Modern Moscow is a city with excellent infrastructure and magnificent architecture. It owes its beautiful face to many people who invested their skills and talent into the construction projects, striving to turn the Russian capital into a modern metropolis while preserving its historical heritage. Leonid Monosov is one of these people, and he is rightfully considered an iconic figure in the construction industry. The list of the projects that he worked on includes the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the modern Manege, the Vnukovo-2 airport terminal, the Moscow Zoo, and dozens of other objects. The businessman himself claims that in each case it was a team effort and tries to downplay his own role. However, it is well known in the construction business circles that the successful execution of these projects is directly related to the personal and professional qualities of the current vice president of Moskapstroy TN JSC.
Leonid Monosov’s Biography: Childhood and Young Age
The future entrepreneur and CEO was born in the small Belarusian town of Mazyr in 1958, where he lived with his parents until 5 years old. The tragic death of Leonid’s mother made his father consider moving to Moscow. Anatoly Monosov understood well that it would be difficult for a single father to conquer the capital, but he did not see any good prospects for his child in his native town. It is only after the construction of an oil refinery in Mazyr that this Belarusian regional center would become one of the ten most beautiful and economically developed cities in Soviet Belarus. But in the early 60s, there was only a recently reconstructed river port, several companies, a school of midwifery and paramedic practice, and a pedagogical university that had only just resumed its work. That is why in 1963, the Monosovs moved to Moscow.
Leonid started school in Sokolniki where he went to the secondary school No. 315. This is where, years later, his son and daughter would study too. When it was time to think where to go after graduation, his father advised him to pay attention to majors related to civil engineering. Moscow had already recovered after the war and was growing in leaps and bounds; it expanded into new neighborhoods with high-rise buildings, while downtown was filling up with cinemas, stadiums, restaurants, and shopping centers. The head of the family reasoned that his son would never be out of job as a civil engineer.
Leonid Monosov liked this prospect; he easily entered the University of Railway Engineering (nowadays the Russian University of Transport), choosing Industrial and Civil Engineering as his major. It was a life-changing step that led him to one of the most dynamic, interesting, and promising business areas. That being said, Leonid Monosov was the most ordinary student, he wasn’t the best in his class, and did not have any family connections or useful friends. He understood that even with a higher education diploma, he would have to make his way in the world on his own. And he could hardly have imagined that in just a couple of decades the Soviet Union would no longer exist, and the key to a successful career would lie not so much in good connections as in personal qualities and the ability to adapt to new realities.
At the Beginning of Working Life: 150 Rubles per Month and Tons of Interesting Projects
Leonid Monosov turned out to be a lucky man in many respects. For example, after graduating from the university, he was assigned to a job at Glavmospromstroy as an ordinary foreman, not an engineer — but it turned out that this situation had many more pros than cons in the long run. Let’s start with the fact that Glavmostpromstroy (that became Mospromstroy in 1990) was one of the oldest Moscow construction enterprises with a rich history. In 1937, its workers first used a structure relocation technique to move 20 buildings on what is now Tverskaya Street, including the former mansion of Count Chernyshev, which later hosted the Mossoviet. By the time Leonid Monosov started his work at Glavmospromstroy in 1980, the company had built the Ostankino Tower, new buildings of Moscow State University, the Central Puppet Theater, Gosbank on Zhitnaya, the Luzhniki sports palace, Olympic stadium, and many other buildings and structures. So the young specialist had something to strive for and someone to look up to.
Site foreman was not the most prestigious position for a person with a higher engineering education. However, yesterday’s student with no work experience in a large construction company had to lower his expectations. But in terms of money, the young specialist, with his first monthly salary of 150 rubles, was definitely better off. Just to compare, engineers made only 110 rubles a month right after the graduation.
Leonid Monosov was constantly learning something new at his first job. And this was absolutely natural as he had the chance to see with his own eyes the construction of the famous Oktyabrskaya Hotel, which later became the President Hotel, and witness how the residential areas of Zelenograd were being lined with new buildings. However, his most ambitious project was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the restoration of which began in 1994.
By that time, Leonid Monosov had traveled a long and difficult career path from regular foreman to chief engineer, and then head of the construction department and head of the construction trust. He recalls that the design for the cathedral was developed with special care, based on the surviving old sketches and documents from the 19th century. The most difficult task was to combine the past and the present in the new project by reproducing the original look of the religious building while using modern construction technologies. First, the best specialists worked on the design documentation, and then the construction, which lasted 6 years, began.
This was record time for completing such a scope of works, which made it possible to create a majestic cathedral complex with several buildings and developed infrastructure. Moreover, the work was financed exclusively through donations. In the end, the project became the gold standard for the industry, and the company, which by that time had been renamed Mospromstroy, confirmed its unofficial title as the flagship of the Russian construction market.
Leonid Monosov worked at Mospromstroy for almost 20 years and left the company at the peak of his career as deputy CEO. One of his reasons for leaving was that the talented specialist felt like he had hit the career ceiling there. He wanted to expand his expertise and try something new in related fields. He ended up choosing the Moskapstroy engineering company, which at that time prepared utility projects for buildings under construction and then executed them by installing the necessary utility networks.
Executive at Moskapstroy
This construction company has an equally interesting and rich history. It was created a year before Leonid Monosov was born, and from its first day, it was doing preparatory work for the new construction sites. It was responsible for selecting sites for new buildings, getting all necessary permits and approvals, providing legal and technical support for the projects, installing utility lines, and managing on-site engineering supervision. Leonid Monosov’s work as the CEO of Moskapstroy made it possible for the company to expand the range of its construction services. After that, the company started to provide what is called “turnkey services”, which meant that it not only designed new buildings and structures, but also built them and created all the necessary infrastructures independently, laying out roads and parks and lawns, and equipping playgrounds and sports fields.
It turned out that everything was interconnected. To expand the list of works, the company had to create about 20 subsidiaries, each responsible for its own tasks. This meant attracting new employees, many of which were young people. Talented and motivated people with a fresh way of thinking and a different approach to work joined the company. Thanks to this, very soon Moskapstroy gained the reputation of one of the best construction enterprises in Moscow. When Leonid Monosov made the decision to create an integrated company, he had to face quite a few skeptical responses. Even some of his colleagues argued that this was not a wise decision for an engineering enterprise. But in the end, the new leader was proven right, and at some point, the company he was managing came to own more than half of the capital’s construction projects.
These were not only residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and kindergartens. Over time, clients started to entrust Moskapstroy with the most complex and tricky projects, where other contractors would be likely to fail. This was the case with Manege, which had to be completely restored after the fire, while taking into account the infrastructure of the historical part of Moscow. And the company did a brilliant job, restoring not only the facade and interiors of the old Manege using the old drawings, but also turning the building into a modern facility with a well-developed infrastructure.
With time, the company was able to develop a reputation as one of the most competent, efficient, and conscientious contractors. It was winning one contract after another, taking on almost any possible job. One of the company’s markets was the construction of residential real estate; in the early 2000s, the total building footprint amounted to about 2.4 million square meters a year. It is not surprising that just in a few years, the company’s income tripled, and the employee salaries were among the highest in the construction industry in Moscow. Leonid Monosov decided to invest the surplus in Moskapstroy’s own projects and was right to do so, as this allowed the company to stay afloat during the 2009 financial crisis.
These were not the simplest times, when no one wanted to invest money in new real estate. There were fewer and fewer clients, and many construction works were put on hold. However, by that time Moskapstroy already had its own residential property projects, which were selling well. But soon this business line had to be given up; by 2011, the overall financial situation of the population had deteriorated significantly and people could no longer afford new apartments, even with a mortgage.
Realizing that the crisis would be there for a while and its consequences could be financially unpredictable, Monosov decided to look for alternative ways to make money. As a result, the company under his management took an unprecedented step and began renting out real estate, which only yesterday had looked like a dead weight on the balance sheet. The idea was quite bold but it turned out to be very promising. This decision was good in itself but that was not its only value — among other things, it also made Leonid Monosov seriously consider getting into a new field of activity, specifically related to investments.
Next Step Forward
In 2012, Monosov got the opportunity to put his theoretical insights in the investment field into practice. He took an executive position at AFK Sistema, a private corporation that defined itself as the creator of businesses of the future. At first, the corporation was engaged in buying up shares in promising businesses and turning those into commercially successful enterprises in a short time.
Dozens of companies, which have now become household names, have passed through this corporation. Among them are OZON and MTS, which hold the top spots in their respective markets. Today, the corporation can boast of an impressive investment portfolio and continues to raise capital for the business development in various areas. About 30% of the corporation’s investment goals are strategic enterprises in the energy, forestry, pharmaceutical, and high-tech industries. Investing activities of the corporation also revolve around the hotel industry, real estate, agriculture, and telecommunications.
Today Leonid Monosov is the vice president of Moskapstroy TN JSC, which combines two types of business activities at once — construction and investment. The company is developing in several directions, the most promising of which is investing in construction projects. These include the Na Ordynke business center, the Pavshino shopping mall, the Krasny Mayak warehouses, and the Topolya residential complex. Some of the property is not for sale after the construction is completed; the company rents it out to gain regular profits in the long run.
Personal Life
The successful businessman and investor does not consider himself a public person and tries not to advertise the details of his personal life. What is known is that Leonid Monosov is married and has two adult children.
His son, Andrey Monosov, was born in 1981; he graduated from school No. 315 and followed in his father’s footsteps, choosing the building trade. After receiving his degree at the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, he found a job in a construction corporation. He started as a regular specialist and gradually built a brilliant career, eventually taking a leadership position.
Like his father, Andrey Monosov is a private person and does not like to discuss his personal life publicly. But it is known that he is married and has a son and daughter. He enjoys hunting and playing sports in his free time.
Leonid’s daughter, Alina Monosova, was born in 1990 and from childhood showed a penchant not only for the exact sciences, but also for the humanities. Because of this, the task of choosing the future profession was especially challenging for her. Her father hoped that she would follow in his footsteps and commit to the construction trade too, even though it was never exactly considered a female profession. However, since childhood, Alina dreamed of working on television. She easily passed the entrance exams to the prestigious MGIMO university and received a bachelor’s degree in international business and business administration; then she entered the master’s program and at the same time, got a job in the management office of Channel One. Unfortunately, her childhood dreams turned out to be just illusions when he realized that television was not something she would like to connect her future life with.
Alina built up her impressive professional background by studying in London as an exchange student, defending a master’s thesis in economics, and moving quickly through the ranks in a construction company, where she went from a regular employee to manager. The successful businesswoman admits that she now:
- knows all the ins and outs of real estate;
- has good managerial skills;
- understands the nature of all investment processes.
But at the same time, Alina Monosova continues to learn and discover new challenges for herself. Among other things, she got her second bachelor’s and master’s degrees (in psychology) and took courses in Gestalt psychology and life coaching. She has no intention to quit the business sector but still continues to explore her personal potential. Alina’s latest project is a blog that has nothing to do with macroeconomics, but at the same time gives her a great opportunity to share her observations and insights with the followers. This is where she talks about big city lifestyle, fashion, gastronomy, and entertainment. It is a kind of guide for those who want to have a good time and not let their lives revolve around their work.
