The long, hot Russian summer can slide by lazily in Moscow, unless you have a few million to throw around on desirable playthings. Last July Roman Abramovich staved off boredom by splurging £60 million on Chelsea Football Club.
This week Nikolai Smolensky blew his cash in Blackpool rather than more exotic climes by buying sports car maker TVR. Smolensky, thought to be worth about €66 millionat just 24 years of age, paid around £15 million (€22.5 million) for TVR, which employs 400 and makes about 800 of its extravagant supercars every year.
A reputed adrenalin junkie who loves fast cars and flying planes, Smolensky is said to be an enthusiastic admirer of a firm with a loyal clientele for handmade cars with performance to match their wild styling and rumbling growl.
The secretive, British-educated tycoon declined to comment on his new venture, but issued a statement through the car maker’s headquarters on England’s north-east coast. "I am very enthusiastic about the potential of VR," he said, "and am grateful for opportunity to become a car manufacturer."
He has already visited the factory and pledged a hands-on approach to his new job, which sees Peter Wheeler, owner of TVR through two decades of diverse fortunes, stay with the firm as a consultant. "I’ve always been a fan of British car manufacturing and believe that the best automotive designers and engineers are in this country," said Smolensky in his statement.
Traditionalists may lament the passing of yet another British car maker into foreign hands, and TVR enthusiasts and employees might find cause for oncern in the business background of the Smolensky family.
Nikolai’s father, Alexander, is widely loathed in Russia for leaving millions of ordinary savers high-and-dry in 1998 when his bank, SBS-Agro, went bust.
Still one of Russia’s richest men, Smolensky Senior has shown no remorse for the chaos caused by his bank. He once said that his countrymen and foreign investors deserved nothing more than "dead donkeys’ ears" for having the stupidity to trust him.
He handed the remnants of his banking empire to his son last year, and Nikolai promptly vowed to build the business, open hundreds of branches across Russia and win back the confidence of wary depositors.
Within months though, he had abandoned the project, and the bank was sold to a billionaire acquaintance shortly afterwards.