Stroygazmontazh


Stroygazmontazh, also called the S.G.M. Group, is an infrastructure construction firm that operates in the Russian Federation primarily via its subsidiaries, specializing in the creation of oil and gas transportation systems. The company was founded in 2008 with operations in construction—particularly of oil and gas infrastructure—in Russia. According to the RBK Group, it is the 44th largest company in Russia by income, with an annual ₽276 billion in revenue.

History

Foundation

Stroygazmontazh was initially founded in 2008 by Russian businessman and oligarch Arkady Rotenberg after he purchased five companies under the control of Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom. Rotenberg is a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has led to the S.G.M. Group and other firms under Rotenberg's control winning a number of Russian government contracts.

2019 buyout

In early November 2019, Rotenberg's shares in the company were reportedly sold to Gazstroyprom—an infrastructural firm under the administration of Gazprom—for a total of ₽75 billion. Stroygazmontazh had been a subcontractor of Gazprom for some time, and had collaborated in building 320 kilometers of onshore pipelines for the Nord Stream 2 project.

Projects

Crimean Bridge

In 2016 and 2017 it was reported that Stroygazmontazh, with evident ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, had accepted a contract in January 2015 to construct a bridge providing a railway link between Russia and Crimea by crossing the Kerch Strait, and that it had proceeded to begin construction. The Russian government stipulated that Stroygazmontazh was to complete the railway link by August 1, 2019, and fully complete all works on the bridge by December 1, 2019. Stroygazmontazh had never built a major bridge before. Because of the risks of EU sanctions applied in July 2018, no international insurance company was willing to underwrite the potential $3 billion loss if the project went wrong—thus, a small Crimean insurance company underwrote it.