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Midland Group

The Midland Group is an international trading and investment holding company. Registered in Guernsey under the name Midland Resources Holding Ltd, the group owns a number of subsidiaries across the agriculture, manufacturing, real estate, shipping and steel industries. The group's co-founders are billionaires Alexander Shnaider (chairman), a Soviet-born Canadian national, and Ukrainian-born Eduard Shifrin of London, UK.

Primarily active in the Commonwealth of Independent States as well as Eastern Europe and the Far East, the Midland group of companies has a presence in 34 countries worldwide.

According to the Panama Papers, in 2010, Shnaider sold at least half of Midland's ownership in Zaporizhstal steel mill to buyers financed by Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank, who were then themselves acquired by the development bank.[1] Shnaider used proceeds from the sale to partially meet cost overruns at his Toronto Trump Tower. [1]

Electric Networks of Armenia

In 2002, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) was privatized by Midland Resources Holding.[2] 100% of ENA shares were sold to Midland Resources Holding company.[3]

Sports investments

Formula One

In October 2004, the Midland Group announced its intention to enter Formula One motor racing in 2006, with plans to use a car built by the Italian manufacturer Dallara. In January 2005 the group changed plans by purchasing the Jordan Grand Prix team from Eddie Jordan for approximately US$50 million.[4][5] They kept the yellow-liveried EJ15 cars and declared 2005 to be a year of learning. Under the name Midland F1 Racing, the team made its debut with a brand-new car and livery at the start of the 2006 Formula One season. With this team, Shnaider declared his intention to bring the first Russian driver into the sport,[6] a feat not achieved until Vitaly Petrov's entrance into F1 with Renault,[7] three years after Schnaider sold the team. On 9 September 2006, the team was sold to Spyker Cars for $106.6 million.[8][9]

In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1.[10]

From the beginning of the 2008 season, the team became known as Force India and remained active until 2018, when a group of consortium led by Lawrence Stroll bought the assets of the former team in 2018 following a financial collapse that forced Force India to be put under administration. From 2018 to 2020 the new team competed under the Racing Point banner.[11][12] In 2021 the team was rebranded as Aston Martin.[13]

External links

References

  1. Ben Protess, Andrew E. Kramer, Mike McIntire. Bank at Center of U.S. Inquiry Projects Russian 'Soft Power' The New York Times, 5 June 2017, retrieved 5 June 2017^
  2. Midland Resources Company to privatize Armenian electric power stations Armenpress.am, retrieved 2020-10-13^
  3. Electric Networks of Armenia Annual Report 2019 Electric Networks of Armenia, 2002-08-26, retrieved 2020-10-13^
  4. Matt Bishop. The billionaire Trump associate who bought Jordan F1 team — and turned a quick profit Motor Sport Magazine, 2025-01-28, retrieved 2025-03-30^
  5. Michele Lostia. Dallara Won't Build Midland's Car Autosport, 14 June 2005, retrieved 18 April 2014^
  6. Russian-Born Canadian Buys F1 Team The Moscow Times, 25 January 2005, retrieved 18 April 2014^
  7. Vitaly Petrov joins Renault to become first Russian Formula One driver The Guardian, 31 January 2010, retrieved 18 April 2014^
  8. Midland F1 team sold to Spyker The Times of Malta, 11 September 2006, retrieved 18 April 2014^
  9. Midland sells MF1 Racing to Spyker retrieved 2007-06-04^
  10. FIA approve Spyker's Force India name change The Official Formula 1 Website, 24 October 2007, retrieved 8 March 2009^
  11. Spyker change name to Force India BBC Sport, 24 October 2007, retrieved 18 April 2014^
  12. Adam Cooper. How the FIA used little-known Formula 1 rules to save Force India Autosport, Motorsport Network, 24 August 2018, retrieved 2018-08-29^
  13. Aston Martin – F1 Racing Team – Vettel, Stroll^