Sergei Makhlai

Sergei Vladimirovich Makhlai, a.k.a. George Mack (US name change) (Russian: Махлай Сергей Владимирович; born February 16, 1969) is a Russian businessman and majority shareholder of TogliattiAzot, one of the world's largest producers of ammonia, chairman of the board of directors of TogliattiAzot in 2012–2017.

Sergei Vladimirovich Makhlai was born in 1969 in Gubakha, Perm Krai, where he also attended school.

From 1987 to 1989, he performed mandatory military service.

He then worked for several years in various middle management roles with construction companies in Togliatti.

In 1993, he graduated from Togliatti State University with an undergraduate degree in engineering.

He later obtained an MBA at the University of North Carolina.

Shortly after obtaining his MBA, Sergei Makhlai was granted US citizenship.

Currently, he lives in the United States under the name of George Mack.

Since 2004, he has been a member of the board of JSCB Togliattikhimbank (Samara), in which he is the sole owner, according to Central Bank of Russia.

Since 2005, Sergei Makhlai was a member of the board of JSCB RTS Bank (Togliatti), which was beneficially owned by his wife Irina Makhlai (74%) and brother Andrey Makhlai (26%).

In March 2011, he was elected chairman of TogliattiAzot, replacing his father, Vladimir Makhlai.

In a media interview, Vladimir Makhlai accused his sons Sergei and Andrey of "stealing" the company from him in 2011.

He claimed that "in just a day they discharged me from all positions, seized offshore companies and booted me off the trusts".

He also accused his sons of breaking the law by creating a cross-shareholding structure with the owner of the Swiss ammonia trading company Ameropa Holding, Andreas Zivy.

According to Vyacheslav Suslov, the former General Director of Togliattiazot, after Sergei Makhlai became chairman in 2011, the quality of corporate governance improved while revenues, tax payments, and dividends increase.

Following his appointment in 2011, Sergei Makhlai announced a large-scale modernization program of the plant's facilities through 2020.

The following year, inspections held by the environmental and technological watchdog Rostekhnadzor identified over 300 industrial safety violations caused by disrepair and depreciation of equipment handling toxic and highly flammable substances.

However, at the next Annual General Meeting in 2012, the largest minority shareholder, Uralchem, voted against the resolution to approve the annual financial report claiming that net income for 2011 was understated by approximately US$200 million, while access for another minority shareholder was blocked by a court decision.

In the same year, the Russian financial markets regulator FSFR found TOAZ in violation of its obligations to provide shareholders with information.

The commercial court upheld the decision but TOAZ continued to ignore the ruling.

In 2014, a cistern exploded at Ammonia Unit 4.

TogliattiAzot increased tax payments to the Samara region by more than 50% over 2014, paying 7.3 billion rubles.

The company paid 5.4 billion rubles that year in federal taxes.

Sergey Makhlai continued to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2015, when he was suspended from this position by the court as a result of a criminal investigation.

In 2015, the ammonia pipeline ruptured in Voronezh Region resulting in leakage of half a tonne of ammonia.

In 2015, TogliattiAzot spent 460 million rubles on environmental protection initiatives, such as enhanced water and air quality monitoring.

Under Makhlai's leadership, TogliattiAzot increased its profits by 44% and revenue by 31% in 2015.

The main factors driving growth were an increase in urea production, facility modernization, and an increase in export earnings due to the devaluation of the ruble.

In January 2016, a serious breakdown occurred at the pre-transportation processing workshop resulting in a severe spillage of ammonia.

In 2016, TogliattiAzot announced continued plans for development of an ammonia transshipment terminal at the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region.

He resigned from the Board in 2017.

In February 2017, several ammonia units were shut down in an emergency which the plant management failed to explain.

In October 2018, a plant worker died of ammonia poisoning at Workshop 26.

On 16 October 2018, 3,000 cubic meters of gas exploded at Ammonia Unit 4, causing a big fire.

In 2018, Samara Region arbitration tribunal passed a final judgement to recover 816 million roubles in underdeclared taxes for 2012–2013 from Togliattiazot.

In March 2019, Bank of Russia withdrew the general banking licence from RTS Bank, initiated bankruptcy proceedings against it, and submitted information about suspicious activities at RTS Bank to the law enforcement authorities.

In May 2019, leakage of natural gas was detected at the gas metering facility.

In October 2019, another large-scale gas leakage at the main pipeline causes local emergency situation.

Following new inspections in the autumn of 2019, Rostekhnadzor came to the conclusion that some of the production facilities at Togliattiazot could no longer be operational due to systemic violations of mandatory guidelines for operating hazardous production facilities.

A local court ruled to enforce suspension of a number of plant's facilities, including tower cranes, neutraliser tank at the Workshop 06A, storage of raw acids and alkali, and Workshop 16.