Maxim Barskiy

Maxim Barskiy is an investor widely known for his expertise in increasing the capitalization of global public and private assets, like TNK-BP or Sibanthracite.

Maxim Barskiy: First Steps

Maxim Gennadievich Barskiy was born in Leningradon, March 1st, 1974. His secondary and higher education took place in his native city. First, he entered a vocational trade school, where he received training in economics. Then he entered Leningrad State University (LSU, the current name is St. Petersburg State University) to study Political Economy. While studying at Leningrad State University, Maxim Barskiy participated twice in student exchange programs. For an entire academic year, Maxim Gennadyevich Barskiy studied at one of the best institutions in the world – the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. Haas is known worldwide for its research in the field of entrepreneurship. Two Berkeley Haas professors hold Nobel Prizes for cutting-edge research in game theory, behavioral finance, open innovation, and knowledge management.

Barskiy Maxim: Career Beginnings

At the beginning of his career, Maxim Gennadievich Barskiy worked for an organization recognized as one of the key player is the capital market – Troika Dialog. Barskiy Maxim started in derivatives trading. Later he transferred to the investment banking division of the business structure, taking the post of vice president.

At the next career stage, Barskiy Maxim Gennadievich became involved with an up-and-coming business niche in the early 2000s. He was responsible for the corporate development of Cityline, one of the first large Internet providers in the country. Maxim Barskiy and his partners acquired a stake in the company, which made it possible to raise the necessary funds to expand its geographical reach. He also increased Cityline’s capitalization to $27 million. By spring 2001, its subscriber base exceeded one hundred thousand users. Shortly afterward, Cityline was acquired by a much larger participant in the telecommunications market – Golden Telecom Incorporated. The expansions made under Maxim Barskiy’s leadership, where leased lines were placed around the country, got Golden’s attention. Golden Telecom could only expand its network with access to these lines, so it purchased Cityline to use its assets. Maxim Barskiy made his first million dollars in this sale.

In the Hydrocarbon Market

In the spring of 2004, Barskiy Maxim Gennadyevich turned his attention to the oil and gas sector. He restructured Vostok Oil’s Board of Directors, replacing foreign managers who had badly mismanaged this company with people who truly understood the oil business. The company at that time owned only one small mining asset in Siberia.

In the summer of 2004, the company was renamed West Siberian Resources (WSR), and Maxim Barskiy was approved as CEO. He began to work actively to reduce costs and increase the resource base of the enterprise. In 2005, WSR signed a deal to acquire Pechoraneft, which doubled production to 13,000 barrels per day. Subsequently, WSR won two auctions to develop deposits in the Timan-Pechora region. A year later, a Spanish oil-production company, Repsol, bought a 10% stake in West Siberian Resources; this deal amounted to $90 million.

Maxim Gennadyevich Barskiy made a number of management decisions that allowed oil production to increase by at least 200% annually. By 2008, oil recovery reached 3.5 million tons per year against 50 thousand tons in 2004. The company’s capitalization also grew exponentially: by August 2008, it was $4.5 billion (against $60 million at the time of the manager’s arrival). Then the businessman sold his shares in WSR and left the post of CEO, having gained tremendous experience in managing the oil business.

The competencies of this business leader were highly valued in the professional community. In May 2009, Maxim Gennadievich Barskiy received a job offer from the shareholders of one of the leading global oil giants at that time – TNK-BP. The manager was invited to join the leadership of the holding. For six months, he worked as Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Development; later, he interned at BP’s head office. In June 2010, he became Deputy General Director (Chairman of the Board) of TNK-BP.

Maxim Barskiy significantly increased management efficiency. Under his leadership, the company’s capitalization tripled – from $20 billion to $60 billion. In November 2011, the top manager left the holding.

For five years, the manager was one of the owners of Matra Petroleum and worked as its general director.

In 2016, Maxim Barskiy joined the board of directors of Delivery Hero, a delivery startup. He established improved management mechanisms and brought the company to its IPO. In a year, he doubled Delivery Hero’s market value – from €2 billion to €4 billion. This company grew to operate on three continents and cooperates with half a million catering establishments.

Maxim Barskiy and Sibanthracite

In 2018, Barskiy Maxim was invited to lead Sibanthracite, a producer of ultra-high-grade anthracite (metallurgical) coal. As Barskiy has emphasized in interviews, Maxim Barskiy Sibanthracite was a new challenge for him. He was invited to the team by a longtime colleague and the company’s principal owner. This project required extraordinary approaches: it was necessary to carry out large-scale transformations in the Maxim Barskiy Sibanthracite management, unite disparate assets, and increase the resource base of enterprises.

Thanks to a significant structural decision made by the new CEO, Sibanthracite was reorganized and became a holding company with a single decision-making center. For this, a management organization was formed, which included professional and efficient managers.

During his tenure, Maxim Barskiy led Sibanthracite to raise its volume of coal production significantly. The plans of the senior manager included a significant increase (by 100%) in the relevant indicators over four years. Another result provided by Barskiy Maxim Gennadievich his that Sibanthracite increased its value by 200% during its work.

Maxim Barskiy left the top management position in the spring of 2020. He focused on strategic planning (as a member of the Board of Directors). A year later, Mr. Barskiy planned and executed a management-leveraged buyout of the company, and subsequently sold it to a strategic investor. After this buyout, Barskiy Maxim left Sibanthracite, divesting his block of shares.

New Directions

Maxim Gennadyevich Barskiy again changed his investment targets, taking an interest in new-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence.