Together and forever: the strongest and longest marriages of famous billionaires. Evgeny Chichvarkin: biography, creativity, books, and personal life Evgeny Chichvarkin what he is doing now

Evgeny Chichvarkin- Russian entrepreneur. Co-founder and former co-owner of a network of salons cellular communication Euroset.

Evgeny Chichvarkin
Occupation: businessman, politician
Date of birth: September 10, 1974
Place of Birth:
Leningrad, USSR
Country Russia

Evgeny Alexandrovich Chichvarkin(September 10, 1974, Leningrad) - Russian entrepreneur. Co-founder and former co-owner of the Euroset mobile phone network. Since the end of 2008 he has been living in the UK, where he has a business. For some time he was the leader of the Moscow branch of the opposition party "Union of Right Forces".
In October 2011, Evgeny Chichvarkin was noted by Anastasia Zhokhova, the editor of the Russian version of Forbes magazine, as one of the 9 most unusual Russian businessmen - extravagant, eccentrics and eccentrics.

Evgeny Chichvarkin was born on September 10, 1974. By his own admission, "physically born" in Leningrad. Most sources indicate Moscow as the city of birth (a direct quote from Chichvarkin: “Formally, I was born in Leningrad, but registered in Moscow (my mother is from Leningrad, my father is a Muscovite)”). His father worked as a civil pilot, and his mother worked as an engineer-economist at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade (later at the Ministry of Industry and Trade). Speaking about ethnic roots, Chichvarkin pointed out that his great-great-grandfather was a moksha.

After graduating from Moscow School No. 28 in 1991, Chichvarkin entered the State Academy of Management, from which he graduated in 1996 with a degree in Economics of Motor Transport Management. At the same time, he was engaged in trade in clothing markets.
From 1996 to 1998 he studied at the graduate school of the Academy.

Management of the Euroset company
On April 2, 1997, together with his friend Timur Artemyev, he created the Euroset company, which later became the largest Russian cellular retailer.
September 2, 2008 employees law enforcement conducted a search at the central office of the Euroset company, which was connected with the investigation into the kidnapping in 2003 of the former Euroset freight forwarder Andrey Vlaskin, according to Chichvarkin's defense, caught by the company's security service in thefts cell phones. On September 22, 2008, together with Timur Artemiev, he signed an agreement on the sale of 100% of Euroset to the investment company ANN, headed by entrepreneur Alexander Mamut. On October 24, 50% minus one share of Euroset was acquired from ANN by Vympel-Communications . The sale transaction was completed on February 3, 2011.

In 2008, he spoke in support of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.
On November 16, 2008, Chichvarkin headed the still unregistered Moscow city branch of the Right Cause party. He was also put in charge of branding the party.

On November 20, 2008, it became known that Chichvarkin left the post of chairman of the board of directors of Euroset.

Emigration
Before his departure from the country, he lived on Rublyovka in Zhukovka. December 22, 2008 flew to London. In January 2009, the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against Chichvarkin.
On March 2, 2010, he announced that he asked not to be associated with the Just Cause party anymore, since it was impossible to work in the project from abroad.
On April 3, 2010, Chichvarkin's 60-year-old mother, Lyudmila Chichvarkina, was found dead at home. According to the preliminary conclusion of the forensic experts, Chichvarkina fell and hit her temple on the edge of the table, but Yevgeny Chichvarkin believes that it was murder.

On May 11, 2010, on his blog in the Snob project, he published an appeal to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which he again accused the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs of intimidating and extorting money from him for the sale of Euroset in 2008, and also accused the penitentiary system of maintaining prisoners in inhuman conditions former leader Euroset security services of Boris Levin discovered hepatitis C during his imprisonment since 2008.
On May 30, 2010, during the Moscow Tea Party rally held by the Libertarian Party of Russia, a direct telephone line was organized with Chichvarkin, during which he supported the action in defense of a free economy.
On August 31, 2010, Chichvarkin took part in a rally in defense of the 31st article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in front of the building Russian embassy in London.

In January 2011, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation dropped the criminal case against Chichvarkin. However, Chichvarkin said he was afraid to return to Russia because of the possibility of new persecution.

Since March 2012, together with his friend Timur Artemyev, they have opened the Hedonism Drinks Ltd wine business in London, where Timur is the owner of the company, and Chichvarkin is the main investor.
At the end of 2012, he said that he might return to Russia "in 5-6 years"; but only in the event of a change in the current regime.
In April 2016, he announced plans to start positioning and branding the Open Russia organization.

Criminal prosecution
On January 14, 2009, the investigation issued a decision to bring Yevgeny Chichvarkin as a defendant. He was charged with part 3 of article 126 (kidnapping) and paragraphs “a”, “b” of part 3 of article 163 (extortion) of the Criminal Code. In late December and early January, summons were sent to Chichvarkin for interrogation several times, but since the investigation could not contact him, he was accused in absentia. After that, he was put on the federal wanted list.

On January 28, 2009, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow authorized Chichvarkin's arrest in absentia. On March 2, the Judicial Collegium of the Moscow City Court ruled that the decision of the Basmanny Court should be left unchanged, and the cassation appeals of the lawyers - without satisfaction[.
March 12 Chichvarkin was announced in international wanted list.

On June 17, 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office sent a request to the UK for the extradition of Chichvarkin. On 27 August Westminster Magistrates' Court issued an arrest warrant ordering him to appear in court. On September 7, Chichvarkin was forcibly taken to court, but on the same day he was released on bail in the amount of 100,000 pounds.
On September 22, extradition hearings were held, the judge scheduled a hearing on the merits for December 1, Chichvarkin was again released on a previously posted bail of 100,000 pounds, his documents giving him the right to travel abroad were confiscated.
On December 1, Westminster Magistrates' Court adjourned the extradition hearing to August 2, 2010, granting the defense motion, which required additional time for translation from Russian into English a large number documents on the case, as well as the preparation of a list of witnesses whom the lawyers intend to call in court.

On August 2, 2010, the Westminster Magistrates' Court postponed the hearing on Chichvarkin's extradition case to September 13. On September 13, the Westminster Magistrates Court scheduled the main hearing in the Chichvarkin extradition case for March 21, 2011.

On January 24, 2011, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation terminated the criminal case against Chichvarkin, on January 26 his international search was terminated, and on February 17, the Westminster Magistrates Court closed the extradition case.

views
Adheres to libertarian economic and political views. At Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration, Evgeny presented him with Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. In his blog in 2008 he wrote about this novel:

Ayn Rend Atlas Shrugged. I would like to say something special about this book. This is the real bible of entrepreneurship. It was written for 12 years by our former compatriot Alisa Rosenbaum and was published in 1957. I think this is the most powerful work, both in essence and in meaning, written in the 20th century. Despite the fact that the novel is really very large, it is in constant demand. Over the years, more than 5 million copies have been sold, and more than 100,000 copies a year are still sold. It is impossible to give a short summary, but the main idea is that the capitalist system, in fact, is not only a system of the highest justice, but also the highest morality. The novel describes an epic fantasy about how social populists came to power in the United States, leading the country to chaos, famine and civil war. Throwing off responsibility is very naturalistically described, lower and lower in the management structure railway, from the boss to a drunk driver, which leads to a terrible tragedy in the tunnel. It is very similar to the Russian regions during the period of the decomposition of the Soviet system. Ayn Rand spent 5 years writing John Galt's final speech. It reflects the concept of rational egoism and individualism.
Ayn Rand's fans are Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan. And among a few million people - people with an income of more than a million dollars in the United States - this book is more popular than the Bible. I highly recommend reading this brilliant work. In Euroset, this book can also be read during the working day.

In Mayfair, our compatriots are strongly associated with the name of Evgeny Chichvarkin. Although he himself often talks about the achievements of his "fighting girlfriend" Tatyana Fokina. As managing director, it was she who was involved in opening the store and bringing it to self-sufficiency. At the same time, she opened Hide and launched the Open University educational platform. About how a graduate of the St. Petersburg Philology Faculty got into the London retail and restaurant business, and how she managed to combine several complex projects at the same time - Tatyana told the editor-in-chief of ZIMA Katerina Nikitina. There were also personal questions.

You know what they sometimes say about women: she works three jobs to support her family. Your situation is different, you are not forced to feed your family, but there are still three jobs. Which one are you currently paying the most attention to?

There is such a cliché that projects are like children. And when a family is born new baby, everyone rushes around him for a while. Here I feel about as if my third child was born - the Hide restaurant. When we opened it, I went to Hedonism (as if I was afraid that he would be offended, although this is rather absurd), stood there for several minutes and mentally said: “We still love you. You're still our first project." It was such a sentimental superstitious act. It is clear that the restaurant is now receiving the most attention. Because, firstly, it opened only in April. And secondly, this project is very large and very ambitious. Opening a restaurant in the very center of London, with 174 seats at once, is really very brave.

And what ambitions are associated with the restaurant? Eugene always says about Hedonism Wines that this is the best wine store in the world. Is there a plan to make Hide the best restaurant in the world?

The store is truly the best in the world. With a restaurant, things are somewhat more complicated. There is a list of the world's top 50 restaurants. In general, the rating is very subjective. Of course, we want to be represented there and, most likely, we will be able to get there. But our goal is not to be the best restaurant in the world, but rather the most beloved restaurant in London. We are constantly asked: "Where to go in London, what's new?" So we want 70 people out of 100 who are asked the same question to say: "We need to go to Hide." For me personally, this is the goal. (The conversation was recorded before the restaurant - approx. ZIMA)

Six months have passed since April. Do you feel that you are getting everything you planned?

Yes, definitely. We follow the reviews of visitors and critics, so far not a single question has arisen about food at all, most of them are very praised. Although a couple of weeks before the opening there was an incident in Salisbury, and this, of course, did not help us in any way. Many discussed the "Russian money" invested in the project. Sometimes even our compatriots come to the restaurant and ask: “Why don’t you have a menu in Russian? Where are the cheesecakes for breakfast? We are certainly very flexible and service oriented. But in general, if you come here, you will quickly realize that this is not a Russian restaurant. Actually Russian in it, except for us, there is nothing at all. Except maybe a cover for a menu in one of the private dining rooms.

You have been running the restaurant since the inception. Prior to that - just as I understand it, from scratch - they opened a large store. Where did you study this?

No, I didn’t think at all that I would someday be engaged in retail. I studied at the philological faculty of St. Petersburg state university, in the Italian branch.

Was it your choice?

It was absolutely my choice. Although, of course, I had no option not to go to university. Both my father and mother are university professors. Mom is in the past, and dad still teaches at St Petersburg University. Now he is also a professor in Italy, teaching biology at the University of Pisa. As they would say here, I have a very academic family. I am not sure that I have the right to say about myself that I am a St. Petersburg intellectual, but my family was definitely extremely intelligent.

Were you an excellent student at school?

I was almost perfect. But I had very bad behavior and my parents were called to school all the time. At the same time, it was impossible to do anything special with me, because I studied very well.

For what, for example, could your parents be called to school?

I ran away from classes, especially in adolescence, quite boldly with everyone communicated. Then it came to me during teaching practice at the philological faculty. I came to my own school to teach French to high school students. And I saw the same girls in short skirts, who impudently sat in the classroom and wrote little notes. But at the philological faculty, I eventually received a red diploma.

Did you end up in London right after university?

Yes. I graduated in June and came here in September. It was, it turns out, nine years ago.

Was London your ultimate destination? Did you want to get here?

No, I never wanted to leave Russia at all. I was and remain in the correct, primordial sense of the word, a patriot. Although now this word is almost embarrassing to pronounce, it seems to me, since its meaning has become clouded. I came to London for love, so to speak. And for the first year I went home 12 times, despite the fact that I had practically no money. I went home every month because I had absolutely no idea why I was here and what I was doing.

That is, you came for the love of a man, but stayed for the love of the city?

I stayed for the love of work. I said from the very beginning that I would move, but if I don’t find a job that suits me, I will go back. Because I can't help but work, I've been working all the time since I was 18, and I work a lot. I had some savings, but I remember walking around the center of London and thinking that a bus ticket costs so much, to go somewhere costs so much, and a dress at Zarya costs so much. . And I can’t say that it somehow motivated me. Rather pissed off that I'm in this beautiful city where there is so much to do, so much to try, but I can't afford it.

What job did you end up finding?

I bet that I have very good English and very good Russian. It was mine competitive advantage. All the works that I was looking for were based on this combination. These were real estate agencies, PR agencies - in general, quite corporate positions. Before joining Hedonism Wines, I worked as an assistant to a Russian businessman. And it was a completely wild experience. It was as if I was constantly in a gangster movie or Timati's video of those years, where everyone jumps into the pool, pouring champagne on them. It opened my eyes to an unsightly parallel reality. When I was hired, they warned me: "Our previous assistants lasted a maximum of a week." I was wondering where my limit is. And as soon as I realized that I had lasted 10 months, I said: “Everything, thank you very much, it was priceless, but I can’t be here anymore.” I was already handing over cases when they called me from the agency and said that they were looking for an assistant for Evgeny Chichvarkin.

Did you know him at that time?

No. But I knew about him because of the conflict around Euroset. By the way, this was a business that, when I was in Russia, did not cause me anything but negativity. Zhenya himself says that in St. Petersburg, Euroset was very disliked.

Because St. Petersburg is a very intelligent city, and Euroset behaved as unintelligently as possible?

Yes. She always evoked some sort of sense of wariness, to say the least. And certainly I was not interested then who owns it and who created it all. But then, since we have a very politicized family, I found out about the circumstances due to which Zhenya was forced to move here, and about what happened after. And I followed his story and somehow humanly empathized. We only met at the interview. We talked for a very long time, then there were three more interviews, we still talked for a very long time, I didn’t even really understand what. There were questions about favorite films, books ... And in the end, another girl became an assistant.

Were you looking for PA?

Yes, they were looking for RA. But Zhenya told me that he had a project for a liquor store in his head, and asked if I would like to do it. I agreed, as it was very interesting, although I knew very little about wine then. But I understood that if you have good organizational skills, then you can organize anything: a meeting, elections, the Olympics, a liquor store. I was also reassured that Zhenya knows well what retail is. But, of course, everything turned out to be more complicated. At first, we went to the people we needed and said: "We want to open the best store in the world." People twisted at the temple and answered: “Great. Good luck to you". Zhenya has long wanted to collect all the letters of refusal that we received in the first years: refusal to open a bank account, refusal to rent out premises, refusal to supply wine. For the English establishment, our idea seemed wild and hardly feasible.

Zhenya has long wanted to collect all the letters of refusal that we received in the first years: refusal to open a bank account, refusal to rent out premises, refusal to supply wine.

How long did it take to open the store - from the idea to the first working day?

I came in September 2010, and we opened in August 2012, when the London Olympics were held. Our entire head office, it seems to me, did not sleep at all by the opening. I came home at two in the morning, took a shower and drove back - by five I was back at the office. It seems to me that I literally hovered above the ground then, I had bruises under my eyes from lack of sleep almost to the chin. At first everything went very slowly. We are now looking at our revenues in the first months - this is about one tenth of our daily revenue today. But we knew that everything would come. It was just hard to learn patience. It's impossible to be here without him. These endless permits, meetings, mandatory face-to-face contact… You can solve everything with one phone call, but you have to go to a meeting and sit there for two hours discussing the weather. I always mentally worried that I would have done so much in these two hours. With the restaurant, in this regard, it was already easier - we knew in advance that everything would be more expensive, longer and more difficult than we would like, and we decided to try not to waste our nerves once again. In the end, of course, they also spent, but not so much.

How quickly did Hedonism Wines start making money?

He quickly became self-sufficient. net profit we started receiving three years ago. Only then did I slightly move away from operational issues, although I still actively participate in everything and know thoroughly what is happening in the store. But I understand that the right people work for us and I do not need to check their every step. Prior to that, I, it seems to me, was in a copy of all the emails that were sent in the company. I was afraid that someone would give the wrong answer, misunderstand, etc. Still, it was our vision with Zhenya, and, probably, only we could fully realize our idea.

Was it easy for you to find a common language with Evgeny?

Zhenya has a rare quality, due to which, it seems to me, he is so successful in many ways - this is the ability to find the right people and not interfere with their work. Quickly enough, he gave me complete freedom of action. Although, as I now understand, he checked me for quite a long time. I could call on Saturday morning and say: "Let's bring Citizen Poet to London." I say: “Well, we have a construction site there ... But in general, so what. Let's!" And I, in addition to my main tasks, also took on the organization of the concert.

Eugene calls you "my fighting girlfriend." Do you like this definition?

Partially. I'm just against many other definitions.

And the wife?

We are not married.

Like this? But what about that beautiful photo from Instagram, which has spread all over the media? You are in a white dress, Eugene is in a tailcoat.

This is a good example of how the media works these days. We were going to the ballet, and I had a more ballet, as I thought, dress. As soon as we left the house, someone shouted: "Congratulations!" We realized that we really look like a bride and groom, and decided to beat this topic. We found almost the last bouquet left there in a flower stall in Covent Garden and came up with a signature that could be interpreted in different ways. In what it is wedding photography, then our friends believed, and even my mother. They called and were indignant that we did not tell them anything. Although I don’t go around with a banner that says that I will never get married, because I don’t see the point in it. I always correct everyone: I'm not a wife. "Girlfriend" sounds pretty silly too. And the definition of “combat girlfriend” in general really reflects the essence of our relationship.

Did you immediately like Zhenya?

I immediately liked him as a human being. In life, he is not the way other people often see him. In an interview with Dud, they saw Zhenya for who he is, and immediately began to admire. Many have developed an image of such an arrogant boor far from reality, but in fact he is very educated, with a good sense of humor, simple, open. So from a human point of view, I immediately liked him. But why do office romances happen? Because people who like each other spend a lot of time together. This is an organic process: you already know each other very well, went through some kind of stress together, saw each other in tears and banging their heads against the wall. We have a bench in the garden near the office - it seems that all our employees were crying there, especially before the opening of the store, because then emotions just went through the roof.

Why do office romances happen? Because people who like each other spend a lot of time together.

Who was more difficult to give an office romance - Eugene as a boss or you as his employee?

It was harder for me, because I had to prove that I do all the projects because I do my job well, and not because Zhenya and I are a couple. I still do it subconsciously, although it seems like I have not needed to prove anything to anyone for a long time. I have always been the first to arrive at work and the last to leave. But we have a whole team of workaholics. Moreover, in the team with which we work in the office, there are only British. And this is an absolutely unique situation when I can write an email at 5 in the morning and, most likely, someone will answer me right away. Such a corporate approach is very rare in this country; people here are used to working from 9 to 5. It seems to me that we have gathered all caring people into one office. And this is our main success.

Does the fact that you and Evgeny work together affect the relationship somehow? Hinders or helps?

Interferes. I try not to discuss work at home, but this is very bad, and sometimes we still argue about work issues. How is the evening ordinary families? A husband comes home from work, his wife asks him: “How was your day?” We cannot have this, because I know exactly how Zhenya's day went - if only because mine, most likely, partially went the same way. We only do sports separately. Zhenya loves polo. I tried to do it, but I realized that it takes a lot of time. I'm comfortable doing it early in the morning. I usually get up at 6 and go to yoga, tennis or ice skating by 7 am.

Rink? In London?

Yes, I go to the Queens Ice Rink, the only one in central London that is open all year round. Somehow I suddenly realized that my St. Petersburg childhood passed without skates, although I love them very much. I was a child of perestroika, and my parents clearly had no time for taking me to sports clubs - they were trying to make ends meet. So I decided to try now. It is clear that Olympic champion of me in 30 years will not. But I do it with pleasure, and progress is still there.

Three years ago your daughter was born. Has motherhood changed you in any way?

I think I've calmed down a little. If earlier I could emotionally react to some problem, took everything to heart, now I think more and more often: “Do I have the strength to tear and throw? No. Should I do it? Not". Only now, it seems to me, in my life there is a balance between work, daughter and social life. It took me quite a long time to come to this.

Only now, it seems to me, in my life there is a balance between work, daughter and social life.

Did the idea of ​​motherhood scare you, given how much you were doing at the time?

I felt like I was drowning in missed calls and unread emails. Moreover, I overestimated my capabilities so much that I hoped to cope with everything myself and did not even want to take a nanny at first. On Friday Alice was born, on Monday I came with her to the office to introduce her to everyone there. It turned out that no one at work was aware that I was pregnant. I didn’t talk about it myself and thought that this topic was not discussed out of a purely British sense of tact. But they didn't really notice. I usually wear overalls and during pregnancy I ran all the time - nothing has changed in my behavior. About a week after Alice was born, I returned to work.

You are running another project that I wanted to ask you about. This is Khodorkovsky's "Open University". Why did you start doing it?

Because Mikhail Borisovich suggested that I take up this direction. When I heard about the concept of political online education, I did not immediately agree, to be honest, and even took some time to think, which is not typical for me. But the case seemed to me very important and interesting. Together with other team members, we developed the concept, then we began to think about how it would look visually. Then found the performers. We decided that our first course should be something similar to "The Other Day" - such an educational program for the new generation. We went to Moscow, studied with Arzamas, which also just opened then. At the first stage, until the very launch, I was closely involved in this. Probably, my participation can be designated as a project manager. This happened almost simultaneously with the birth of her daughter: Alice was born, two months later the Open University was launched. We started with Yuri Saprykin's course "Culture as Politics".

Are you still doing it now?

Yes, but I'm more of a quality control now. I report on the work done, I try to keep this project going. The Open University is very difficult to develop, especially in Russia. They constantly close something there, then one organization is declared undesirable, then another, then another site. PR is also not particularly successful, because in Russia few people have the courage to be associated with Khodorkovsky's projects. Our main partnership is with Dozhd. By the way, I have always studied the Open University absolutely free of charge. Someone devotes himself to charity, but for me, this is probably my contribution to the development of society.

Do you and Yevgeny go to rallies?

I go. Although I do not always agree with his position. Basically, we are on the same side, but often disagree on some specific people and reasons. Zhenya is more radical, actively supporting Navalny, for example. I can't say that about myself. The last big quarrel on near-political topics we had was because of the World Cup. Zhenya said that everything was bought there for the Russian team. And this is where my patriotism comes in. I was speechless, then I found it and expressed everything that I thought about it. Zhenya took back his words after the performance of our team. And I went to Russia to the semi-finals and the finals of the championship. Without Zhenya, unfortunately, because he is not allowed to enter Russia.

How do you look today at the path that you have traveled during these 9 years in London? Could you ever imagine it?

No. To be honest, I have this approach to this: coincided right place and right time. My path is just a chain of coincidences. The main thing that I can take credit for myself is that if there are interesting opportunities, then I would rather agree to participate and try to take advantage of the chance. I'm always up for trying.

Evgeny Chichvarkin created from scratch the largest retail chain selling mobile phones Euroset. Today this brand is known to everyone. Having achieved dizzying success, in 2008 he sold the business to entrepreneur Alexander Mamut and moved to London. He was prosecuted in Russia in 2006-2012. In 2012, the criminal cases against Chichvarkin Yevgeny Aleksandrovich were completely terminated. Currently, the entrepreneur permanently resides in England, engaged in the wine business.

 

The latest history of Russia in the late 20th - early 21st century is interesting material for young entrepreneurs to study the origin, development and formation of a business from scratch, as they say, from scratch. When the only knowledge that could be relied upon was the experience of foreign capitalists. Given the domestic mentality, not all successful Western and Eastern business models have taken root in Russian land. Then I had to act on my own, develop my own strategy, change tactics along the way. It was necessary to become bold and arrogant, free and purposeful, resourceful and creative in order to win. Such a person is the former co-owner of Euroset, businessman, millionaire Evgeny Chichvarkin, whose biography is full of stories that can form the basis of a detective, tragedy, comedy, and step by step instructions to create a business.

The young and daring generation of the 90s

As the hero of this article himself tells, he considers both capitals of Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg (at that time Leningrad) to be his place of birth. The baby was born in Leningrad, after which he immediately moved to Moscow. Where the new citizen of the USSR Chichvarkin Evgeny Alexandrovich was registered. Date of birth - September 10, 1974. Here is such an unusual story of the birth of a very unusual person.

A prosperous Moscow family (father is a pilot, mother is an economist), a cloudless childhood, student youth within the walls of the State Academy of Management (graduated in 1996), youth at the turn of a change of eras - these are the standard milestones of the beginning of a life path future star Russian retail. The young generation of Russia in the 90s of the 20th century had a unique opportunity to build their lives the way they wanted, to make their wildest dreams and ideas come true. In the context of emerging new economic relations young, not rich, but daring guys, who soon became known to the whole country, entered the stage. They were able to build business empires in the shortest possible time, become millionaires and billionaires, make people talk about themselves and reckon with themselves. This turned out to be Evgeny Chichvarkin, an extraordinary, eccentric, talented, hardworking and very charming guy.

E. Chichvarkin about success: "Uniqueness and originality are an integral part of success"

Euroset is an explosive retail project

According to Yevgeny Aleksandrovich, the idea of ​​creating a mobile phone salon belonged to his childhood friend, housemate Timur Artemyev. They have developed a successful tandem with a harmonious division of spheres of influence. Timur took up the organizational and financial side of the issue, Chichvarkin immediately took over the sales and promotion of the brand. In 1997, they registered a company called Euroset. The name does not have any mysterious history occurrence, just beautiful word without much semantic load. A few years later, it became known to literally every person in Russia. Starting with several stores in Moscow, by 2007 Euroset had about 2,000 points of sale in Russia. The company has taken the retailer of low-cost mobile phones by offering low prices and fast service. The history of Euroset is interesting and instructive. What allowed the brand to become one of the largest retailers in the country so quickly?

If we focus on the most interesting components of the company's development strategy, we get something like this:

• Aggressive promotion policy. Euroset, having come to the regions, opened points in large centers, and in pavilions at bus stops, and in stalls in the markets. The goal was the same - to capture all the most advantageous positions in terms of customer traffic. The point of sale opened in the shortest possible time, with minimum investment, immediately start earning.
• Ability to conduct business wars. It is known that regional phone sellers met Muscovites unkindly, if not hostilely. There were even cases of arson of Euroset pavilions. Chichvarkin defeated everyone by answering maximum reduction prices, the opening of new stores and the absorption of competitors.
• Features of personnel policy. Chichvarkin is known as a stern and eccentric leader who always personally kept his finger on the pulse, invisibly present next to every manager of the company. He repeatedly said that every employee should bring maximum benefit to the company. Evgeny Alexandrovich liked to personally visit stores to check the quality of the work of employees. Such checks often ended badly for some workers. Perhaps not always fair. Chichvarkin himself speaks of this with his inherent directness and self-irony: “I fire idiots and bastards with pleasure. I quickly form an idea of ​​a person. True, it is not always right. His original letters to the company's employees, which are worthy of a separate publication, also went down in history. It is said that he did not pay salespeople a fixed salary, offering only a percentage of sales. A controversial decision. But, be that as it may, the employees of Euroset had a powerful motivation for personal sales and were always in good shape.
• Advertising policy. Chichvarkin has always personally participated in the development advertising campaigns, slogans and selling texts. Euroset advertising is so original and scandalous that it requires a separate chapter.
• Evgeny Chichvarkin, being an educated and inquisitive person, always attached importance to constant self-development, reading special literature and learning. At the same time, his active nature is very accurately reflected in the words of Richard Branson: “To hell with everything! Take it and do it!

E. Chichvarkin about money: “People work to get money. Money is a means of achieving freedom. If the money you earn with pleasure allows you to fill your life with impressions and satisfy your passion for knowledge, life is a success. If you work in such a way that you don’t see white light, why are you working?”

Information for reflection: today it is rather difficult to open a mobile phone salon and make it successful, despite the high profitability of the business. It is necessary to take into account many factors, including the leading positions of large federal players in this market.

Advertising on the verge of a foul

Advertising slogans, videos and actions of Euroset were so provocative that they even fell under the ban of Rospotrebnadzor. It seems that in today's reality they would simply not see the light. The bet was made on a play on words with the use of obscene language. The company's banners featured phrases in which part of the word was replaced by ellipsis, but any native Russian could easily read what the advertisement wanted to convey to him.

No less eccentric was the action "Come naked and get a phone for free!". Despite the absurdity of the proposal, the action was a success. Naked people really came to the salons and received telephones. Still, Chichvarkin knows the domestic mentality well, being himself capable of extraordinary deeds.

One can have different attitudes towards such outrageous approaches, but the fact remains: with a minimum of costs, promotional events had a huge public outcry and an excellent result in terms of sales. Evgeny Chichvarkin brought elements of show, outrageous, entertainment, laughter into business advertising. And won. Chichvarkin generally has an excellent sense of humor. Once, when asked where the company got additional funding, he replied: “We are powered by the energy of space.”

E. Chichvarkin on business promotion: “Buying should be an adventure. A person should have something else besides the goods. For nothing in our urban world, a person is ready to pay more than for impressions.

Intrigues, scandals, investigations

With the name of the businessman Evgeny Alexandrovich Chichvarkin and his brainchild Euroset is connected scandalous story with a criminal focus. Since the details and details of this case are very vague and not known to the general public, it is best to talk about it with a great deal of caution, dryly stating the facts and not drawing conclusions.

In 2006, a criminal case was opened against a businessman on charges of violating the law when importing mobile phones. The case was related to the detention at the customs of a large batch of Motorola phones for Euroset. Soon the criminal case was dismissed for lack of corpus delicti. In 2008, a criminal case related to kidnapping was again opened against the businessman. Chichvarkin was even put on the international wanted list. As a result of many years of proceedings, all charges against the businessman were dropped, the criminal prosecution was completely terminated in 2012.

In 2008, the founders and co-owners of Euroset Evgeny Chichvarkin and Timur Artemyev sold the business to a large businessman Alexander Mamut, according to various sources, for $300-400 million. A little later, Vimpelcom-Communications became the new owner of the retail network.

Chichvarkin left Russia in 2008, flying to London, where he currently lives.

Life after Euroset

During the heyday of Euroset, Yevgeny Chichvarkin's fortune was estimated at $2.5 billion. According to Forbes magazine, Chichvarkin has not been included in the 200 richest businessmen in Russia for a long time. According to information from various sources Now the state of the entrepreneur is estimated at less than $ 1 billion.

Living for many years in England, Evgeny Aleksandrovich is engaged in the business of selling wine. He opened a stylish wine shop Hedonism Wines, which offers a wide range of wines and other alcoholic beverages. Chichvarkin is again doing what he likes and enjoys. With his characteristic curiosity, he delved into the study of all the nuances of a new activity. The businessman spends a lot of time in his store, personally changing vinyl records on the turntable and meeting customers. You can see how this happens in this video.

E. Chichvarkin about customer service: "If a person is disgusted (or ashamed) to serve, let him work as a watchman in a wasteland."

Russian businessman and English entrepreneur

Evgeny Chichvarkin, whose biography contains both dizzying ups and rapid falls, remains a very open and easy-to-communicate person. He is not inherent in snobbery and star disease that affects many successful people. His non-standard and eccentricity is manifested in his views on life, appearance, the way he formulates and expresses his thoughts. Using extravagant techniques in business that shock the public, Chichvarkin remains a modest and calm person in his personal life. His personal life is not a subject secular gossip and rumors. He has been married for a long time, has a daughter and a son, and is quite happy. And he is also an unusually charming, witty and cheerful person.

In one of the interviews, Evgeny Alexandrovich summed up the intermediate results in such a peculiar way: “I had a moment in my life when I was scared, it seemed to me that my life would end soon. I thought very quickly what I had done and I thought that I had done everything perfectly. I did amazing. Much better than I could have done. Made a lot of mistakes, but did so many good deeds.”

Evgeny Chichvarkin is a talented entrepreneur, founder of the Euroset chain of stores. In the mid-2000s, the authoritative Forbes magazine included this man among the businessmen of Russia, and in 2008 he named him one of the most eccentric and extravagant millionaires on the planet.

Childhood and youth

Evgeny Alexandrovich Chichvarkin was born on September 10, 1974, in the city of great opportunities - Moscow. Developing the theme of the family, it is worth noting that the parents of the future businessman were in no way connected with business and commerce. The father of the founder of the Euroset holding was a civil aviation pilot, and his mother worked as an engineer-economist in the Ministry of Industry and Trade (formerly the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR).

Among other things, the parents were from two largest cities Russia, and therefore the businessman often calls himself a half-Leningrader-half-Muscovite. Speaking about his origin, once Eugene also noted that his distant ancestors belonged to the Mokshans.

In his youth, Eugene masterfully combined school with a wild life. In conversations with media representatives, the businessman often said that he found time for parties, homework and reading books on philosophy.

After graduation high school the future entrepreneur entered the State Academy of Management. In this university, an ambitious young man began to study the economics of vehicle management. However, a miserly student scholarship was constantly not enough, and therefore very soon Eugene found a part-time job at the local clothing market.

Here the guy looked from the inside at the world retail, understood the laws of the "street economy", and also gained the necessary experience in working with clients. In 1996, Evgeny entered the postgraduate course of the State Academy and, in parallel with his studies, began to hatch plans to create his own business.

In April 1997, Zhenya, together with his friend Timur Artemiev, created a company called Euroset, which subsequently began to grow rapidly and develop rapidly.

Business

The first Euroset store was opened on Leninsky Prospekt in Moscow. The company was mastering a completely new market for Russia, since no one had heard of cellular retail in the country before. Most people used pagers as their primary means of communication. In the next couple of years, the Euroset network of salons began to grow rapidly. The first points of sale appeared outside of Moscow. Some time later, representative offices of the company began to appear even outside of Russia.

Evgeny Chichvarkin - head of the Euroset company

In this regard, 2006 was a record year, when in just twelve months 1976 new salons were formed throughout the country. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Evgeny developed the concept of advertising for his company, which was based on the use of outrageous, extraordinary and deliberately provocative marketing moves.

Worthy of mention, for example, are such scandalous PR campaigns as “Undress for the phone” and “Miss Breasts”. Such an approach drew great attention to the Euroset company and laid the necessary basis for all subsequent successes. The network of mobile phone stores was growing rapidly, but it was at this moment that serious scandals began to flare up around Chichvarkin's business. It all started with accusations of lowering customs duties when importing phones into Russia.

In addition, the Euroset company was at the center of proceedings related to the disappearance of its former freight forwarder Andrey Vlaskin, who had previously been convicted of stealing mobile phones.

In 2009, Chichvarkin was charged under the article "Kidnapping". Going back, it is worth noting that back in 2008, Evgeny Chichvarkin actively supported all political campaigns and, however, a couple of years later, he radically changed his Political Views.

The reason for this was pressure from the official authorities, who insisted on selling the Euroset company and allegedly extorted money from the entrepreneur. Anyway, in September 2008 profitable business on the sale of mobile phones was still sold.

Chichvarkin agreed to the proposed conditions and transferred the full package of shares to the ANN investment group and the entrepreneur. A month later, the millionaire left the post of head of the Euroset company and flew to London.

Yevgeny Chichvarkin left Russia in 2008. Two years after moving to the UK, the businessman started selling wine, in particular, he opened the Hedonism Wines alcohol store in London, with total area 700 sq.m. It is known that the range of alcoholic beverages is estimated at 8.5 thousand items (this list includes exclusive brands). In June 2017, for the first time since its founding, the company made publicly available an estimate showing the profit of the store. According to the results of the 2015-2016 financial year, it amounted to £352 thousand.

Personal life

Chichvarkin always carefully concealed his personal life from prying eyes. It is well known that for a couple of years former head Euroset was a caring father and loving husband. The businessman's wife's name is Antonina. It was she who gave the entrepreneur two children - son Yaroslav and daughter Marta.

In March 2016, rumors appeared on the Web that the businessman had divorced, and in August this information was confirmed. New sweetheart Evgenia became a girl named Tatyana. Together with her, the man flew to Jurmala in the same year, where he introduced his companion to star friends - and Olga Ryzhkova. It is worth noting that the businessman's girlfriend made a good impression on her friends.

Evgeny Chichvarkin now

In July 2017, the founder of the Euroset network of communication salons, in an interview with a journalist and blogger, spoke about his rivalry with, about a deal with conscience and how he built a company on smuggling.

In August, the businessman, who left Russia for London in 2008, began raising funds to support the election campaign. The money, according to the entrepreneur, will be used to open new headquarters in the regions and print leaflets. Among other things, Eugene published in

Former co-owner of Euroset

Former co-owner of Euroset. Left Russia at the end of December 2008, was charged in absentia as a defendant in a case of kidnapping and extortion, from March 2009 to January 2011 was on the international wanted list; in January 2011, the criminal case against him was dropped.

Evgeny Aleksandrovich Chichvarkin on September 10, 1974 in Moscow. His father was a pilot (“he worked in civil aviation for forty years, the last twenty in passenger aviation”), and his mother was an engineer-economist in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry foreign economic relations.

In 1991-1996, Chichvarkin was engaged in trade in Moscow clothing markets,. At the same time, he studied at State Academy management in the specialty "Economics of management on motor transport". After graduating from high school, he was not drafted into the army, since in the same 1996 Chichvarkin entered graduate school at the academy, where he studied until 1998. I did not defend my dissertation. “I didn’t even come up with a theme,” Chichvarkin recalled,.

In 1997, Chichvarkin and his childhood friend Timur Artemiev created the Euroset company. According to Chichvarkin, the idea to open a communication salon belongs to Artemyev, and he himself liked to sell - "it doesn't matter what",. Chichvarkin and Artemiev were later written about as co-owners of the Euroset company, while information about exactly what share of the company belonged to each of them was not disclosed,.

In 2001, Chichvarkin appeared in the central press as the manager of the Euroset trading house, and in 2002, as the director of the Euroset trading network. By that time, the company had become one of the top three leaders in the Moscow market in terms of retail sales of mobile phones, accessories and mobile operator contracts. In the same year, Chichvarkin announced the company's intention to double (increase from 92 to 200) the number of communication stores under the Euroset sign by the end of the year, developing the network through franchising.

From January to December 2002, Euroset opened more than 100 communication stores, in 2003 another 117 stores were added to them. At the end of 2003, the first tranche of promissory notes of the Euroset group of companies was issued, in April 2004 the second tranche of promissory notes was issued, and in October of the same year, the company's bond issue with a total nominal value of 1 billion rubles was placed. In 2004, the company opened more than 800 new communication stores. From the following year, the company began to open not salons, but chain stores: in 2005, 1934 of them were opened, in 2006 - 1976. According to the magazine "Money", the company's turnover in 2005 amounted to 2.6 billion dollars.

Since 2004, Chichvarkin has been mentioned in the press as the chairman of the board of directors of Euroset.

In August 2005, a large batch of mobile phones was detained at customs at Sheremetyevo Airport (the media wrote about 300 tons of boxes worth about ten million dollars), which, according to law enforcement agencies, were imported into Russia illegally,,. Several criminal cases were initiated on smuggling, one of the defendants was the director of the Euroset subsidiary Evroset Opt, Alexei Shirokov, Chichvarkin was involved in the investigation as a witness,. According to Chichvarkin, the case with phone smuggling became a reason to "crush" his company "both with the help of all sorts of checks and raids, and with the help of the press." The entrepreneur called all accusations about the use of "gray" imports by Euroset a lie.

In 2005, Euroset acquired the network of mobile communication salons "Techmarket" and the Voronezh company "Networks of communication salons of Russia" (USSR), which allowed it to immediately break away from competitors and move into the category of the largest Russian companies retail , . According to 2006 data, Euroset already included 3150 stores, and in 2007 their number in 12 countries - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan - was already 5156 . "Naturally, we are moving towards an IPO," Chichvarkin said about the company's plans. At the same time, he noted that he could later do something else: "It would be great to open a hypermarket."

In 2007, the media reported that Euroset intended to acquire the bank and enter the banking services market. In an attempt to stand out in a series of banks "boring, with nondescript logos" new structure it was decided to name "Ebank". Commenting on the message about the new project, the journalists noted: "Chichvarkin is a great original, and even in such a serious matter he does not change the principle of show must go on",.

In March 2007, Chichvarkin was mentioned in the media in connection with the initiation of a criminal case against the head of Iled M LLC Dmitry Sidorov, suspected of tax evasion in a particularly large size. It was noted that this company supplied cell phones and accessories to Euroset in 2004-2005. The initiation of a criminal case was reported by Kommersant, which pointed out that Chichvarkin "during the period of making dubious transactions" was a co-founder of Iled M. According to the newspaper, in 2006 he left the co-founders.

In August 2007, as reported in the press, "as part of a previously initiated criminal case," employees of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted searches in the apartments of employees of the Euroset company,. Meanwhile, the media noted that there was a lot of uncertainty about what happened: some experts connected the searches with the 2005 smuggling case, others with the Iled M case. There was also an opinion that searches at the heads of Euroset, as well as searches at the offices of other sellers of cell phones (Tsifrograd, Betalink and Dixis companies) with subsequent statements by market participants that due to investigative actions deliveries of phones to stores were suspended, were marketing ploy designed to increase demand.

However, some experts considered that the searches were the response of the security forces to the actions of Chichvarkin, who is in a confrontation with the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The conclusion about the targeted actions of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation against Chichvarkin was made by some experts on the basis of information from Kommersant, according to which searches in the apartments and workplaces of top managers were carried out only in Euroset and did not affect other retail companies. It was noted that back in March 2006, Euroset announced that it had illegally confiscated Motorola phones confiscated by the "K" department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result, Euroset managed to defend its case, and part of the party was returned in August of the same year, however, representatives of law enforcement agencies managed to destroy part of the phones "under the guise of goods harmful to health",,. According to the company, a criminal case was first initiated against a group of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who delivered phones for recycling, one of them, who drew up a protocol on the transfer of phones for recycling, was fined 50,000 rubles. Soon a separate case was initiated against the former investigator for special important matters The Moscow transport prosecutor's office Dmitry Latysh, who in 2006 ordered the destruction of 50,000 phones confiscated from Euroset. In November 2010, the court found him guilty of abuse of office and sentenced him to a year and three months in a colony-settlement.

In March 2008, the RBC Daily, citing an informed source in the telecommunications market, announced Euroset's intention to rebrand. Chichvarkin himself did not confirm this information, but he did not deny it either, saying only that it was still premature to talk about rebranding. According to him, the company would like the brand to be associated "with high, strong positive feelings and emotions" and that "there is love between the buyer and the seller, between the company and consumers."

In April 2008, Vedomosti, citing a source close to AFK Sistema, which controls MTS, reported negotiations on a possible sale of Euroset to MTS. At the same time, the publication reported that the shareholders of Euroset - Chichvarkin and Artemyev - each own 50 percent of the company's shares. Vedomosti asked them to comment on the information about possible sale Euroset: Chichvarkin called it "nonsense", and Artemiev called it "untruth".

In September 2008, law enforcement officers conducted a search at the central office of the Euroset company, which was related to the investigation into the kidnapping in 2003 of the former Euroset freight forwarder Andrey Vlaskin, who was convicted by the company's security service (SB) of stealing cell phones. The damage from thefts, according to the Kommersant newspaper, amounted to "several tens of millions of rubles" ("Gazeta.ru", citing Chichvarkin, reported the fact of the theft of large batches of phones totaling about 20 million rubles, and "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" cited data that the damage from thefts was estimated at almost one hundred million rubles). Soon, vice-president of the company Boris Levin and deputy head of its security service Andrey Ermilov,, were arrested on charges of kidnapping, extortion and arbitrariness. Security Service officer Vitaly Tsverkunov was also detained and subsequently arrested. Three more Security Service employees - Alexander Olesik, Roman Chichkov and Vladimir Ilyin - fled from the investigation, according to which in early 2003 they kidnapped Vlaskin and demanded a large amount of money from him,,.

Chichvarkin commented on the arrest of the company's employees. According to him, in 2003, Vlaskin, who was put on the wanted list, was detained in Tambov, taken to Moscow (by whom, it was not specified), however, despite the petition of Euroset, he was released on bail. “We rented an apartment for him with the money of the company, where he lived during the investigation,” Chichvarkin said. According to him, during the investigation, Vlaskin confessed to attacking Boris Kommunnikov, an employee of the procurement department, who discovered the theft of phones, and said that "one person from the special services" helped him in Euroset itself, but Vlaskin was never charged with the attempt. Recognizing that there were still facts of "certain pressure on Vlaskin", Chichvarkin connected what happened with the events of 2006: he stated that the case against Levin and Yermilov was initiated by "those who failed to steal in 2006, and they left a residue" .

On September 21, it became known that one hundred percent of the shares of Euroset from Chichvarkin and Artemyev were acquired by the investment company ANN, controlled by Russian financier Alexander Mamut. The total deal was valued at approximately $400 million, excluding debt, which is approximately $850 million. And in early October, another criminal case was initiated against Levin: he was charged with extortion against another Euroset forwarder who worked with Vlaskin, whose name was not reported (later it became known that it was Dmitry Smulgin). As part of the same case, charges were brought against Levin's deputy for security, Sergei Katorgin, who, according to investigators, was detained while trying to leave the country. In the same month, the Basmanny Court authorized the arrest of Katorgin, but Chichvarkin continued to insist that he "believes in the innocence of his employees."

The magazine "Money" noted that, despite the success and prosperity of the company, Chichvarkin did not consider himself rich. "I want to be rich. Money is an opportunity," the entrepreneur said in an interview with the publication in 2006. When asked about plans to go into politics in the future, Chichvarkin replied that this side of life did not attract him, since selling something was much more interesting. In the same interview, he said that of the literary characters he really liked Chichikov: "I liked how he takes the form of the person with whom he works ...".

In November 2008, Chichvarkin received an offer to head the Moscow branch of the Just Cause party, which was formed in the same month on the basis of the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR), Civil Force and the Union of Right Forces (SPS). Answering a question from Kommersant correspondents about his future party work, Chichvarkin only said that he was "for capitalism." In the same material, the newspaper cited the words of the co-chairman of Right Cause, the leader of " Business Russia"Boris Titov, that business representatives will head more than a third regional offices new parties , , . After a meeting of the Federal Political Council of the party, it was announced that Chichvarkin "was appointed responsible for branding the party within the framework of the charter," and in December it became known that the businessman became a member of Right Cause,.

It was planned that in mid-January 2009 a regional conference of the Moscow branch of Right Cause would be held, where Chichvarkin would be elected leader, but this did not happen. As the media noted, it was not possible to create a branch of the party in Moscow by the appointed date, which its representatives associated with the personality of Chichvarkin himself, whose candidacy was “lowered by the Kremlin for a just cause”. "wants to create a branch the way business is done: having carefully thought through everything, inviting VIPs to the political council, with whom it takes a long time to negotiate." In the same month, the media reported that Chichvarkin was leaving politics altogether. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta , he urgently went abroad due to "the aggravation of the situation around the criminal prosecution of his former business associates". Where exactly the businessman went was not reported. His assistant only specified that Chichvarkin "is on vacation abroad and it is not known when he will return" ( earlier, Kommersant wrote that the businessman was resting in the UK "and does not answer phone calls"), However, at the end of February of the same year, reports appeared that that the entrepreneur was elected to the political council of the Moscow branch of the Just Cause party,.

On January 23, it became known that investigative committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation (SKP) put Chichvarkin on the federal wanted list and issued a resolution in absentia on his involvement as a defendant in the case of kidnapping and extortion. At the same time, Chichvarkin's lawyers stated that the investigation did not notify them "of any actions against the businessman",,. On January 28 of the same year, the Basmanny Court of Moscow authorized the arrest of Chichvarkin in absentia,. Later, it was reported that former owner Euroset, which left Russia on December 22, 2008 - an hour before the summons for interrogation at the UPC was delivered to his home - lives in London,,.

On March 11, 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office put the businessman on the international wanted list through Interpol. In the same month, the Vremya Novostey newspaper, citing its sources, reported that the investigation "managed to find and persuade to cooperate" Olesik and Chichkov, who gave confessions, saying that "Levin forced them to participate in the abduction of Vlaskin and Smulgin and at the same time, he allegedly constantly said that Chichvarkin was behind him. In June 2009, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation ruled to initiate three new criminal cases, toughening the previous charges against Levin and the employees of the company's security service.

In July 2009, Chichvarkin's lawyers announced that the indictment in his case would be changed: according to their information, he should have been charged not as an organizer, but as an accomplice of a criminal group. As Vedomosti reported, the case was reclassified in order to make it easier for the investigation to prove the businessman's guilt. Also, according to this publication, Chichvarkin was to be charged with a deliberately false denunciation of Vlaskin. In the same month, information appeared in the press that Denis Evsyukov, who served at that time in the 5th operational-search unit of the Moscow Internal Affairs Directorate (in 2008, took over as head of the Moscow Tsaritsyno police department and gained fame after the crime he committed - the shooting of employees and visitors of the Ostrov supermarket in the south of Moscow in April 2009). It was reported that, according to the investigation, the criminal case on the theft of a batch of mobile phones against Vlaskin was fabricated by policemen and backed up by fake invoices. It was Yevsyukov, the media noted, who was responsible for finding the forwarder "hiding from the investigation." After this message, the Rosbalt news agency suggested that the criminal case against Chichvarkin "may develop into another high-profile investigation - about the abuse of the leadership and employees of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Southern District of Moscow",,.

In September 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation announced that back in August, the Westminster Court of England issued an arrest warrant for Chichvarkin, thereby obliging the businessman to appear in a British court on the first call. At the same time, the media disseminated information about the completion of all investigative actions against other defendants in this criminal case: it was reported that after the accused were acquainted with its materials, it would be taken to court.

In 2009-2010, Chichvarkin regularly commented on the program "The Main Economic Events of the Week" of the radio station "Russian News Service" (RSN). On August 20, 2010, the businessman wrote on his blog that the program was taken off the air due to his criticism of the government,. Chief Editor RSN Sergey Dorenko, also on his blog, replied that he did not want to completely deprive Chichvarkin of the air and offered to compensate for the closure of the heading caused by technical difficulties (for example, it was difficult for an entrepreneur to get through to England), an increase in the presence of a businessman on the air. Chichvarkin called Dorenko's reaction "very strange" and suggested "call if anything",.

In April 2010, the media reported the death of Chichvarkin's mother Lyudimila, whose body was found in her apartment on Leninsky Prospekt. The former owner of Euroset himself stated that he did not believe "in the version of her" non-violent death "". However, "due to the absence of a crime event" no criminal case was initiated. At the same time, the Chichvarkins' lawyer said that experts found more than 20 injuries on the woman's body. The defender turned to the chairman of the UPC RF Alexander Bastrykin 3], . However, in April of the same year, the businessman's lawyer said that the investigation into the smuggling case was resumed due to the loss of material evidence and "due to the lack of calculation of unpaid customs duties."

In August 2012, Chichvarkin opened Hedonism Wines in London, in which, he says, he invested "an eight-figure sum".

Many media noted Chichvarkin's "unusual image for a serious businessman". "I was always mistaken for an idiot," the businessman said in an interview. "It used to be a shame, but it's kind of convenient." As an example of outrageousness that accompanied the person of Chichvarkin and his company, they recalled the slogan "Evroset" - the prices are just wow ... wow! "There is nothing funnier than the word" ass "," Chichvarkin said in an interview with Dengi magazine in 2006,,. In 2007, Maxim Kotin's book about Chichvarkin "Chichvarkin E ... a genius. If out of 100 times you are sent 99 ...", written in the success story genre, was published. It described in detail the history of the formation of Euroset and the biography of the businessman himself. According to critics, the figure of Chichvarkin in the book "turned out not too pretty and therefore looks quite reliable."

Chichvarkin is fond of exotic music and sports. From winter sports, he prefers cross-country skiing and skating,.

Chichvarkin is married, he has a son,.