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 Russian-born Canadian national, and Ukrainian-born Eduard Shifrin of London, UK.

For The Arts Organisation of the same name, see The Midland Group.

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] Shnider used proceeds from the sale to partially meet cost overruns at his Toronto Trump Tower. [1]

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.[2] 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,[3] a feat not achieved until Vitaly Petrov's entrance into F1 with Renault,[4] three years after Schnaider sold the team. On 9 September 2006, the team was sold to Spyker Cars for $106.6 million.[5] 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 team in 2018 following a financial collapse that forced Force India to be put under administration. The team currently competes under the Racing Point banner.[6][7]

References
  1. Protess, Ben; Kramer, Andrew E.; McIntire, Mike (5 June 2017). "Bank at Center of U.S. Inquiry Projects Russian 'Soft Power'". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  2. Lostia, Michele (14 June 2005). "Dallara Won't Build Midland's Car". Autosport. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. "Russian-Born Canadian Buys F1 Team". The Moscow Times. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. "Vitaly Petrov joins Renault to become first Russian Formula One driver". The Guardian. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. "Midland F1 team sold to Spyker". The Times of Malta. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  6. "Spyker change name to Force India". BBC Sport. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. Cooper, Adam (24 August 2018). "How the FIA used little-known Formula 1 rules to save Force India". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2018-08-29.


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