seeds and croutons buy more.

The business of the future billionaire, as found out by Bloomberg, began almost on the street: with the small wholesale trade of raw sunflower seeds that Stengelov sold to pensioners, and they were fried and resold to passers-by. A glass of seeds cost 50 depreciated rubles. For Tomsk in the 90 years - a good business. After accumulating the starting amount, the businessman managed to buy the Yashkinsky food plant in the Kemerovo region, installed new equipment on it and launched a more thorough production. The factory produced cookies and waffles. It went, at the beginning of zero in the asset Stengelova was already several similar enterprises. At that time, the market of snacks grew rapidly, adding tens of percent per year: impoverished Russians could not afford a full-fledged diet, but for a handful of crackers to satisfy their hunger, there was still enough money.

Russian rusks were able to withstand competition with overseas chips and nuts, and later the marketing battle - already on the domestic field. The dispute between the producers of crackers "Kirieshki" and "Three crusts" had to be regulated by the Federal Antimonopoly Service - experts concluded that crackers could be called crusts ... And while the proceedings were under way, Denis Stangelov watched the battle and waited for the right moment and acquired both trademarks.

In 2008, Stengelov purchased the company for the production of chips and rusks "Bridgetown Foods" (crackers "Three crusts", crisps "Crispy potatoes"), in 2009 - the company "Siberian coast" ("Kirieshki", "BeerKa"). Three years later, the retail grocery chain "Yarche!" And fitness clubs "Kangaroo" appeared.
The next breakthrough (perhaps most impressive) occurred during the last economic collapse - "KDV Group", taking advantage of the situation on the market, managed to increase sales almost twice, reaching 100 billion rubles a year. The ruble weakened: the import of snacks turned out to be less profitable than the production of own wafers and biscuits. In 2016, "KDV Group" came in second place on sales in Russia (on the first - sweet snacks Mondelez and Frito-Lay - in the category of snacks with spices).

"Russian manufacturers who invested in marketing, ... in improving consumer properties, showed faster growth rates in this changed market," explains analyst Timur Nigmatullin.

There is not much personal information about the new billionaire. Siberian media reported that Denis Shtengelov still lives in Tomsk - although the family of the entrepreneur moved to Australia. There is better education, and besides, - a new field for activities. In the Green Continent, Shtengelov also conducts business, however, of a different profile: in Australia he has a tennis academy, a golf center and a sports complex.

Reference

The company "KDV Group" was founded in 1997. 30 years later, it includes 11 factories that produce over 350 snacks under 20 brands. The products are exported to Belarus and Azerbaijan. The main office of "KDV Group" is in Tomsk, the company employs 16 thousand people.