High education / Experience

Educational Institutions, Degrees, Memberships

Second higher education – in the USA (KWU, Idaho) and MBA (finance and marketing) and Ph.D (business law).

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Philology Department. Education in the field of linguistics and a diploma in translation; he studied the basics of journalism and the psychology of communication.

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Physics Department (Physics, Mathematics). He graduated with honours. Postgraduate studies (data transmission, IT)

Foreign Languages

Fluent in Russian and English, works with documents in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Ukrainian

Professional Activity

Specialization

One of the pioneers of Russian business consulting, 30+ years of experience in the field of company formation, investment, taxes and other services abroad; he personally visited and has experience in setting up and doing business in more than 50 countries; a long-time business partner of GSL.

Sergey advises medium and large businesses in the CIS, groups of companies, investors and high net worth individuals, including foreign ones, in the following areas:

• Tax and currency legislation of Russia and the CIS countries, CFC, and CRS;
• Cross-border tax planning and double taxation;
• Comprehensive tax and immigration planning, for individuals and a family;
• Taxation abroad for individuals, entrepreneurs and companies: USA, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Montenegro, Turkey, and Thailand;
• Choosing a country as a “reserve space” abroad and/or for relocation: passive income, digital nomads, IT, business, and investments;
• Residence permit, second citizenship, passports, and tax(free) residence: Grenada, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, UAE, and Thailand;
• Incorporation and administration of overseas companies, quasi-offshores;
• Relocation abroad of individuals and companies;
• Foundations and trusts. International inheritance;
• Overseas real estate: purchase and sale, rent, development, and taxes;

Legal opinions on tax matters, transactions and contracts, constitutive documents of companies, foundations, and trusts.

Beside consulting, he is actively involved in actual business and had implemented a number of his own investment, development and educational projects in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. He has an extensive experience in constructing, selling, renting and operating overseas real estate. He founded the first Russian-language newspaper in Southeast Asia.

A short list of similar projects completed in the past:

• Setting up foreign structures for international trade, food, a group of companies of a famous (former) Russian eccentric millionaire, before he became a banker;
• Setting up a foreign structure for a group of companies – a largest supplier of toys;
• Launching in the European market a Russian company making and selling “Korean” cosmetics via the Internet;
• Launching in the US market a largest Russian company producing and selling tea and other groceries;
• Relocation from Russia of a largest data-protection IT company with Russian roots;
• Relocation to Turkey and Bulgaria of a company supplying video content in the Internet;
• Tax structuring of a group of companies (Kazakhstan). Owning real estate and commercial enterprises in Turkey and an air fleet in Kazakhstan through a Netherlands-Singapore-Turkey group of companies;
• Tax structuring of an e-commerce business in the USA based on Amazon (cosmetics);
• Setting up an international structure for the organization of production in China and import of fasteners to Russia and the EU;
• Organizing international distribution, protection of IP rights and registering a trademark for a startup making VR films;
• Settling residence permit and second citizenship matters for the owner of a largest Russian clothing and consumer goods retailer;

Settling residence permit, second citizenship and overseas real estate purchase matters for the head of the Russian business of a largest western manufacturer and supplier in Russia of food products for people and animals.

Board member and adviser to a number of Russian and foreign companies.

Regular author of industry-specific articles for Forbes, RBC, Vedomosti, Izvestia, Frank RG Media, SPEAR’S, guest speaker at RBC TV, international conferences and investment forums.

Major publications and appearances, TV and conferences (2019–2022):

RBC, Opinion pieces:

The Head of the Federal Tax Service Announces a Threefold Increase in Dividends to Cyprus (comments on the interview with the Head of the FTS), RBC, 22.11.2021

How Can a Foreign Account Holder Report to the Federal Tax Service (Currency Residence), RBC Pro

CRS and Fines: An Update on CFC Reporting. Practical Guidance, RBC Pro

How to Cut Costs in the Age of Fight Against Tax Havens, RBC Investments, 14.08.2020

Inadvertent Residents: How the Pandemic Affects a Taxpayer’s Status, RBC Pro, 09.04.2020

Citizen Investors: What is in Store for the Global Market of Golden Passports, RBC, 14.11.2019

Unwanted Clients: How the Era of Offshore Banking is Ending in Latvia, RBC Pro, 20.08.2019

Discovery of the Islands: How the Country is Trying to Make “Russian Offshores” Attractive, RBC Pro, 03.08.2019

New BVI: How to Work with Offshore Companies after the Law Tightened, RBC Pro, 01.05.2019

RBC ТV:

Top Stories: Investments in Russia, Issue of 01.02.2021

«The EU to Limit the Issuance of Golden Passports», Issue of 10.08.2018

« Tax Havens to be Unmasked», Issue of 27.04.2018

« Europe against Offshores», Issue of 07.12.2017

Vedomosti:

Russians with Swiss Accounts Face Fines (expert opinion), Vedomosti, 11.10.2022

Kostin Proposed Creating a Separate Structure for Settlements in National Currencies (expert opinion), Vedomosti, 05.09.2022

The EC Announces a Crackdown on Golden Passports. How Russians with Dual Citizenship Should React?(comments), Vedomosti, 28.03.2022

Ban on Import of Euros into Russia: What It Means(comments), Vedomosti, 02.03.2022

Cross-Border Transfers by Russians (comments), Vedomosti, 16.12.2021

The Federal Tax Service Tightens Scrutiny over the Assets and Transactions of Russians Abroad(comments), Vedomosti, 15.08.2021

Coronavirus Tax: Tax Implications of Border Closures for Non-Resident Companies, Vedomosti, 09.04.2020

What You Need to Know about the Automatic Exchange of Financial Information, Vedomosti, 08.10.2019

Forbes:

From Mongolia to Montenegro: Where to Open Accounts and Set Up Companies under Sanctions (expert opinion), Forbes, 03.11.2022

The Autumn Count: What Dangers Arise from Western Regulators Refusing to Exchange Information with the Federal Tax Service, Forbes, 19.09.2022

The Money Bag for the Motherland: What Risks Owners of Foreign Financial Assets Face, Forbes, 10.09.2021

Will Cyprus Papers Harm the Chances of New Russian ‘Potential Cypriots’, Forbes, 25.08.2020

Deserted Island? Who Will Stay in Cyprus under the New Tax Regime with Russia, Forbes, 13.08.2020

Around the World because of 90 Days: Who Benefits from the New Tax Residency Rules, Forbes, 29.10.2019

The Many Faces of Amnesty. Will Valery Izrailit Case Undermine the Businesses’ Trust in the State?, Forbes, 26.09.2019

The Hague Views: Whether The Convention on the Recognition of Foreign Judgments Will Help Russian Businesses, Forbes, 31.07.2019

Last Call? Disputes about the Third Capital Amnesty, Forbes, 07.06.2019

Izvestia:

Transparency of a Resident. CRS: How it Works in Russia, Izvestia, 06.04.2021

Smart Citizenship. Montenegro, Malta, Bulgaria: EU and Golden Passports , Izvestia, 24.03.2021

SPEAR’S Russia:

What Does the Tax Inspector Not Know Yet? Part II, 20.05.2021

What Does the Tax Inspector Know about You? Experience in Russia and Overseas, 15.03.2021

Golden Passports: Prices, Practice, and Implications, 09.04.2020

Subtle Offshore Substance, 10.01.2020

The Bell:

Switzerland Starts Exchanging Information on Russians’ Hidden Accounts with the Federal Tax Service , The Bell, 09.10.2019

Double Count: How New Tax Residency Rules Affect Russians, The Bell, 07.10.2019

Company Magazine:

Pandora Papers: Why It Signals the End of the Offshore Businessl, 09.11.2021

Ernst & Young publications:

Automatic Exchange of Tax Information with Russia

Belize Offshore Companies Go Onshore

Presentations at international conferences:

III Forum “Real Estate Investment for Private Clients and Family Offices. Economy and Taxes of Overseas Projects.

Immigrant Invest. Investors in the Caribbean. Tax Aspects of Second Citizenship for Private Wealth Management.

X Moscow Family Offices Forum. A New Tax Planning Paradigm: Beneficiary-Centred Planning.

CFO Café – FinTaxTop Private Wealth. Tax Break: Less Obvious Advantages of Popular Resorts.

Russian TechWeek Skolkovo. International Solutions for IT Business. Skolkovo Technopark, 1-3 June 2021.

CFO Café – FinTaxTop Private Wealth . Choosing a Second Country: Taxes and More.

Pro Invest. International Forum for Investors. Tax lounge.

International Tax Planning: 50 Shades of White.

CFO Café – FinTaxTop. V Tax Marathon. Digitization and Taxes. CRS, Registers of Beneficial Owners, Information Exchange on Request, DAC6, and Social Networks.

CFO Café – FinTaxTop. Private Wealth. Investment and Immigration Opportunities. Practical Fundamentals of Tax Geography.

Migronis Freedom Conference (in partnership with Ernst&Young). Tax Residency, Citizenship, and Residence Permit. Taxes and Tax-Free Jurisdictions.

Intax Group Russia, May 2020 (in partnership with PWC). Revision of Double Tax Treaties between Russia and Cyprus, etc. New Strategies for Business.

Hansa FinCon, May 2020. Covid-19 and Tax Planning.

Bosco Conference, April 2020. Double Tax Treaties, CFCs, and Tax Residency of Companies.

InvestPro Moscow. Challenges to International Business: Substance, Banks, and CRS.

Moscow Family Office Forum 2019. Substance and Localization in Jurisdictions and for Banks.

InvestPro Kazakhstan, Almaty 2019. CRS, CFCs, and Asset Structuring, Protection and Management.

InvestPro Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan 2019 (in partnership with Migronis). Golden Visas in Europe – Tax Aspects of a Residence Permit.

FI Real Estate Investment Forum 2019. Taxation and Structuring of Overseas Real Estate Transactions.

WealthPro Russia Moscow 2019.

VIII Russian Private Wealth Forum 2019. The End of the Offshore Era?

CIS Wealth Moscow Conference & Expo 2019. Global Trends in Transforming Legislation to Ensure Transparency of Corporate Structures.

Projects completed

• In 2022, Sergey resumed close cooperation with GSL and was invited to the company as the international tax and immigration partner.
• From 2017, he worked as business development director and senior adviser at Hill Consulting, whilst continuing to provide tax advice to private clients, executives, and owners of medium and large businesses.
• In 2015, with the start of deoffshorization, he dived into the subject of Controlled Foreign Companies (CFCs) and overseas accounts, he was involved in the restructuring of clients’ businesses to meet the new requirements of the Russian tax and currency legislation. He organized the preparation of reports and audits in relation to CFCs and bank accounts.
• From 2010, in addition to investment projects, he has been actively cooperating with GSL on company incorporations in the US and offshore jurisdictions.
• In the early 2000s, after a series of trainings with specialists from US investment banks Merril Lynch, Wells Fargo and Charles Schwab, he focused on creating complex international structures and on investment projects, including those in the field of overseas real estate and those related to immigration issues. As part of a private Family Office, he advised clients and managed assets of more than $20 million.
• His field investigation of the conditions for business development and investment has taken him to more than 50 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Oceania. He invested with partners in residential and hotel real estate in Spain, France, Switzerland, Finland, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Thailand. In the course of organizing major projects abroad, he communicated with ambassadors, finance ministers and prime ministers of a number of European and Asian countries.
• He selected a team of investors and organized his own development project in Thailand – Vista del Mar Phuket, promoted it on the international market and secured the sale of villas to buyers from Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany, and Russia.
• In the early 90s, in parallel with the consulting business, he and his US partners organized one of the first MBA programmes in Russia and the CIS for Russian-speaking businessmen, which engaged experts and professors from the World Bank, Moscow State University and the Academy of National Economy.
• Given his experience of working with foreign partners, he started his international business consulting activity in 1991. In 1992, he became the general manager of the US company BMI, which was one of the first in Russia and the CIS to provide company formation and overseas business set-up services. He was in charge of the company’s operations in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and the CIS and created a wide distribution network throughout the region. In the second half of the 90s, the company was one of the Russia’s top-three businesses in this sector. Sergey was a member of the San Francisco Bar Association.
• He personally participated in the incorporation of several thousand companies, foundations, trusts, offshore banks, non-profit organizations and even two churches in the USA, Panama, the Caribbean, Cyprus, other European countries, the UAE, Australia, and New Zealand. He organized the preparation of several hundred tax reports for companies in the US, Cyprus, Hong Kong and other countries. He advised clients on working with accounts and investment products of the world’s largest banks: Bank of America, UBS, Credit Swiss and many more.
• In the late 80s, he led, as Deputy Chief Designer, large federal projects in the field of communication and data transmission systems management. Later, he participated in the set-up and operation of one of the first joint ventures in the USSR – with Siemens.