Where did Abramovich study? Roman Abramovich is a biography of a wealthy man. Scandals related to Abramovich
Roman Abramovich- a Russian oligarch, a native of the "dashing nineties", and as often happens, an ex-deputy and even the chairman of the Duma, has always attracted interest in his controversial figure. Rapid career growth, success in the field of entrepreneurship, and as a result, a multibillion-dollar fortune, make evil tongues grumble, and our average layman wonders how a simple guy from Saratov, a student of the forestry department, could become one of the richest people in our country and even the planet? Who is around this person? Who walked with him hand in hand, who was his inspiration? And, of course, what kind of women are next to such an outstanding person? Let's figure it out.
Who is Roman Abramovich? Biography
Roman Arkadyevich was born in 1966, on October 26, in the city of Saratov. His parents left him early - his mother died a year after the birth of his son, and three years later, his father also died at a construction site. Roman was brought up in the family of his uncle Leib Romanovich, in the city of Ukhta. From childhood, Roman Abramovich was not distinguished by high academic abilities, but he had very noticeable organizational skills.
After graduating from school, in 1983, Roman entered the Ukhta Industrial Institute at the forestry department, which he could not finish. Although, rather, he did not want to, because the wind of change, so clearly felt at the decline of the empire, was the feat of our hero to do something unthinkable for a Soviet person - entrepreneurial activity.
Young Roman took his first steps towards prosperity of the caliber of an oligarch while still serving in the Soviet army. Today it is difficult to say how exactly he succeeded, but the novice businessman managed to sell plots of forest and land to the local peasantry. How such a brazen scam could see the light, and what ranks were at the same time, history is silent, but it eloquently demonstrates the commercial acumen of the young adventurer.
The first successes in Abramovich's career. First wife
Returning from the army, Roman found out that the girl, as often happens, did not wait for him, and indulges in "breaking bad". At that time, the future oligarch drinks a lot, leads a wild life, until he finally meets his first wife, Olga Yurievna Lysova. Together with her, they trade in the market until Roman met Vladimir Tyurin. A friendship immediately struck up between them, and the young cooperators set up a business selling rubber toys. Things were going great for the guys and very soon Roman and Vladimir had already rented a whole workshop for the production of toys. Their cooperative "Uyut" will soon become the basis for the future team of the oligarch. Despite the fact that the trade was quite successful, the commercial genius of Roman Arkadyevich becomes cramped in such a small business, and he turns his eyes to a truly wide field - the oil trade. And for good reason. Abramovich was lucky to enter the chosen circle of a no less significant figure, which he himself will become, a powerful oligarch of the nineties - Boris Berezovsky , with whom he begins to do business in oil. Popular rumor ascribes a lot to this tandem, such as the dilution of oil and even the outright theft of entire trains, not without the support of his uncle Roman, who at that time occupied a high, and most importantly, necessary post. Today, few people know for sure what winding paths our hero went to personal well-being.
In view of the first, truly major successes in business and the rapid growth of capital, Roman often has to fly abroad, look for new business partners, and establish contacts. And on one of these flights to Germany, Roman drew attention to the pretty stewardess Irina, who later became his wife.
The second wife of Abramovich Irina
Marriage Irina Vyacheslavovna and Romana was surprisingly durable. The wife gave the businessman six children, was a reliable companion on the path of his future career, a true friend and ally. Even after many years, when the couple decided to end their relationship, the public, greedy for fuss, did not wait for any loud scandals about the division of property. Former spouses still maintain warm, friendly relations.
Despite the high-profile case of 1992, about the theft of 55 tanks of diesel fuel, Roman's career continued its meteoric rise. In 1998, Abramovich was introduced to the general public as the treasurer of Yeltsin's inner circle, and already in 1999 he became the owner of a fortune of 14 billion dollars. The ascent to the political arena was not in vain, and in 2000 Roman Abramovich became the governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. At the same time, Roman continues to develop his business, acquires all the attributes appropriate for big capital, up to the purchase of his own Chelsea football club in 2003, which he acquired for crazy £ 140 million. In 2005, in October, Roman sells his part of Sibneft shares in favor of Gazprom for $13.1 billion and repeatedly makes attempts to leave the governor's post, but each time after personal conversations with V.V. Putin, changes the decision. In 2008, at the request of the deputies of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Abramovich became a deputy of the Chukotka Duma, gaining up to 96.99% of the vote.
Today, Roman Abramovich is a textbook example of a Russian oligarch, from the basics of accumulating seed capital to luxury yachts, of which Roman Arkadyevich has three, jokingly called the “Abramovich Fleet”, two private planes, three helicopters serving these yachts. The fleet is beyond exact calculation, but a couple of armored limousines, masterpieces of Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Bugatti Veyron, Rolls Royce and a Ducati motorcycle are known for certain. Of course, all copies are exclusive and accordingly produced by order.
Personal life of Roman Abramovich today. Daria Zhukova
It is difficult to ignore the wife of a Russian oligarch, designer and beauty Daria Zhukova, daughter of a famous businessman. Roman and Daria are happily married and have two children, son Aaron and daughter Leia. The little daughter is growing up, very similar to her dad. Spouses can often be seen at the most fashionable resorts in the world, where they demonstrate their family well-being on their own yachts. They flash in the photo of the paparazzi, together with the world stars of show business, politics and business.
Everyone knows about Roman Abramovich - his name is synonymous with wealth and power. To get to his current fortune of 9.1 billion dollars, the businessman started as an active player in the oil trading market and always made the necessary connections.
- FULL NAME: Abramovich Roman Arkadievich
- Date of Birth: 24.10.1966
- Education: incomplete higher education, Ukhta Industrial Institute
- Business start date/age: 25 years
- Type of activity at the start: production of polymer toys
- Current activity: entrepreneur, billionaire
- Current state:$9.1 billion, according to Forbes for 2017
Roman Abramovich is a man whose name alone can arouse genuine public interest. Any facts of his biography attract attention.
Childhood and youth
Abramovich Roman Abramovich was born on October 24, 1966 in the city of Saratov into a Jewish family, although his father's "nationality" column says "Russian". The childhood of the future oligarch cannot be called cloudless - he became an orphan at the age of four. When the baby was one year old, the mother died of illness, and three years after the injury received at the construction site, the father also died. The boy was brought up by Uncle Leib, who lives in Ukhta, but Roman graduated from school already in the capital, living with another uncle.
After school, the guy was waiting for the army, air defense, from which he returned to the industrial institute of Ukhta. And just here he began to show his organizational skills. They did not touch upon studies - Roman Abramovich never received a diploma of higher education, because his interests turned towards entrepreneurship.
How Roman Abramovich's business began: a course towards oil rivers
By the end of the eighties, Abramovich was "ripe" to start doing business. And the first project was the cooperative organization "Uyut", which was engaged in the manufacture of polymer toys.
The next step was the transition to trading operations - at first the businessman acted through intermediaries, then he moved on to independent decisions. At the dawn of the nineties, Roman became the head of AVK-Komi, an intermediary enterprise for operations in the oil market. It is noteworthy that his first fuel supply case almost became a criminal one - there was a theft, but the entrepreneur himself actively helped the investigation, and the thieves were found.
The grasping exporter was noticed by Boris Berezovsky and the Yeltsin family. At that time, Berezovsky was more involved in political activities, and therefore transferred business (raw materials and financial flows) from Sibneft, which actually belonged to him, to a new person.
And here it is worth talking separately about joint projects with Mr. Berezovsky. We are talking about an oil corporation operating along a single vertical, the basic basis of which would be Noyabrskneftegaz and the Omsk Oil Refinery (then owned by Rosneft).
The year 1996 turned out to be especially successful: in June, Roman was taken over by JSC Noyabrskneftegaz (Board of Directors). The Moscow representative office of Sibneft submitted to him around the same time, and the board of directors of this organization - already in September. By the way, this also includes many partners of the entrepreneur, whom he trusted since his first cooperative.
In 1998, there was an attempt to merge Sibneft and Yukos, but this did not go beyond theory. And first of all, because of the ambitions of the owners - the disagreements between Abramovich and Berezovsky led to a complete discord with each other. But by this time, our hero was already confident in his own abilities - behind him was a fortune estimated at 14 billion dollars.
Beginning of the new millennium
The 2000s continued to reveal the potential of our hero. Successful projects include the following:
- Russian Aluminum (co-founder Oleg Deripaska);
- redemption of shares of ORT company from Berezovsky with subsequent sale to Sberbank;
- repurchase of a controlling shareholding from Aeroflot.
In December 2002, Sibneft is engaged in strengthening relations with Belarus. So, first, a 10% stake was bought from the Russian-Belarusian oil concern Slafneft, then, together with a partner TNK, another 74.9% was acquired. The resulting assets were divided equally.
What other major oil companies are lifting up the domestic oil market? It turns out that there are 7 largest magnates in this area.
Much less clear was the second half of 2003: the Prosecutor General's Office and the Tax Inspectorate began to doubt whether shares in many of the oligarch's companies were legally acquired. All this resulted in fines of $1 billion. Abramovich begins to sell stocks of many companies - from Aeroflot and Russian Aluminum to RusPromAvto and Sibneft.
Speaking of more recent projects, we should mention Boris Polanski, who is known as a financial investor. In the future, such cooperation is the opening of Polanski Bank Capital.
Business wisdom and the ability to make optimal decisions led to the fact that our hero in 2012 was the arbitrator in the Nickel War. He was given the right to manage 20% of the trust fund.
Conquest of the political Olympus
Roman Abramovich's business did not interfere with taking part in the political life of the country. It all started in 1999, when our hero became a State Duma deputy from the Chukotka constituency. Why was this geolocation chosen? But after all, it was on this territory that firms engaged in operations with petroleum products on behalf of Sibneft were registered.
Roman did not get involved in factions. But since 2000, he got into the committee that solves the problems of the North and the Far East.
This led to gubernatorial activity in 2001-2008. The time of his leadership is characterized as a period of successful development of the region, in particular the oil industry. For this, Roman invested a lot of his own funds. In 2006, for a similar approach to work, a businessman was awarded the Order of Honor.
In 2005, Abramovich sold his own block of Sibneft shares (75.5% at a price of $13.1 billion) to Gazprom and made attempts to step down as governor. However, every time he abandoned this idea after a conversation with Putin. And only with the advent of Medvedev, the governor's powers of Roman Arkadyevich were terminated.
But participation in politics did not end there - in the same 2008, Roman, yielding to the request of the deputies of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, participated in by-elections. The result was stunning - 96.99% voted for him.
The former governor reported on his financial condition. He did not hide from anyone how he earned his first money:
Since October 2008, Abramovich has been the chairman of the local Chukotka Duma. However, by that time he was already permanently living in the UK, where his passion for football led him.
Love for football
Let's go back to 2003 - that's when the oligarch makes a world-famous business deal. We are talking about buying out an almost bankrupt Chelsea football club, sorting out all its debts and renewing the team, moreover, with contracts for six zeros (with wide coverage in the world media).
The renovation cost £150 million. In the Russian press, a stir immediately arose: they say that the oligarch is developing foreign sports, and not domestic ones! No one tried to remember that Roman made attempts to acquire CSKA, but the deal failed. And the investment in Chelsea paid off by winning the UEFA Champions League tournament in Europe.
Information allowing oneself to make statements in the direction of Abramovich's unpatriotism: he did a lot for Russian football. What is worth only the creation of the fund "National Academy of Football". And it was from his own pocket that Roman paid for the invited head coach for our football team - the famous Dutchman Guus Hiddink.
Scandals related to Abramovich
Big money cannot remain in the shadows. And this is not only an idle interest of the public - the success story of Roman Abramovich is connected with scandalous stories.
It all started back in 1992, when the entrepreneur was taken into custody, charged with stealing diesel fuel. A substantial amount was presented - 4 million rubles.
1998 marked another major scandal: the businessman was named a confidant of Boris Yeltsin - it was he who sponsored the politician's election race. But that's not all - Roman, it turns out, also paid for the expenses of Yeltsin's daughter and son-in-law.
Forbes Favorite
Roman first got into the prestigious Forbes list back in 2009. In 2017, he is in 139th place in the global list of billionaires and 13th in the list of rich people in Russia. The oligarch's fortune totals $9.1 billion.
| Name | Price | Interesting details |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate |
| In 2015, Abramovich bought three townhouses in New York for about $68 million, intending to combine them into one complex. |
| Eclipse is one of the ultra-modern anti-missile warning yachts, with a hull made of precious woods and a bulletproof coating. The yacht has a submarine that dives to 50 meters. There is information about other ships:
|
|
| Cars | Exact cost unknown | Armored limousines, sports car collection (with Ferrari FXX and Bugatti Veyron) |
| Aircraft |
| In addition to Boeing, there is also an Airbus A340 |
| Art objects | Approximately $1 billion | The most famous recent acquisition is a collection of 40 works by Ilya Kabakov ($60 million). |
Predictions for Abramovich's fortune
Financial experts are trying to convince the public that the rumors and arguments about the state of Roman Abramovich are greatly exaggerated. However, he is still considered one of the top businessmen.
But the same Forbes predicts: the state of the Russian oligarch may fall in the near future. This situation began in 2011, when its figures began to decline from $13 billion to today's numbers. And the trend does not think to stop.
"Helps" in this and the crisis. Here is a case in point: in September 2014, Roman Abramovich failed to conduct an IPO to a commission related to the US securities and exchanges. He tried to act through Evraz North America, where he holds the position of chairman of the board of directors. However, he did not manage to increase his fortune.
Personal life
No less than the amount of the state, the public is interested in the personal life of the oligarch. Abramovich had two official marriages. The first wife was Lysova Olga Yurievna - not too much data has been preserved about her, except that she was born in Astrakhan.
Much more attention was attracted by the second wife - Malandina Irina Vyacheslavovna, a former stewardess. She gave birth to five children to her oligarch husband: three daughters and two sons. But despite the fact that the family now consisted of seven "I", in 2007 the couple divorced. Everything went off without scandals and lawsuits: Roman and Irina themselves resolved the issue of custody of children and the division of property (by the way, the ex-wife received an amount of $ 300 million during the divorce).
The vacant place of the life partner of a rich groom was quickly occupied by designer Daria Zhukova. There was no official registration, but this did not prevent the lovers from having two children - a son and a daughter. At the moment, the couple also decided to leave, but to raise children together and remain friends.
The paparazzi have now announced a real hunt for a possible contender for the heart of the oligarch. Among the potential brides, even the British actress Emma Watson, better known to everyone as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movie saga, was called. Another possible option is the ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Diana Vishneva (according to unverified information from the media).
Evraz Metallurgical Corporation is expanding. Now she is taking control - more precisely, "in management" - the assets of the Sibuglemet company, owned by Suleiman Kerimov and Akhmet Palankoev. This event in itself would not have been anything special, since the coal company was actually under the control of its creditor, VTB Bank. But there is one aspect to this deal: billionaire Roman Abramovich is the main shareholder of Evraz, and in recent years he has developed a reputation as an emigrant who has lost interest in Russia and switched to foreign projects.
“Roman Abramovich has been gradually and for quite a long time reallocating his personal and business assets in favor of Western countries,” says Dmitry Klenov, partner at UFG Wealth Management. - For example, on the website of Millhouse Capital, an investment company, according to some reports, controlled by Abramovich, there is not even Russia as a potential country for investment. Perhaps Roman Abramovich assesses the risks of investing in Russian projects as unreasonably high. In addition, the businessman has been living in the UK for about 15 years, allegedly having non-domicile status, which allows him not to pay taxes to the British treasury on his overseas earnings and capital gains.
However, Roman Abramovich did not completely leave Russia - he is a shareholder of Evraz and Norilsk Nickel, and in July the Baimskaya mining company owned by Abramovich received permission to mine precious and non-ferrous metals at the Peschanka deposit in Chukotka (the site was acquired back in 2008).
The activation of Evraz led some media outlets to suggest that Abramovich is regaining interest in doing business in Russia. Is it so?
Between raw materials and innovation
Experts interviewed by "Ko" were cautious about this version. “In the context of Western sanctions and restrictions on Russian business, investing in Russia is now quite risky,” says Alexander Bazykin, managing partner at the consulting company Heads. - So much will depend on the development of the situation - the favor of our government to these business assets, the need for them in global management, the prospects of the companies themselves. These are all difficult to predict variables, so at this stage it is premature to talk about the “return of Abramovich”, although it is potentially possible.”
However, everything becomes clearer if you look at the nature of Roman Abramovich's investments. This billionaire made his fortune in raw materials projects, and now his significant investments in Russia are primarily related to raw materials. Meanwhile, in the commodity sector, all niches are occupied, and investment opportunities are rare and accidental. So, in 2012, the conflict of shareholders of Norilsk Nickel allowed Abramovich to enter the capital of this company as a "balancing force". Vladimir Potanin in his interview described the situation as follows: “We have corrected our own irreconcilable positions. Then Roman Abramovich joined the process. as an investor. He performed a balancing function in case the conflict resumed, and this calmed us all. In addition, the person invested in the project with money, and Deripaska and I have an additional responsibility to a third party.”
Another "luck" - "Sibuglemet" will get entangled in its bank debts. But such cases are rare. And in other industries, Roman Abramovich prefers to invest outside of Russia - and he lives more comfortably in London. “The fish is looking for where it is deeper, and Abramovich is looking for where it is better, where it is more comfortable,” says political analyst Konstantin Kalachev. There are many reports of Abramovich's Ervington Investments fund investing in innovative startups - but alas, almost exclusively outside of Russia, although many of these startups were founded by our former compatriots. For example, the Abramovich Foundation has invested $10 million in the Israeli startup Driveway Software, which is developing an application that collects data on the behavior of motorists on the roads. For about $15 million, the fund obtained control over the American company Propell Technologies, which develops technologies for the extraction of shale oil and gas.
"Playboy Extra Large"
Abramovich's overseas location can be explained not only by business interests and not only by the fact that Roman Abramovich, as a representative of the famous Yeltsin "family", prefers to stay away from the Russian prosecutor's office, but also by the fact that, compared to other Russian oligarchs, Abramovich is distinguished by a special craving for comfort , luxury, expensive toys and conspicuous purchases. The whole world knows the expensive toys of the former Moscow swindler Abramovich - mansions, castles, cars, a private jet, one of the largest yachts in the world, the Chelsea football club. Now, a lover of innovation and high-tech, Abramovich has added to these toys an inexpensive, but symbolically significant Tesla electric car - the same one German Gref has.
True, the Chelsea football club is now perceived not so much as a "toy", but as a tool with which Roman Abramovich is trying to enter the Western establishment. Abramovich’s “colleague”, co-owner of the English football club Crystal Palace, Steve Parish, described Abramovich’s motives: “Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich believes: “The more I am in sight, the safer I will feel when Putin comes for me.” .
Chelsea has become part of the lifestyle of Roman Abramovich, who appears in the world news as a "large-sized playboy", who loves to travel and personally negotiates with world football stars. Roman Abramovich is credited with the aphorism “Money does not guarantee happiness, but it guarantees material freedom,” and Roman Abramovich enjoys using this freedom.
Meanwhile, things didn't start out that way.
Fartsovschik from Ukhta
Abramovich spent his childhood in the Komi Republic, in the city of Ukhta, his parents died early, and his uncle was engaged in education. Roman Abramovich actually did not receive higher education and still knows English poorly. But on the other hand, he was always distinguished by his special enterprise and the ability to make contacts. His organizational skills and ingenuity were noticed even at school - for example, he saved his classmates from punks, saying that there were many children of security forces in the class. After the army, he took up fartsovka, and with the advent of perestroika - cooperative activities.
All official biographies of Roman Abramovich say that his entrepreneurial activity began with the Uyut cooperative selling rubber toys, but journalist Alexander Khinshtein was able to find out that this was the business of the Kislovodsk entrepreneur Vladimir Tyurin, who also owned the Luch cooperative, where he made the first steps in business future billionaire. "Uyut" was, in essence, the Moscow branch of "Luch". However, by the beginning of the 90s, the toy trade became close for Abramovich, and he began to establish a variety of, mainly intermediary companies.
It is important that Abramovich's partners in "Uyut" were three graduates of the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkin - Valery Oyf, Andrei Bloch and Evgeny Shvidler, who drew the attention of Roman Abramovich to a promising oil direction.
In those days - in the early 90s - the entire mining industry was state-owned, and private business could only be content with selling its products. Russian billionaires such as Mikhail Bolotin and Gennady Timchenko began their careers as commodity traders. However, to become a trader, one needed connections in the management of state-owned enterprises, and here Roman Abramovich's Ukhta uncle came in handy. Leiba Nakhimovich Abramovich was a fairly well-known person in Komi, the head of the Pechorles working supply department, and thanks to his connections, Roman Abramovich managed to start selling the products of the Ukhta refinery.
However, oil trader Roman Abramovich was able to reach the next level only thanks to his historical acquaintance with Boris Berezovsky.
Together with Berezovsky
This acquaintance took place on a yacht in the Caribbean, where Pyotr Aven introduced Abramovich to Berezovsky. The combination of Roman Abramovich's business acumen and the political influence of Boris Berezovsky - the owner of Channel One and his man in the Kremlin - had the most grandiose consequences, although initially Abramovich had to sit for hours in Berezovsky's waiting room. But it was worth it - together Berezovsky and Abramovich were able to create grandiose commodity corporations without having the initial capital for this. Abramovich outlined a "victim" - an enterprise whose products he sold: the oil producing company Noyabrskneftegaz and the Omsk Oil Refinery operating on its raw materials. True, there were insurmountable obstacles to the capture of these enterprises: the government of Viktor Chernomyrdin was against privatization, Abramovich and Berezovsky simply did not have the money to buy them out, and at the same time, richer businessmen, for example, the largest private bank of that time, claimed the same piece of property " Inkombank. However, Boris Berezovsky and his partner Badri Patarkatsishvili were able to overcome all this. Delicious enterprises were separated from the state company Rosneft bypassing the government by presidential decree, the director of the Omsk Oil Refinery, who did not want to get to Abramovich, drowned, Inkombank mysteriously withdrew its representative right during the loans-for-shares auction.
Subsequently, at the famous London trial, Roman Abramovich explained his relationship with Berezovsky as follows: “In February 1995, we agreed on 30 million dollars a year for assistance - to finance ORT and personal expenses. For this, Berezovsky was supposed to help get a presidential signature and get the release of documents, according to which 51% will remain with the government, and 49% will be privatized. Berezovsky himself did not deny this version, specifying only that he was able to initiate the presidential decree on the separation of state-owned enterprises into a separate company - the future Sibneft - through the head of the presidential guard Alexander Korzhakov, citing the need to finance unprofitable television.
By the way, the future billionaire did not have money for the purchase of privatized enterprises - $ 100 million, but under the personal guarantees of Berezovsky they were allocated by Alexander Smolensky's SBS-Agro bank.
Boris Berezovsky became a member of the board of directors of Sibneft, however, as it turned out at the London trial, he did not formalize his rights in any way, and the London court ruled: Sibneft belonged to Abramovich, and Berezovsky was only a “roof”.
But at the end of the 1990s, Berezovsky did not yet know this and, together with Abramovich, made another practically cashless deal with raw materials. When Lev Chernoy and his partners were selling shares in aluminum smelters in 2000, Abramovich, Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili seized them from Oleg Deripaska and then offered him a merger. Deripaska's company was smaller, and he had to pay $575 million. With this money, Abramovich and his partners paid off Cherny, that is, they got the plants themselves for free.
Thanks to Sibneft, Roman Abramovich received financial resources, and thanks to Boris Berezovsky he became his man in the Kremlin, Korzhakov openly called him "the family's wallet", paying the expenses of Boris Yeltsin's daughter.
And then came Putin
Everything changed when Vladimir Putin came to power. Boris Berezovsky was forced to leave the country, and Roman Abramovich ended up among the "equidistant oligarchs", although his position was "legitimized" by an important social assignment - to be the governor of Chukotka. This governorship became a unique social experiment - in 7 years Roman Abramovich invested $2.5 billion in the Autonomous Okrug. The Okrug received a team of modern managers - in particular, Sergey Kapkov became the head of the culture department, who made a career thanks to the Chukotka episode and later turned out to be a State Duma deputy and head of the department culture of Moscow.
But soon, around 2003, Roman Abramovich became disillusioned with Russia. It was in 2003 that he bought the famous Chelsea club, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, and began to "go to the cash" - during 2003-2005. Abramovich sold his stakes in Aeroflot, Russian Aluminum, Irkutskenergo and the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, RusPromAvto. Sibneft was supposed to merge with Yukos, but after the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Abramovich - with great difficulty - interrupts this deal and sells Sibneft to Gazprom for $13 billion. Igor Dmitriev, analyst at Investment Technologies Laboratory. - The oligarch himself was not seen in stinginess, but there is a limit to everything. That is why he so persistently but carefully completed his direct participation in the project for the development of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. One must have remarkable endurance when every meeting with a government or regional official ends with the need for personal assistance in solving some material problem. Foreign business projects have one indisputable advantage: no one will clap familiarly on the shoulder and say: "Brother, help build a road (sports complex, factory, hospital ... who cares)".
Londoner
Around 2006, the current stage in the life of Roman Abramovich began. Having received money from Gazprom, Abramovich turns into a portfolio investor. True, Russia has not been forgotten, but Abramovich is already participating in Russian projects mainly remotely, and exclusively with strong partners. So, in 2006, businessmen - the founders of Evraz Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov - sold 41% of their mining group to Roman Abramovich, the deal was estimated at $ 3 billion, and Abramovich's luck again consisted in the problems of sellers - the large debt load of Evraz.
In Russia, Abramovich mines gold, invests in Moscow real estate, but it is known that the investments of his company Millhouse Capital are highly diversified and include a large number of foreign financial assets. “I don’t think that Roman Arkadyevich can afford to waste a huge amount of time on delving into the vague business model of a Russian company that is trying to apply in Russia “Western business tricks” picked up somewhere, without realizing the fundamental differences markets,” said Vyacheslav Efremov, a resident of London, CEO of the consulting agency ISTORIYA. “I dare say that many projects go through several highly qualified professionals who decide to submit to Mr. Abramovich's table a recommendation to buy an investment in a particular company.”
“Roman Abramovich is not original in choosing foreign projects,” says Pavel Tolstykh, head of the Center for the Study of Problems of Interaction between Business and Government. - The same strategy was chosen by Alfa Group. The explanation is simple: Russia does not need private investors of this level. If we analyze the last 10 years, most of the assets passed to the state (read: officials) or businessmen close to the president's entourage. And after the story with Bashneft, the political risks of having large assets in Russia became too high. In addition, according to my feelings, business for Abramovich has always been secondary, this is his difference, for example, from Deripaska. He, like Melnichenko, by the way, is now just enjoying life, successfully integrating into the world elite.”
Political scientists note the weakening of the former influence of the oligarch in Russia. “The acquaintances and connections, of course, remained,” says Konstantin Kalachev. But there is no former influence. One can recall the weakening of the people who were traditionally considered his henchmen. On the surface - an example of Kapkov. If you dig deeper, then among those who are now called promising single-mandate candidates from EP, for some reason there are no people previously associated with Abramovich.
As compensation for the loss of influence in Russia, Roman Abramovich received 13th place in the ranking of the most influential people in world football according to the sports television channel ESPN (moreover, his assistant in sports affairs Marina Granovskaya was in 24th place).
Abramovich has already invested about 1 billion pounds in Chelsea, he is going to build a new stadium for the club for 0.5 billion pounds, although he does not forget about Russian sports - it was Abramovich who paid for the services of the coach of the Russian national team Guus Hiddink.
Heir
Abramovich's children are already entering the stage of life - he has seven of them, from three wives. Sofya Abramovich is often mentioned in the gossip column, who goes in for equestrian sports and participates in prestigious competitions. The son of Roman Abramovich, Arkady Romanovich, who will turn 22 in September, has already worked as an intern at VTB Capital and received from his father the investment company ARA Capital (named after his initials). Arkady Abramovich's own fortune is estimated at $12 million. According to Yury Sanberg, a lecturer at the Classical Business School, today Roman Abramovich's main interests in Russia are the business projects of his son Arkady, who owns the oil and gas company Zoltav Resourses. In 2013, Abramovich Jr. acquired the British oil and gas company Vostok Energy with producing assets in the Saratov region - the Onboard block with 10 explored fields along the northern border of the Caspian oil and gas province. Another well-known project of his is in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug: in 2014, the Siberian Geological Company, owned by Zoltav Resources, discovered the Zapadno-Koltogorskoye oil field.
“As for the son of Roman Abramovich, his Russian assets are rather a training platform for a young man, and it is unlikely that a critical situation will arise around the assets,” Yuri Sanberg believes. “Not the scale.” Open sources indicate that Zoltav Resources has officially become one of the smallest oil and gas companies in Russia. In 2011–2013 it suffered losses, and the first profit was recorded only in the first half of 2014. “The Saratov field is not a large asset. There is an opinion expressed repeatedly by various market analysts that the company will gain assets until it is sufficiently prepared to be sold, continues Yuriy Sanberg. - In my opinion, immersion in business in Russia will give Abramovich Jr. a clear understanding of the entire technological chain of production and sale of hydrocarbons. In addition, there will be an awareness of the importance for the business of the external environment of the company. Although, of course, Abramovich Jr. is helped not only by the friendly investments of people from his father's entourage (for example, David Davidovich), but also by the professional board of directors and the company's management, which has industry experience in the CIS countries. Practically, the son has a "protective certificate" in his hands. Nevertheless, a year of doing business in Russia should always be counted as four.”
Well, Roman Abramovich himself is reaping the consequences of his turbulent and scandalous life: the Hollywood film companies Warner Bros. and RatPac Entertainment decided to make a film about the relationship between Berezovsky and Abramovich. The film is based on the book Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs – a true story of ambition, wealth, betrayal and murder by American writer and screenwriter Ben Mezrich. By the way, the same author wrote the literary basis of the film about Mark Zuckerberg "The Social Network".
Russian billionaire, owner of the Chelsea football club.
Out of the frying pan into the fire
If Roman Abramovich's ancestors had been told that their son would become a billionaire, they might have believed. And perhaps not. For them, life was by no means always the best.
The future oligarch was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov. It was to this city that Roman's maternal grandmother, Faina Borisovna Grutman, managed to evacuate from Ukraine in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. Roman's mother Irina was then three years old.
The history of the paternal family was even more tragic. Nakhim (Nakhman) Leibovich and Toibe Stepanovna Abramovich lived in Belarus, but after the revolution they moved to neighboring Lithuania. But in 1940, Soviet power came there too. Just before the start of the war in the western border areas of the USSR, a "cleansing of the anti-Soviet, criminal and socially dangerous element" was carried out.
Families were sent to Siberia, many of the deportees died in the camps. Among them was Abramovich's father. Nakhim Leibovich died in 1942 in an NKVD camp in the settlement of Reshety, Krasnoyarsk Territory. However, the couple separated even earlier, during the deportation, the father and mother with the children ended up in different cars. Three sons - Leib, Abram and Aron (he preferred the Russified version of the name, Arkady) Toibe Stepanovna raised alone.
Later it turned out that nothing good would have awaited the Abramovich family even if they managed to avoid the attention of the NKVD and stay in Lithuania. After the Nazis captured the Soviet republic during World War II, most of the Jews who lived there were exterminated. Also, families.
Orphan childhood
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov, and at first it seemed that fate did not spoil him at all. Parents lived in Syktyvkar, but when the boy was one year old, his mother, Irina Vasilievna, nee Mikhailenko, died. And at four, Roma also lost his father - Arkady Nakhimovich, who worked in the economic council, tragically died as a result of an accident at a construction site.
The boy was taken in by his uncle, Leib Nakhimovich. He worked in Ukhta as the head of the Pechorles work supply department at KomilesURS. In Ukhta, Roman went to school, but did not study there for long. It was decided to send the boy to Moscow, to the second uncle, Abram.
Non-higher education
Roman Abramovich received his matriculation certificate in 1983, graduating from Moscow secondary school No. 232. However, either his studies were not very interesting, or the results were not very impressive, but the young man returned to Ukhta and entered the industrial institute, the forestry department. The educational institution turned out to be popular among people who would succeed in business and musical culture in the future, for example, Andrei Derzhavin was Abramovich's classmate.
However, Roman was not fond of studying, and there is no information about the end of the educational institution. It is only known that in 1984 Abramovich was drafted into the army. He spent two years of military service in the Armed Forces of the USSR in the Kharkiv region, in the air defense training center of military unit No. 63148, stationed in Bogodukhov.
In the early 2000s, some media wrote that Roman Abramovich studied at the Gubkin Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas. There is no confirmation of this.
Rubber toys and oil trading
Meanwhile, serious changes were brewing in the USSR. In 1986, just when Abramovich was demobilized, perestroika had been going on in the country for a year. For a young man without specific occupations, but with good organizational skills, these changes turned out to be unquestionably for the better.
At 22, when many were just graduating from college, Roman Arkadyevich was already the head of the Uyut cooperative. The organization was engaged in the production of rubber toys. Samples were brought from business trips by his second wife, Irina. However, for his requests, the matter turned out to be certainly too small. He founded several more firms, was engaged in trading and intermediary operations, and then switched to trading in oil and oil products. However, useful contacts played a key role in the subsequent rise of the young entrepreneur.
In the Yeltsin family
Roman Abramovich started doing business together with Yevgeny Shvidler and distinguished himself in this by an enviable constancy - they still jointly own the investment company Millhouse Capital UK Ltd.
However, soon Abramovich had a much more promising partner. According to the media, in the early 1990s, Roman Arkadyevich met the brilliant Boris Berezovsky, and through him with the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, and his daughter Tatyana Dyachenko. Yeltsin was already ill then, and as they said, the decisions were actually made by Tatyana Borisovna and Valentin Yumashev, who became her husband.
It was not the first time for Roman Arkadyevich, an orphan, to become a native in a strange family. As they write, in fact, he became a native for the Yeltsin family. This meant brilliant prospects for building your own business, which Roman Arkadyevich took advantage of.
Forward to Sibneft
In 1993, Roman Arkadievich was engaged in the sale of oil to the Noyabrskneftegaz company. Together with Boris Berezovsky, he created the offshore company Runicom Ltd. It was registered in Gibraltar, and there were five subsidiaries in Europe. Abramovich headed the Moscow office. And in 1995, the partners began to implement another major project on the basis of the Omsk Oil Refinery and Noyabrskneftegaz, creating the Siberian Oil Company.
Later, the Accounts Chamber, after checking the privatization of Sibneft, would consider it inefficient and inexpedient, but the train had already left, and by the age of 30, Abramovich was a member of the board of directors of JSC Noyabrskneftegaz and Sibneft, and headed the Moscow representative office of the company. Evgeny Shvidler became president.
By 2000, Abramovich's fortune was estimated at $1.4 billion. And in 2001 it became known that the shareholders of Sibneft created the investment company Millhouse Capital, which still manages all of Abramovich's assets.
Come out of the dusk
The media did not notice Abramovich for the time being - in Russia in the early 1990s there were much more colorful figures - Berezovsky, Gusinsky, Potanin, Khodorkovsky ... For the first time, journalists heard the name of Abramovich in 1998 from the dismissed head of the presidential security service Alexander Korzhakov.
He said that the entrepreneur, little known outside the political and business elite, is in fact almost a gray eminence under Tatyana Dyachenko, that he financed the presidential campaign, pays the family's bills and influences government appointments. Some near-Kremlin commentators called him already more influential than Berezovsky himself, who had a reputation for being almost all-powerful. Most importantly, Berezovsky himself thought so, BAB, as he was called by the first letters of his first name, patronymic and last name. Time has shown that he was wrong about this.
As the journalists found out later, by the end of the 1990s, there were disagreements between Abramovich and Berezovsky, which ended in a complete break in business and personal relations. It is believed that the “first call” was the failed 1998 merger between Sibneft and Yukos, and the gap occurred a little later in 2000, when Berezovsky decided that everything was possible for him, spoke out against Vladimir Putin, who became president, and lost this fight .
Abramovich never spoke out against the government, and Putin was strictly called “you”. When journalists who managed to interview the billionaire (there are hardly a dozen of them) asked why, Roman Arkadyevich explained that Vladimir Vladimirovich was older than him.
Billionaire in politics
After "coming out of the shadows" Abramovich almost immediately went into politics. In 1999, he became a State Duma deputy in the Chukotka single-mandate constituency No. 223. Roman Arkadyevich was connected with Chukotka by business - it was there that companies affiliated with Sibneft were registered, which were engaged in the sale of oil and oil products.
In the Russian parliament, the billionaire deputy did not enter any of the factions, becoming a member of the committee on the problems of the North and the Far East. But Abramovich did not manage to engage in lawmaking for a long time. In December 2000, he was elected governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Head of Chukotka
As Abramovich himself admitted later, he was motivated to run for governor by a desire to somehow change the difficult life of 50,000 residents of the Far East region. The billionaire invested his own funds in the development and improvement of the standard of living, so to some extent it was a very large act of charity.
It seems that Roman Arkadyevich regretted his impulse pretty soon. According to the media, several times he asked Putin to accept his resignation, but each time he was refused. Abramovich was freed from the burden of civil service only by Dmitry Medvedev, who became president. He terminated Abramovich's gubernatorial powers ahead of schedule, and in this case there is no doubt that the wording "of his own free will" is true.
True, it was not possible to get rid of obligations to the region right away: Abramovich was quickly elected a deputy of the regional parliament, which Roman Arkadyevich headed for another five years. He left his post as council chairman in 2013.
The idea of a social burden on big business was born even then, but Abramovich still stands out from the general background of entrepreneurs. They write that there was nothing personal in the interest of the billionaire in Chukotka, only business. However, the era of Abramovich in the region is still remembered as the golden time of a real miracle, which is unlikely to happen again.
Football club in your pocket
In Russia at the turn of the 1990s and early 2000s, Abramovich became famous due to his closeness to power structures. But in the West, he became famous for an extravagant purchase that cost the billionaire £140 million. In the summer of 2003, Roman Abramovich became the owner of the Chelsea football club.
According to some reports, the billionaire would not have refused to acquire a club in his homeland, but this was not possible (they write that he liked CSKA, but the deal did not take place).
And then Abramovich favored the English sport. Chelsea were on the verge of ruin. The Russian billionaire by that time had settled in London, despite the governorship in the opposite end of the world. He paid off the club's debts, staffed it with expensive players, and eventually achieved the revival of the team. On May 10, 2012, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. In 2016, Forbes valued the team at $1.66 billion.
Not the first among equals
It is interesting to note that although Abramovich enjoys far more fame than many of his colleagues in big business, he was the richest man in Russia for only three years. This title was provided to him by the sale of Sibneft shares. It happened in 2005, and the buyer was Gazprom. This deal brought Abramovich $13 billion.
In addition to the securities of Sibneft, during 2003-2005, Roman Arkadyevich also got rid of other assets - stakes in Aeroflot, Russian Aluminum, Irkutskenergo, the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Plant and RusPromAvto. According to the media, he did this to avoid possible political risks. Many of his colleagues in the “oligarchy,” as the political system in Russia under Yeltsin is sometimes called, had by then left the country, having lost most of their property.
Now in the list of the richest people in Russia, Abramovich is in 11th place. His fortune is estimated at 10,800 million dollars. He owns 31 percent of the shares of Evraz, 24 percent of the shares of Channel One, as well as a variety of real estate.
You can't forbid living beautifully
Abramovich does not deny himself the attributes of a beautiful life. His art collection is estimated at a billion dollars. He owns exclusive cars, planes and helicopters, and Western journalists have nicknamed Abramovich's fleet of three luxury yachts.
The billionaire has several mansions in different parts of the world, including a villa and a penthouse in the UK and a dacha in the Moscow region.
Abramovich's permanent residence is London. However, in 2016, according to Forbes journalists, the billionaire is a tax resident of Russia and spends at least 183 days a year in his native country, as required by law.
Recently, information appeared in the media that Abramovich had, but this information was denied.
Seven on the benches
Roman Abramovich does not like to talk about his personal life. The media now and then attribute high-profile novels to him, but journalists are not always able to find out for sure.
Roman Abramovich was married three times. His first chosen one was Olga Yurievna Lysova. They lived together for several years, but Olga could not have children, and the orphan, who at that time had not yet become an oligarch, dreamed of a large family.
Abramovich fulfilled his dream with his second wife. Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina worked as a flight attendant, and then gave birth to her husband five children - Anna, Arkady, Sophia, Arina and Ilya. Grown-up Anna and Sophia are enviable and rich brides, Arkady works in the investment field, and he organized his own business while still a student - that is, it is difficult to call him a typical representative of the golden youth and playboys. He owns his own successful company, ARA Capital Limited. Some media write that Arkady managed to earn his own fortune without the help of his father. Arina and Ilya are still minors, they are 17 and 15 years old.
A divorce followed in 2007. The couple agreed amicably - Irina Vyacheslavovna, who in 1991 married an ordinary, albeit energetic young man, received 6 billion pounds and real estate, including a castle in France.
Dasha Zhukova, a socialite, entrepreneur and designer, became a homemaker. They say that it was under her influence that the billionaire became interested in contemporary art. The couple had two children - son Aaron-Alexander and daughter Leah. In 2017, it became known that the couple broke up.
Abramovich Roman Abramovich was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov. Roman's parents lived in Syktyvkar (Komi ASSR). He became an orphan at the age of four - his father, an employee of the Council of the National Economy, died as a result of an accident at a construction site. He lost his mother when he was one year old. He was brought up by Uncle Leib, spent his youth in Ukhta. In 1974 he moved to Moscow to live with his second uncle, Abram.
Education and military service
In 1983 he became a graduate of the Moscow secondary school No. 232.
In 1983, he began his studies at the Ukhta Industrial Institute and entered the Faculty of Forestry Engineering.
In 1984-1986, he served as a private in the air defense training center (military unit No. 63148) in Bogodukhov (Kharkiv region).
Labor activity
In the late 1980s - early 1990s, he was engaged in small business (production, then - intermediary and trading operations).
In 1988, he headed the Uyut cooperative (production of rubber toys). Then the future billionaire switched to oil trading activities.
In June 1996, he became a member of the Board of Directors of JSC Noyabrskneftegaz, and also headed the Moscow office of Sibneft. In September 1996, he was elected by shareholders to the board of directors of Sibneft.
In 1999, he became a State Duma deputy for the Chukotka single-member constituency No. 223. Since February 2000, he has been a member of the State Duma Committee on the Problems of the North and the Far East.
In December 2000, he was elected governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (in connection with this, he left his seat in the State Duma).
In 2003, the oligarch bought the English football club Chelsea for £140 million and actually moved to live in the UK. In October 2005, he sold his stake (75.7%) of the Sibneft company to Gazprom for $13.1 billion and tried several times to leave the governor's post, but each time after meeting with Russian President V.V. Putin he was forced from his intention to give up.
On October 16, 2005, he was nominated by the president for reappointment to the governor's post, and on the 21st of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug approved him for a new term.
In 2005, the businessman sold a 73% stake in Sibneft to Gazprom, earning $13 billion from the sale.
On July 3, 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev prematurely terminated his powers as governor with the wording "of his own free will."
On July 13, 2008, deputies of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug asked Roman Arkadyevich to become a deputy and head the Okrug Duma. On October 12, in the by-elections, with 96.99% of the vote, he was elected a deputy, and on October 22, he was elected chairman of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the oligarch's candidacy was unanimously chosen.
According to Forbes magazine, at present his capital consists of shares of Evraz (31%), Channel One (24%) and real estate. Together with his partner in Evraz, Alexander Abramov, he owns 5.87% of the shares of Norilsk Nickel.
Afterbirthnews
On May 20, 2018, it became known that the British authorities did not extend the investment visa for the oligarch. In this regard, he left Britain and missed the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United.
On May 28, 2018, information appeared in the media that he flew to Israel and received Israeli citizenship, thanks to which he can enter the UK.
For many years, the oligarch has been in the top 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to the Forbes rating. So, in 2011-2012, he was in 9th place with a capital of 13.4 and 12.1 billion dollars, respectively. In 2013 and 2016, he was on the 13th line, and his fortune was estimated at 10.2 and 7.6 billion dollars. As of March 2017, it occupies the 12th position with a mark of $9.1 billion.
Family status
Married with a third marriage. The first wife is Olga Yurievna Lysova.
From the second union with Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina, he has five children: Anna (January 30, 1992), Arkady (September 14, 1993), Sophia (April 3, 1995), Arina (2001) and Ilya (February 18, 2003).