Igor Rotenberg

Igor Rotenberg
Born	(1973-05-09) May 9, 1973 Leningrad, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, billionaire
Known for	Majority shareholder in Gazprom Drilling; owner and chairman of NPV Engineering Group

Igor Rotenberg (; born 9 May 1973) is a Russian entrepreneur and billionaire. As of October 2018, his net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion. By December 2023, he had divested all his holdings within Russia. Igor held the position of majority shareholder in Gazprom Drilling.

Early life and education

Igor was born on 9 May 1973 in Leningrad to Arkady Rotenberg. He completed his studies in 2002 at the Higher School of Privatization and Entrepreneurship located in Pushkino, Moscow Oblast. In 2005, he obtained a PhD in Law from the Kaliningrad Law Institute under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which is affiliated with St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Career

Between 2002 and 2003, Igor acted as Deputy Head of the Department of Property for the Fuel and Energy Sector within Russia's Ministry of Property, which transitioned into the Federal Agency for State Property Management in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, he was responsible for leading the Department of Transport and Telecommunications Property. He then served as Vice-President of Russian Railways OJSC from 2004 to 2005, overseeing Property Management and Organizational Structures.

Since 2006, he has been the owner and chairman of the board at NPV Engineering Group, a company based in Moscow. In 2015, NPV Engineering initiated construction of a manufacturing facility in Degtyarsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast, dedicated to producing antimony trioxide with the objective of lowering Russia’s reliance on imports. From 2008 onward, he has held the Vice-President role at the design bureau CB "Northern Sea Route". He took on the chairmanship of the board at Mosenergo Heat and Power Company in 2010 and has chaired Gazprom Burenie LLC (Burgaz) since 2011.

In 2015, Arkady Rotenberg transferred significant assets to Igor, including up to a 79% stake in Gazprom Drilling (Bureniye), a 28% share in road construction company Mostotrest, and one-third ownership (33.3%) of Jersey-based TPS Real Estate Holdings Ltd. This transfer followed Arkady’s addition to the U.S. sanctions list. TPS Real Estate is a prominent commercial property developer managing shopping malls across Russia and Ukraine, such as Krasnodar Gallery, Sochi’s Moremoll, and Kiev’s Ocean Plaza. By late 2016, TPS Real Estate oversaw twelve shopping centers encompassing more than two million square meters.

In 2016, Igor became associated with controversy surrounding Platon, a toll collection system he partly owns. Platon uses satellite tracking to electronically charge trucks exceeding 12 tons on Russian federal highways. His company RT Invest operates Platon and develops electronic vehicle tracking maps via its subsidiary ScanEx. The system received approval from Rosavtodor leadership in 2014 and includes guaranteed annual budget payments adjusted for inflation until 2027 amounting to roughly 10.6 billion rubles excluding VAT. The introduction of Platon sparked widespread truck driver protests in late 2015 amid accusations that fees were inflated and funds were misappropriated benefiting Rotenberg-linked interests.

In November 2015, issues emerged regarding premature maintenance fees on the M11 Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway being imposed on all motorists rather than exclusively on truck drivers. Allegations claimed that allocated funds for M11 construction alongside projected revenues from Avtodor GC and Platon were funneled through real estate schemes connected to the Rotenberg family for money laundering purposes. Actual revenues generated by Platon reportedly reached only about one-quarter of initial forecasts.

On 29 March 2018, Igor sold his full one-third stake (33.3%) in TPS Real Estate Holdings to his sister Liliya Rotenberg for $1 billion shortly before his inclusion on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list in April 2018.

Sanctions

Igor Rotenberg and his company, NPV Engineering Group, were subjected to United States sanctions on 6 April 2018. Later, on 22 February 2022, the UK government imposed sanctions against him in connection with the 2021-2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The European Union followed suit by sanctioning him on 8 April 2022. Ukraine implemented its own sanctions targeting him on 19 October 2022.

Wealth

As of October 2018, Forbes estimated Igor Rotenberg's fortune to be approximately $1.1 billion.

Personal life

Igor Rotenberg is married and has three children. He is the oldest son of Arkady Rotenberg, a Russian billionaire who co-owns the SGM (Stroygazmontazh) group alongside his brother Boris Rotenberg. The Rotenberg family maintains close connections with Vladimir Putin. His siblings include a sister, Liliya Rotenberg, and a brother, Pavel Rotenberg.