The article titled «Image Mimicry or Wanting to Reap Where He Hasn't Sown«, published on the website rsw-systems.com on 27 December, 2018, sparked a resonance among the SkyWay investors' community. In particular, the audience of readers divided into two camps: some argued that Sergey Semyonov’s behaviour (he is the main publication character) in the context of PR of third-party projects on the image of SkyWay is absolutely normal, others shared the opinion of the author of the material. At the same time, many argued that the creation of the SkyWay financing model, as well as its further development — is only the merit of Semyonov, as Yunitskiy is simply an engineer and inventor (neither a God, nor a Demi-God) who was not able to perform such work.
There is a lot of speculation, and sometimes outright lies around the engineer Yunitskiy, the history of the string transport creation, including the modern stage of its development with the use of crowdinvestment.
That is why Anatoliy Yunitskiy is often so sharply critical in the case of false statements to his address and to the address of his lifelong SkyWay project, the SkyWay technology. That is why, we consider it necessary to add more clarity to the issue of the creation of the SkyWay investment system; and to do this, we talked to the people who have worked in the team of Anatoliy Yunitskiy since the beginning of 2013 and who have stood at the cradle of the SkyWay project, beginning with 1977.
Background: crowdinvesting before 2013
Providing funding for the development of the Skyway transport is one of the most difficult tasks that the author of the technology Anatoliy Yunitskiy has had to solve in parallel with his engineering activities for more than 40 years. At different stages, funds for the development of the Skyway transport were allocated by the Soviet Peace Fund and the UN, oligarchs and politicians, as well as, of course, by the author of the technology, by his relatives and friends. At the same time, Anatoliy Yunitskiy himself has always played a key role in attracting investments. He was directly involved in all negotiations on partnership, was leading the work on grants, etc. He also stood at the origins of the crowdinvesting financing model in its modern form, which began to take shape in the spring of 2013, when the engineer was not yet even familiar with those who today ascribe to themselves the merits of its creation, including Sergey Semyonov.
Prior to crowdinvesting in the SkyWay project, Yunitskiy used a similar model to finance work on the string transport in Russia and Ukraine since 1998 (several hundred investors). The same investment system and completely legal under the Australian law, was applied on the largest Australian crowdinvesting site ASSOB; being one of the first in the world, the system was used during the activity of the Australian Group of Companies created by Yunitskiy (5 Australian companies in total and one Engineering Agency in Minsk –– the analog of the current CJSC «String technologies «). To convince the ASSOB management in the fact that UST (Unitskiy String Transport– that is how SkyWay was called then) is not a pyramid scheme, but a breakthrough transport-infrastructure technology that could change the world for the better, the inventor even had to make a presentation at the headquarters of this patform in the city Gold Coast with the demonstration of his scientific monograph –String transport system: on Earth and in Space – and a ten-kilogram segment of the string rail in scale of 1:1, brought from Moscow. Then, through crowdinvesting, there were attracted several million dollars from about a thousand investors. However, the best friend, the junior partner and manager (CEO) of the Yunitskiy's Australian companies Victor Uzlov initially planned and then gradually carried out a raider seizure, stealing all the money and bankrupting the entire group of the Australian companies.
After these events, it took Yunitskiy about 3 years (2011 – 2013) to independently develop a safe and secure investment system on the crowdinvesting platform, on the basis of which there has formed a large holding over the past 4 years, which employs tens of thousands of people, including about 800 engineers in the engineering company CJSC «String technologies« in the city of Minsk. (At the same time, Yunitskiy does not relinquish its obligations to those who invested in Skyway transport in the previous stages before 2014, and compensates for their participation at the expense of his own shares in the SkyWay project).
The start of SkyWay crowdinvesting and Yunitskiy's acquaintance with Semyonov
In 2013, Yunitskiy invested about 300 thousand dollars of personal funds in the launch of the SkyWay project, including the creation of the investment system. The work included a few stages, and while doing it, he was not only a manager, but in most cases, an executive:
1) The order and registration, in the form of the report by an independent international valuation company, the WIPO intellectual property valuation of engineer Yunitskiy – exclusive rights to know-how in Yunitskiy's string transport (estimated– about $ 400 billion)
2) The creation of the SkyWay Group of Companies in London and on the British Virgin Islands with the sole founder – Anatoliy Yunitskiy
3) The establishment of the Moscow office and hiring employees
4) Purchase of appropriate equipment, including the one for technical support
5) The order of the website, personal office and the first (the entire text scripts of these services, including the video script was written personally by Yunitsкiy, and the so-called «promos « of the technology (,,,, etc.) Yunitskiy was writing, even in the deep nights, for two weeks of Christmas holidays, which is the time of rest for most people is
6) of the engineer Yunitskiy to the people of the planet Earth about the beginning of the creation of the largest business in the history of the civilization and to the key questions of investors
7) Attracting the first dozens of investors – all of them were personally acquainted with the engineer Yunitkiy and were personally motivated by him (the so-called the author's «inner circle «)
At the end of 2013, Anatoliy Yunitskiy began searching for employees who would work on the project implementation on a contractual and permanent basis, in addition to other permanent employees and partners (Denis Yunitskiy and Nadezhda Kosareva). Among others, there were Sergey Sibiryakov, Victor Baburin and very young at that time Sergey Semyonov. According to the memoirs of the participants of the events interviewed by us, the main question they had was about the following: «How much is Yunitkiy ready to pay them?». Yunitskiy promised more than they asked for. And from the very beginning, he has fulfilled, and over the time – even significantly exceeded these bilateral agreement obligations. That is how there started Yunitskiy's cooperation with the people who today say that they «stood at the origins« and as if they have created something, but in fact, they were only hired to develop what had been created before them and without their participation.
Yunitskiy saw Sergey Semyonov, who claims today that he has created crowdinvesting in SkyWay, only a couple of times in 2012 and 2013, until the moment he was employed by Yunitskiy. He promised «the Moon and stars« and was persistent in inviting the SkyWay author to the meeting with 96-year old Jacque Fresco, when this famous American futurologist came to the conference to St. Petersburg, Russia. (Quite similarly, Semyonov is now alluring all the SkyWay supporters to «Duyunov's Wheel«). Knowing and understanding in detail the utopian concept of «Venus Project» of this world-famous production engineer and industrial designer, who has no transport and infrastructure component at all in «cities of the future», Yunitskiy refused to meet with Jacques Fresco, and later invited Semyonov to work on the implementation of his own global project, which is in many aspects more elaborate and promising. However, the cooperation was short-lived. At the very beginning of the work Semenov missed 3 working days without any good reason, so, as an employee, of course, was fired (remaining in the crowdinvesting system as the first networker of the newly created multi-level structures). Semenov just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
To grow with the company: the failed examples: beginning with Semyonov up to Sibiryakov
To date, Sergey Semyonov is one of those who could not or did not want to grow with the company, the same as those who in different years fell off from the company, as a ballast that prevents moving forward. Partners and friends in need are friends indeed, and not only in joy. None of these people: Semyonov, Sibiryakov, Baburin, who are considered to be by many as almost co-founders of SkyWay, have been with Yunitskiy through thick and thin (whatever Sergey Sibiryakov was talking about at his broadcasts at the webinars, he had not been with Yunitskiy for 10 years, during the most tough time for Yunitskiy). These people, who were walking by Yunitskiy's side through the snow for some time, would not walk with him over the mountains when their earnings had grown by an order. Semyonov completely withdrew himself from the project in September 2014, amid the «spy scandal« in Lithuania, when he gave up everything and without any warning, set off to his one-month honey- moon holiday around the world. Yunitskiy stopped then any communication with him. Baburin was dismissed after the EcoFest-2018, when it became absolutely clear that he had ceased corresponding his position in the Group of Companies and became a «weak link« in the foreign development of the project. As for Sibiryakov, he was dismissed at the end of September 2018 by the decision of the Board Members at the SKY WAY CAPITAL investment fund, the Member of which he was, as he became the «weak link« of the crowdinvesting top management.
The majority of the hired employees have never become investors in the project in the truest sense of the word. As a result, they have proved to be insufficiently motivated and at a certain stage, being satisfied with wages and working conditions, showed a decrease in initiative and productivity, having a «free« share in the business. Sergey Semyonov did invest his $ 100 at the beginning of 2014 while testing his personal office (with that sum all his investments ended, despite the fact he had promised to invest in the technology 100 thousand dollars, which he allegedly had earned in MMM in 2011– 2013) when he came to work to SkyWay. But neither Sibiryakov, nor Baburin has ever invested in SkyWay &ndash all their shares were received by them as an option, as a gift from the engineer Yunitskiy from his personal share, which Yunitskiy, respectively, reduced, under certain bilateral obligations.
No matter how great the technology is, without effective, honest and fair management it will never enter the world market – it will be pilfered and plundered by weak and dishonest management. That has happened more than once with Yunitskiy: for 30 years of business, since 1988, he has been taken away everything up to zero 7 times, and that was done by his own partners and hired managers, and not by the state, or the police or the Prosecutor's office with the KGB (Lithuania does not count – there, the state returned everything it took away). Therefore, engineer Yunitskiy, who has become a successful entrepreneur and a competent manager for many years, understands the safety of the business he is creating better than all other interested parties combined (mentioned Semyonov, Sibiryakov and Baburin), who do not have such experience. And it was Yunitskiy who took full responsibility for the breakthrough transport and infrastructure technology and investments in it.
So, only he decides whom he is working with and who is going his own way. There's only one judge here – the future. It will be successful and prosperous, so, the engineer Yunitskiy was right. He has never had, and will never have a crown as some believe. He is a pragmatic and competent engineer, and not only in technical but also in social, financial and commercial engineering.