“That you will die is ironic, this event will definitely come”

About the involvement of family members in the management of the company, the transfer of business by inheritance and why Russian entrepreneurs think little about it, “Kommersant” was told by the head of the boutique of hereditary solutions “3V Consulting” Viktor Vyatkin.

— What is inheritance planning for businessmen?

– First of all, this is an understanding of what the owner of the company and the head of the family wants from his capital and heirs. Before the implementation of the plan, it is necessary to formulate tasks, and not only regarding the legal aspects of the transfer of property. You can transfer shares, but the business will die tomorrow. It is necessary to prepare the business so that it can exist without the presence of the current owner. And also understand what to do if the heir is incompetent to manage.

How many entrepreneurs during their lifetime think about what will happen to the company after their death?

— There is a PwC study for 2016, according to which only 6% of Russian companies have a documented succession plan. But it should be noted that the world statistics are not much better, in general, about 15% of companies have such a plan.

— Why are things like this?

— The consultants have a consensus on several reasons. First, the beneficiary of inheritance planning is not the one who spends resources on it. The wife and children will benefit, but not the businessman himself, so now he does not care much.

Secondly, for socio-economic reasons, due to the lack of private capital in our country, large and complex inheritances were not transferred for a long time – the existing tradition was interrupted during the Soviet period. This has led to the fact that for many company owners the problems of successors are not obvious, due to the lack of their own experience. There is even such a term as “orphan business” – that is, a person created it from scratch. In addition, a number of self-made entrepreneurs, for example, Igor Rybakov, co-owner of TechnoNIKOL, believe that their children should also achieve everything on their own.

The third reason can be called culturological – these are superstitions. In our culture, it is believed that talking about negative scenarios, like death, is not worth it, “you can croak.” Although, for example, Rockefeller took up his inheritance planning at the age of 45 and lived for another 50 years. Well, notarial practice does not confirm – there is no such thing that those who write wills die quickly.

The last reason is that dying is cheap in Russia. We don’t have inheritance tax. If the heir receives, for example, 1 billion rubles, he does not pay taxes, only a small notary fee. In Western countries, inheritance tax can reach 40%, so they come up with schemes for how to transfer assets with minimal taxes, create trusts and the like.

— If people rarely think about the inheritance of assets, then, apparently, they don’t think about the risks of inheriting debts at all?

– Entrepreneurs often do not even think about their own future risks, and even more so about the heirs. Practice shows that lawyers are approached when claims for subsidiary liability have already appeared. Compare the revenue of lawyers from “putting out fires” and from work for the future – there is no flow in the latter direction, these are single appeals.

In theory, it is necessary to prepare the soil in advance. But usually they take into account only regularly occurring risks, for example, those associated with prepayments to counterparties, and they don’t think about the “black swan”. Although the fact that you die is ironic, this event will definitely come, only the date is unknown.

A good example of thinking about future risks is Wimbledon’s pandemic insurance. They insured themselves after the first coronavirus SARS-CoV-1 (known as “SARS”) appeared and received £100 million during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic due to the cancellation of the tournament. Also recently, a warehouse with goods worth 10 billion rubles burned down at Ozon, but the company had insurance, so nothing terrible happened to them. In general, there are those who prepare in advance, but they are a minority.

– Maybe then it is worth teaching future heirs and dedicating them to the issues of your business?

“They don’t do that much either. According to PwC, in Russia, children work in the company of their parents only in 25% of cases, and in world statistics – in 69%. There is a study by the Center for Welfare Management and Philanthropy at the Skolkovo School of Management on why people here do not involve their families in business management. Top 3 answers are. The first is bad for the family, because business issues continue to be discussed at home, there is no personal space, everything becomes a work area. The second is that it transmits the risks that the business generates to the family. Third, it’s bad for business when people are put in positions not for merit, but for family ties.

— How can an entrepreneur make life easier for his heirs?

The basic principle is to deal with problems before they arise. If you want to give something to your grandchildren or children, give it now, before you took out a loan and debts formed. Any problem is a realized risk, it must be taken into account and solutions considered.

Among the risks, there may even be claims from the spouse if you do not have a marriage contract, and you wanted to leave the property to other heirs. If not only the owner of the company has creditors, but also his son, then it is possible to include, for example, grandchildren in the will, and then the son’s creditors will not be able to claim assets. If the children are young, they will definitely not be able to manage the business, and it is better to decide during their lifetime who will be the guardian. He can be immersed in some questions or introduced to trusted consultants.

Another question to be solved is: is your legacy an asset or a burden, how professional is your company’s board of directors and management? If the owner during his lifetime can rely on his management and go to Kamchatka for a couple of months to admire the wild nature, then even after death you don’t have to worry much. And if without him everything falls apart, then the children are unlikely to cope.

Interviewed by Anna Zanina