Roman Chichkanov, entrepreneur and public figure. Biography

Roman Antonovich Chichkanov is the founder of MAYRVEDA and the Vysota Foundation for the Support of Young Scientists, an entrepreneur in the field of reventive medicine and information technology, a public figure, and an ex-investment banker.

Roman Chichkanov is a member of the General Council and head of the Subcommittee on Preventive Medicine of Delovaya Rossiya, founder and managing partner of the 5* medical hotel chain and MAYRVEDA centers for preventive medicine, founder of the Vysota Foundation for the Support of Young Scientists.

He started his career at investment banks Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) department. At the age of 27, a year after the Leaders of Russia contest, Chichkanov became First Deputy General Director and a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic (Minvostokrazvitiya), where he attracted more than 2 trillion rubles to the economy of 17 regions, and also organized the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), the country's second largest forum.

Roman Chichkanov's biography illustrates how an early aptitude for systems thinking and diligence can grow into a successful career in global financial institutions, and then into entrepreneurial and social activities.

Roman Chichkanov: education and career

Roman Chichkanov showed his outstanding abilities back in his school years. He stood out among his peers: being a prize-winner of intellectual Olympiads and a winner of mathematical competitions, Roman combined a deep interest in exact sciences and literature. Already in high school (within the British education system, grades 12-13, the equivalent of college), he studied university courses in higher mathematics and physics, wrote papers on the theory of special relativity and completed his studies with some of the best results in economics and higher mathematics in the country.

The next step in the academic route was University College London, one of the oldest and most respected universities in the world. Continuing the academic trajectory of his grandfather, academician Valery Petrovich Chichkanov, after whom Roman later named his foundation for the support of young scientists, he entered the Faculty of Economics, which is considered one of the most competitive and prestigious in the world. At the time of Roman's admission to UCL, the university was ranked fourth in the global university ranking.

In his second year at the university, Chichkanov created the UCL Russian Business Society, which in a couple of years has become one of the largest associations of Russian-speaking students and young professionals in the world. Yuri Luzhkov, Boris Titov, Roman Trotsenko, Vladimir Pozner and many other famous Russian figures spoke at his conferences, which gathered thousands of participants.

After UCL, Roman Chichkanov received a master's degree from Cass Business School (now Bayes Business School), where he specialized in finance, project management and risk, disciplines that became the basis of his future career.

In total, Chichkanov has four higher educations.

In parallel with his education, internships in investment banks and public activities, Chichkanov participated in the development of two startups — food delivery and Bluebook Academy (online financial education). This startup has won the international Wharton Education Awards competition.

In his first year at university, Chichkanov decided to try himself in the most competitive field at that time — the department of mergers and acquisitions of investment banks. After going through dozens of interviews, Chichkanov got into the London Barclays Investment Bank in the Canary Wharf area for a spring internship. In the summer, he also continued working at Barclays, then worked at Alfa-Capital, Sberbank Capital (Private Equity), and also tried his hand at strategic consulting (Oliver Wyman), where he worked on strategic initiatives in retail and FMCG. Later, Roman Chichkanov worked at Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and, finally, at J.P. Morgan, the largest and most competitive investment bank in the world. The competition for a place in the M&A department (Mergers and Acquisitions, mergers and acquisitions) was 1 in 800, and Roman won one of them.

After working there for three years, often for 110 or more hours a week, and having participated in transactions and IPOs worth more than $7 billion, Roman Chichkanov began to prepare his own platform for growth. The object of attention was a small unfinished building in Kislovodsk. Chichkanov, who gained significant experience while working in the banking sector, prepared high-quality pre-project documentation and attracted project financing for the construction of an innovative sanatorium, which he would later name MAYRVEDA Kislovodsk.

Roman Chichkanov: main projects

MAYRVEDA

Having attracted financing, Roman implemented the construction, concept development and recruitment of the team from scratch, having no previous experience in the hotel or medical field. First, a small office is rented in Moscow, and work begins to boil over. Chichkanov goes to various international networks and successful global companies, involves them in the process, hires leading consultants for accelerated self-education in the field of medicine, hospitality, marketing, restaurant business and service. The team includes former heads of one of the best clinics in the world, Chenot Palace, the president of the international Society of Mayer Therapists, leading Russian scientists and industry leaders.

At first, no one believes in the success of the project — there are no premium projects in Kislovodsk, it's not easy to convince the audience to come — but gradually, as the project is implemented, the situation is changing.

Despite COVID, construction and launch take place in just 2.5 years — sanatorium 5* opens in May 2021. MAYRVEDA receives membership in the most prestigious association of Healing Hotels of the World, which includes the best projects in the world — Lanserhof, VIVAMAYR, Mayrlife, Chenot, Ananda in the Himalayas and others.

The Medispa Hotel and Center for preventive medicine is built on the principles of early prevention and innovative technological solutions. The MAYRVEDA concept represents a synergy of 5P (preventive and preventive) medicine, modern mayer therapy, Ayurveda and the best traditions of Caucasian Mineral Waters — sanatorium practices and local natural resources. The scientific core, coupled with F.X.Mayr certification, partnerships with leading scientific and medical organizations, and personalized service are the key distinguishing features of MAYRVEDA.

Under Chichkanov's management, MAYRVEDA Kislovodsk has become one of the leading medical tourism facilities in Russia. Thanks to a medical team of almost 200 people and a personalized service, the rating on Yandex reaches 5.0. Famous people visit MAYRVEDA, which gets into the media; guests leave with amazing results, reducing their biological age, weight and significantly improving their well-being. The project first wins the competition of the Association of Wellness Tourism and Corporate Health, then receives the awards "The Best detox clinic", "The Best sanatorium in Russia", wins the National Hotel Award, "SANCOUR Innovation" and "The Best Wellness Project in Russia" of the Rules of Life magazine. Finally, in 2024, MAYRVEDA Kislovodsk wins the prestigious World Luxury Awards in three categories at once.

Roman Chichkanov: Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic

Having taken up his own MAYRVEDA project and joined the general council of Delovaya Rossiya, Roman Chichkanov took part in the Leaders of Russia competition in 2020, and in 2021 became First Deputy General Director and a member of the board of Directors of the Federal Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic (Minvostokrazvitiya). Chichkanov was responsible for the economic agenda: the development and implementation of preferential regimes, as well as attracting investments, which contributed to a significant increase in capital investments in 17 regions of the Russian Federation.

As part of his activities, Chichkanov also worked on the development of proposals concerning the economic and demographic situation in the Far East at the Coordination Center of the Government of the Russian Federation, and also worked on the development of the Northern Sea Route, which is of strategic importance for Russia in terms of the development of transport infrastructure and the Arctic. Roman Chichkanov took an active part in the organization of the WEF, and also prepared the annual presentation of the Ministry of the Far East Development and Development for the President of the Russian Federation.

During the year of work in 2021-2022, the KRDV investment attraction team, led by Roman, attracted more than 2 trillion rubles to the country's economy.

Roman Chichkanov: the development of preventive medicine

After finishing his work at the KRDV, Chichkanov returned to active work on the MAYRVEDA project, which he plans to develop as a network of medical hotels and centers for preventive medicine.

Roman Chichkanov also returned to the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya, where he created and headed the Subcommittee on Preventive Medicine and Wellness Tourism, whose mission is to increase the maximum and average life expectancy and quality of life in the country. Thanks to the work of the committee, participants are developing professional standards, creating an educational infrastructure, actively coordinating the efforts of various medical and scientific organizations to accelerate the introduction of personalized preventive medicine, attracting funding for projects in the field of preventive medicine, healthy longevity and related fields, introducing new technologies, popularizing a healthy lifestyle.

In 2023, Chichkanov became a member of the Coordinating Council under the Government of the Stavropol Territory for Investment Activities. In 2025, MAYRVEDA became the title sponsor of the main marathon of the North Caucasus Federal District — the Kislovodsk marathon Kavkaz.run.

The Height Foundation

The V.P. Chichkanov Vysota Charitable Foundation was founded by Roman and the Chichkanov family in honor of his grandfather, academician, economist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valery Petrovich Chichkanov, in order to create comfortable conditions for the development of young researchers and stimulate the growth of innovation in Russia. The main focus is on comprehensive support for graduate students: from the provision of significant scholarships and mentoring to assistance in career and scientific advancement.

"Today, it is important for a young scientist not only to gain knowledge, but also to find a platform for their application, as well as mentors who can support them at the start of the journey," Roman Chichkanov notes. — "We strive for Russian science to become competitive not only due to outstanding personalities, but also due to fundamental changes. The country is doing a lot of work to attract personnel to science, we are only trying to help the support system — we can be more flexible somewhere. In Russian universities, everyone should want to become a scientist — this should be a sign of success. A young scientist should be able to focus on their favorite business without working in another job to meet basic needs; they should have an understanding of where to get money for research, how to protect their intellectual property, how to reach the R&D departments of major companies, or where to attract venture capital to a new project. We set an additional task to contribute to the transformation of the image and status of a scientist and a young scientist in our country."

What does the Vysota Foundation offer?

The Foundation's scholarship program is one of the largest in Russia. Each year, the fund will allocate up to 720 thousand rubles to support each of the winners of the competition. The Foundation also offers mentoring. The foundation's experts — leading scientists, government and public figures, entrepreneurs, and managers — help young researchers not only form a scientific strategy, but also master business communication skills, legal support, and project management. Finally, it is the popularization of science: holding conferences, forums, joint projects with universities, and supporting startups of young inventors in the field of science and technology.

Key achievements and partnerships

The Foundation is actively integrating into the Russian scientific community: the Foundation's Board includes heads of the country's largest universities, academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, members of the government, deputies of the State Duma, members of the Federation Council. In addition, the Foundation organizes its own competitive programs, supports the participation of young scientists in accelerators and educational sessions. Representatives of the Foundation regularly become participants and partners of key industry events (SPIEF, the All-Russian Congress of Student and Scientific Associations, national and international conferences), implement joint initiatives with the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science.

In 2024, Roman Chichkanov and the head of the Rosmolodezh agency, Grigory Gurov, signed a strategic agreement on joint support for young scientists, which opened up new scaling opportunities for the foundation.

"The long—term growth and prosperity of the Vysota Foundation is an ambitious task with a potentially significant multiplier in the economy and the creation of new technologies and solutions in Russian science. My grandfather's last name is at stake. Of course, it requires being a marathon runner leader, not a sprinter, to use a sports analogy. By its nature, the medical or tourism business also cannot boast of a quick payback — we invest billions of rubles and do not expect a return tomorrow or in three years. However, the social contribution — in the first case to the longevity and preservation of the health of the nation, in the second — to accelerate the pace of achieving scientific leadership — is often not measured in money. In general, it is important for our generation not only to earn money, but also to leave a positive mark on society," says Roman Chichkanov.

Roman Chichkanov: personal life

He enjoys tennis, boxing, wakesurfing, reading and biohacking.

He is married to Maria Chichkanova (Chervotkina), a journalist and a well-known blogger in the field of fashion and creative industries. Maria is a finalist for the Forbes 30 Under 30, is one of the top 10 most effective influencers, and has launched her own shoe brand, MCH.Studio. The couple is raising a son.