Mutavchi Arkadiy (Tacticum Investments): biography

Early years and first professional experience (1970-1991)

Arkadiy Mutavchi spent the first 18 years of his life in Ungheni, a small town on the Soviet-Romanian border. This is where he was born on January 2, 1970, went to secondary school and earned his first money at the age of fourteen, when the future shareholder of Tacticum Investments took a job as a blue-collar at the local fish farm. In 1987, after finishing school, Mutavchi Arkadiy was enlisted in the Soviet Army for a two-year compulsory military service.

In 1990-1991, after getting back to civilian life, Mutavchi Arkadiy was exposed for the first time to big business as manager at Sijata, a Hungarian-Soviet company that handled the export of engineering products from the USSR to Europe. In those years, Mutavchi saved some funds, which he then used to start investing.

Moving to Capital (1992-1997)

In 1992, the collapse of the Soviet Union and market transformation of the economies in the post-Soviet space opened up new horizons for Mutavchi Arkadiy. The future shareholder of Tacticum Investments S.A. moved to Moscow, the largest business centre of the former Soviet Union, where he dived into his career advancement.

1992-1997 was the period of active capital formation for Arkadiy Mutavchi. The future shareholder of Tacticum Investments Luxembourg Arkadiy Ivanovich Mutavchi was lucky to work in various spheres: from export and trade to investment and construction.

Of particular note is Safety, a company that Mutavchi worked on with his business partner. That company was focused on supplying personal protective gear from Germany.

Mutavchi Arkadiy's next step was the KFH Rus project. The company specialised in acquiring land plots for the subsequent re-zoning of land to build health resort facilities there.

In 1993, Arkadiy Ivanovich Mutavchi received a job offer from Stalservis (the company specialised in the manufacture of machines and drilling tools, as well as their supplies to CIS states). In this company, the future investor of Tacticum Investments Luxembourg held the position of Chief Commercial Officer. Stalservis actively worked with the country’s leading ore mining and processing enterprises.

In 1997, Mutavchi Arkadiy moved to Metal-Impex, part of Brokinvest Group, where Mutavchi Arkadiy worked as Deputy CEO. The company was a major player in the market of ferrous metals, long products, rolled steel, ferroalloys and suchlike. Arkadiy Mutavchi was in charge of optimizing the cost of purchased products, developing and implementing offset schemes. He also supervised tolling schemes, including with aluminum, zinc, ferroalloys.

In 1994 Mutavchi Arkadiy opened his first stock exchange account. Despite his heavy workload, he actively built up his capital by investing in shares of fast-growing local startups. Due to these farsighted investments, Mutavchi Arkadiy increased his fortune many times over just five years.

Education (2001-2010)

In 2001, Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich earned his first university degree in legal studies from the Law Institute under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In 2004 Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich continued his education at the Presidential Academy of Public Administration. At the Department of Public Administration and Legal Support of State and Municipal Civil Service, he earned his PhD in Law.

In the same year (2004) Arkadiy Mutacvhi supplemented his education with a degree in Economics, having completed the relevant advanced training courses at the Higher School of Economics (HSE).

In 2010, Mutavchi Arkadiy earned his second university degree – this time as an economist – from the same Presidential Academy of Public Administration.

Big business (1998-2013)

In 1998-2013, Arkadiy Ivanovich Mutavchi continued to combine his own investment operations with participation in various business projects.

In 1998, Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich co-founded and spearheaded Shelda LLC, a trading and financial company specializing in rolled metal products, which was also engaged in operations on the stock market, trading in commodities and non-primary goods, implementing barter and bill schemes of mutual settlements. Two years later, Arkadiy Mutavchi successfully exited this business by selling his stake to his partners at a significant premium to the net asset value of the company.

In 2000, Arkadiy Mutavchi co-founded the financial and industrial group Profintech, where he mastered the intricacies of trading in petroleum products as Chief Commercial Officer. Two years later, he sold his stake to his partners at a profit.

In 2008, Arkadiy Mutavchi, at the invitation of his long-standing business partners, returned to commerce spearheading a group of metallurgical companies, which later became known as the Kungur Group. Kungur Oil&Gas Equipment and Services, CJSC was an industry leader in the manufacture of drilling equipment and mobile drilling rigs. Here A. I. Mutavchi held a post of merger and acquisition Vice President. One of his challengers in the office of Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions was preparing the company for IPO. Yet the global economic crisis that hit the markets in 2008 forced a revision of those plans.

While developing his executive’s career, Mutavchi Arkadiy was also building up his experience in investment trading and diversified his portfolio using new instruments. For example, investment-grade coins made of precious metals were added to his assets.

Investments and Tacticum Investments (2014 – to date)

In 2014, Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich was granted the `qualified investor` status. Here’s how this concept is defined in the legislation: an experienced stock market player and a consistently successful trader with a proven record of operating with large amounts of money, who is granted the right to enter into more complex and large-scale transactions, including in foreign markets. This status enabled Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich to propel his operations to a fundamentally new higher level. He invests in a variety of instruments: in addition to securities, which have provided substantial and stable capital growth, Arkadiy Ivanovich Mutavchi keeps adding real estate and land assets, as well as investment-grade coins to his portfolio.

In 2015, Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich bought an already operating company named Trigrad, which earned money by investing in various businesses. Its investment strategy was quite unique in that it focused on industries with low volatility in relation to economic cycles, such as IT, retail, promising areas of healthcare, and certain real estate segments. Mutavchi Arkadiy had independently managed Trigrad until 2017.

In 2019, Arkadiy Ivanovich Mutavchi founded his own investment group Tacticum. One of the significant transactions was acquisition of the Luxembourg-based holding company Long Term Investments Luxembourg. The interest of Tacticum Group’s founder in this particular business was sparked by the shares of the Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli in its portfolio. Despite the company’s global fame, Pirelli’s shares had been losing value since it re-entered the Milan Stock Exchange in 2017. The logic behind the acquisition of Long Term Investments Luxembourg was based on expectations of the European economic recovery and, consequently, appreciation of the European stock. Therefore, even though Long Term Investments Luxembourg had run into major debt, after a detailed study of the company’s position, the decision was made to buy it. Long Term Investments Luxembourg changed both hands and name: the company was renamed as Tacticum Investments S.A.

By the time of the purchase, Long Term Investments Luxembourg had other major assets in its portfolio besides Pirelli. For example, in April 2019, a stake in the national pharmacy chain 36.6 was acquired. By the end of the year, that company ranked fourth in the list of chains selling pharmaceuticals with a market share of about 4%.

Mutavchi and Tacticum Group’s expectations of the European economy’s recovery and growth and, consequently, growth in the value of key European companies such as Pirelli, which was part of Tacticum Investments’ portfolio, proved unjustified. Pirelli shares in the portfolio of Tacticum Investments S.A. continued to lose value due to the worldwide economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the Italian company decided not to pay dividends in 2020. As a result, the team of Tacticum Investments, led by Mutavchi Arkadiy, revised the basic operating strategy and changed their approach to risk. As a response to changing market conditions and as part of portfolio optimization, the shares of the 36.6 pharmacy chain were sold in 2020. Tacticum Investments also closed a position on Pirelli shares in 2023.

Tacticum Investments S.A. is currently engaged in both portfolio investments (a return on investment is ensured through share price growth and dividends) and direct investments (acquisition of assets, including for the purpose of their further restructuring and subsequent sale).

Family and hobbies

Mutavchi Arkady Ivanovich maintains a balance between his professional activity and home life. A family man and a father of many children, he takes a responsible approach to raising his children, putting a great deal of time into his family.

Apart from the development of Tacticum Investments S.A. and his private life, Mutavchi Arkadiy likes to study and read literature. Being a true connoisseur of books, he has collected an impressive library of rare editions.

In addition to running a business and being a passionate bibliophile, Mutavchi Arkadiy Ivanovich conducts academic research. His analytical and expert works on legal and economic topics have been published.