About Oleg Boyko
Oleg Boyko, founder of Finstar Financial Group, is a successful international serial investor. Born in 1964, Oleg Boyko from an early age displayed a keen interest in the financial sector. He began his career across the IT and finance sector whilst he was still a student, and is credited for introducing the first stores with credit card readers into Moscow in the 1990s.
Fast forward to present day, and Oleg Boyko has an incredibly diversified portfolio having successfully invested in retail, real estate, entertainment and steel industries. He is once more focusing his attention on his first passion: financial services, investing heavily in fintech and data-driven technologies.
Early Beginnings for Oleg Boyko
Oleg Boyko, along with a team of professional executives, founded Finstar Financial Group in 1996, and the diversified investment company has grown substantially over the last 22 years, with an estimated $2bn+ in assets under management.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Oleg Boyko. He was hit hard by the financial crisis of 1998; Oleg Boyko suffered losses and disappeared from public life for a while. But he didn’t stay reclusive for long.
Oleg Boyko Business Investor Activities
1999. Oleg Boyko returned triumphant in 1999, launching Evraz Holding Group with a business partner, with which he proceeded to buy up the assets of three struggling steel firms, in turn forming one of the world’s largest, vertically-integrated steel producers.
Oleg Boyko sold his 25% stake in Evraz Holding Group in 2004 according to media reports for approximately USD $600-700 million, prior to the company listing on the London Stock Exchange, stating he was no longer interested in investing in the metal industry.
2002. One of Oleg Boyko’s most lucrative investments was the purchase of the gambling company Vulkan, for USD $6m, in 2002. Ritzio Entertainment Group, that consolidated a network of slot machine halls and casinos under Vulcan trademark, expanded quickly across Russia before venturing internationally to become the largest gaming holding company in Eastern Europe, with a total annual revenue reported near USD $1 billion.
The company grew exponentially until 2006, when President Vladimir Putin prohibited gambling across Russia. Today Ritzio is considered an insignificant part of Boyko’s business and operates in 4 European countries.
2003. In 2003, Oleg Boyko, being an international investor, entered the banking realm when the businessman purchased a controlling stake in Latvian commercial bank, Baltic Trust Bank. He sold his 79% stake in bank to GE Capital, the banking and finance arm of General Electric, in 2006. That year Baltic Trust Bank was ranked number 13 among Latvia's 24 banks in terms of assets and had one of the largest branch networks, with 74 branches across Latvia.
2007. In 2007, private equity firm Finstar, under businessman Oleg Boyko, broke into the cosmetics market when it bought up 75% of Rive Gauche and by 2012, when Oleg Boyko sold 51% of his stake (for approximately USD $200 million) to a consortium of investors, retaining the remaining 24% of the business, Rive Gauche had become Russia’s second largest cosmetics and perfume chain in Russia.
2012. Oleg Boyko invested in the Latvian consumer lending company 4finance, which currently offers online credit products to customers and SMEs across 17 countries. 4finance has since grown into a fintech giant and leader in European digital consumer finance. Boyko chooses not to disclose the amount of the investment and he doesn`t not hold any management or executive positions in the company while focusing on Finstar international activities.
2017 Oleg Boyko announced he was intending to invest further $150 million into fintech startups and in-house R&D within portfolio companies. The first phase of his global fintech investment plan has begun with a commitment to invest up to US$50 million in APAC`s consumer lending.
