Potanin, Vladimir Olegovich

Activities in the USSR (1983-1990)

Born in 1961 in Moscow. Member of the Komsomol (1975-1989). He graduated in 1983 from the commercial department of the faculty of International Economic Relations (MEO) of the MGIMO of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a degree in international economics with knowledge of a foreign language. He speaks French and English ^[5] . From 1983 to 1990, he worked in the USSR foreign trade system , as a senior engineer at the Fertilizers and Ore firms of the All-Union Foreign Economic Association (BBO) Soyuzpromexport ^[6] .

Work in the private sector (1990-1996)

Since 1990 - President of the Interros Foreign Economic Association. Opening an account with the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC), Potanin met and made close friends with Mikhail Prokhorov , future long-term private business partner, who was then the head of the IBEC department. In 1992-1993, Potanin served as vice president, then president of the International Finance Company (IFC) bank, created jointly with Mikhail Prokhorov. In 1993, Potanin became president of ONEXIM Bank , while remaining chairman of the board of directors of IFC Bank. The establishment of ONEXIM Bank was supported by Viktor Chernomyrdin , Anatoly Chubais and Alexander Shokhin , the bank specialized in servicing foreign economic operations . In the summer of 1996, the structures controlled by Potanin acquired a stake in Svyazinvest (he joined the board of directors of JSC Potanin in January 1998).

In 1995, he initiated the idea of collateral auctions , according to the results of one of which ONEXIM Bank received a controlling stake (51% stake) in Norilsk Nickel ^[7] . During the auctions, the organizations controlled by the businessman also acquired shares of the oil company OJSC Siberian Far Eastern Oil Company ( SIDANCO , 51%, collateral auction December 7, 1995), OJSC Novorossiysk Shipping Company (20%, December 13, with participation structures of Boris Yordan ), Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (14.84%, December 7, 1995, together with Vladimir Lisin ), as well as OJSC North-Western Shipping Company , which was sold to Boris Kuzyk ’s structure “New Programs and Concepts” in 1998 ^{[8 ]} .

In the Government of the Russian Federation

From August 14, 1996 to March 17, 1997, Potanin served as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation . He oversaw the economic block of issues and coordinated the work of the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federation, the State Committee for Antimonopoly Policy of the Russian Federation, the State Committee for State Property Management of the Russian Federation, the Russian Federal Property Fund, the Federal Office for Insolvency (Bankruptcy), the Federal Commission for the Securities Market , Federal Energy Commission of the Russian Federation. While working in the Russian government, he headed about 20 federal, governmental and interdepartmental commissions, including the government commission on financial and monetary policy issues, the operational commission under the government of the Russian Federation to improve the payment and settlement system, and the interagency commission on cooperation with international financial -economic organizations and the Group of Seven ^[9] . He has held the position of Manager from the Russian Federation at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency .

Work in the private sector after 1997

In the fall of 1997, Potanin created a holding company Prof-Media CJSC to manage all ONEXIM Bank-controlled media outlets, including at various times such popular publications in Russia as Izvestia , Komsomolskaya Pravda , Afisha and Afisha Big city . " In 1998, he became president and chairman of the board of directors of the Interros holding company, which was created on the basis of the Interros, Norilsk Nickel and SIDANCO financial-industrial groups . In the early 2000s, the first of the largest Russian businessmen began construction and development of ski slopes in the Krasnaya Polyana region , where the XXII Winter Olympic Games were held in 2014 ^[10] . In 2003, he acquired the financial business of Alexander Smolensky - a group of HVAC banks, STB-Card, Inkahran and related companies. The media wrote that this was the largest takeover of one financial holding by another in the entire history of the Russian banking system ^[11] . In February 2018, as president of Norilsk Nickel, after six years of disagreement, he signed an agreement on the joint development of the Platinum, Nickel and Copper deposit in Taimyr with the president of the Alliance group, Musa Bazhaev . The total investment of the parties in the project was estimated at 250 billion rubles ^[12] .

Work in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation

In 2006, Vladimir Potanin was elected to the first composition of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation , where he headed the Commission on the development of charity , mercy and volunteering ^[13] . From 2008 to 2010, he headed the work on improving the legislation on NPOs ^[14] . The Commission has significantly improved the legislative framework in this area. In particular, together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation , a federal law “On the procedure for the formation and use of target capital of non-profit organizations” ^[15] was developed and has been in force since 2007. Endowment capital ( endowment ) is an additional way to finance organizations working in the field of education , healthcare and culture . At the initiative of the commission, amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation were adopted on various issues of the activities of NGOs and charity in general. In particular, the list of social services that are exempt from VAT has been expanded. Personal income tax privileges were provided for payments made to volunteers and the income of individuals received in connection with the provision of charitable assistance to them. Organizations that produce or distribute social advertising are exempt from VAT. The income of NPOs received in the form of services provided free of charge by him is exempted from income tax . Changes to the Law on Advertising were adopted, which created favorable conditions for the production, placement and distribution of social advertising ^[16] . According to Potanin:

In the current composition of the chamber, we are going to continue work on improving the legislation, civil and tax, to discuss law enforcement practice with the Ministry of Justice. We want to more actively develop the information exchange between organizations and the state at the national and international levels on the topic of non-profit organizations with target capital, inform the public, promote the ideas of charity and volunteering in Russia ^[17] .

Community Support

• Member of the Council on Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship under the Government of the Russian Federation ^[18]
• Member of the Bureau of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs ( RSPP ) ^[19]
• Chairman of the National Corporate Governance Council (NSCI) ^[20]
• Member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Defense of Russia ^[21]
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Council at the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation
• Member of the Presidium of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports, Higher Achievement Sports, Preparation and Holding of the XXII Winter Olympic and XI Paralympic Games 2014 . ^[22] , XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society . ^[23]
• Member of the Supervisory Board of ANO Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee ^[24]
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Non-Profit Organization “Russian Olympians Support Fund” ^[25]
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) ^[26]

Charity

Vladimir Potanin is actively involved in charity and social activities. In 1999, he established the non-profit organization Potanin Charity Fund for the implementation of long-term projects in the field of national education and culture ^[27] .

Since December 2001 - Member of the Board of Trustees of the Guggenheim Foundation ( New York ) ^[28] .

Since June 2002 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hermitage-Guggenheim Charity Fund ^[29] .

Since April 2003 - Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the State Hermitage Museum ^[30] . Donations of Vladimir Potanin to the Hermitage endowment fund amounted to $ 5 million ^[31] .

Since May 2006 - Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of MGIMO. Potanin donations to the MGIMO endowment fund amounted to about 6.5 million US dollars ^[32] .

At the beginning of 2013, the first Russian entrepreneur to join the philanthropic campaign “ The Oath of Gift ” ^{[33] [34] [35]} , thus expressing his consent to donate at least half of his fortune to charity.

• In 1996, Russian Economy Minister Yevgeny Yasin , according to a number of media reports, in a letter to Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, recommended canceling the Norilsk Nickel contest, " because it is extremely unfair ." In the summer of 2000, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation proposed Potanin to indemnify for the unlawful receipt of Norilsk Nickel in the amount of $ 120 million following a collateral auction, but the case did not receive further progress ^[36] . The pledge term expired on September 1, 1996, and under the terms of the agreement, the holders of blocks of shares to whom the government was unable to repay the loan received the right to sell property obtained at auctions. The head of the Russian Security Council, Alexander Lebed, turned to the president with a proposal to extend the ban on the sale of federal packages until March 1, 1997. As a result, at the negotiations with Potanin’s participation, an agreement was reached on introducing additional obligations for pledge holders in case decisions were made on the sale of shares ^[37] .

• In 1996, Potanin initiated the bankruptcy proceedings of AvtoVAZ JSC. Chairman of the Board of Directors of AvtoVAZ JSC Vladimir Kadannikov accused Potanin of “a new redistribution of property”. Thanks to the dialogue with the government, AvtoVAZ was then able to avoid bankruptcy proceedings ^[38] .

• In 1997, there was a clash of interests between Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin in the struggle for a 25 percent stake in the Svyazinvest all-Russian telephone monopoly. As a result, the package went to Potanin - with the help of Alfred Koch , who, as the head of the State Property Committee , signed a special order stating that the results of the competition are considered valid, while there were a number of serious violations. This led to a split between Potanin and the Gusinsky-Berezovsky group ^{[39] [40]} .

• In 1997, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Mikhail Katyshev opened a criminal investigation into the theft of $ 237 million in budget funds, which Vladimir Potanin and the first deputy finance minister Andrei Vavilov were allegedly involved in. The money was intended for the manufacture of MiG-29 aircraft and their export to India. As a result of the deals, aircraft manufacturers did not receive money, and India did not receive aircraft. However, profit was gained by commercial banks controlled by Potanin, through which a large budget amount passed ^[41] . In 2008, the investigation convicted Vavilov and dismissed the case due to the statute of limitations. Other persons involved in this case were not convicted. ^[42]

• In 1998, Potanin’s strategy was related to the acquisition of blocking stakes in industrial enterprises and extortion from holders of a controlling stake in exchange for the absence of Interros actions disrupting the work of the enterprise. In addition, Potanin was involved in the diversion of assets of a number of large enterprises from creditors. For example, in its interests RAO Norilsk Nickel renounced its rights to develop deposits and transferred its assets to the urgently created Norilsk Mining Company ^[43] .

• In June 2000, Potanin tried to get a blocking stake in the Novolipetsk Steel, for which he bought a number of offshore companies - owners of NLMK shares - from the British Trans World Group (TWG). It was possible to collect 34%, which did not allow for control over the plant. As a result, he was forced to sell shares of Renaissance Capital , which acquired them in the interests of Vladimir Lisin ^[44] .

• Another conflict between Potanin and Lisin occurred in October 2000, when NLMK announced the sale of a 100% stake in the Stinol refrigerator plant to the Italian Merloni Elettrodomestici for $ 119.3 million. The transaction for the sale of shares was finalized on October 13, 2000 ^[45] , but already on October 24, Interros announced that the transaction was violated and tried to challenge it ^[46] , turning to the head of the Federal Securities Commission, Igor Kostikov, to declare it invalid through the court issue of additional issue of Stinola shares. According to representatives of Interros, a number of NLMK’s actions to sell the Stinol refrigerator plant were circumvented and in violation of applicable law ^{[47] [48]} . On January 19, 2001, it was reported that the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation was involved in resolving the conflict ^[49] . On January 26, it was announced that Interros had appointed a negotiator on the problem ^[50] , and a month later both parties announced a truce ^[51] .

• In April 2004, media reported that Potanin was summoned for questioning by the Prosecutor General, which was later denied by representatives of the Prosecutor General. Journalists suggested that the Prosecutor General's Office could at that time recheck the criminal case instituted on September 3, 1997 under article 147 of the RSFSR Criminal Code “Fraud” in relation to the First National Bank Trust . The trust, owned by ONEXIMbank, which was part of Interros, was accused of illegally taking 41% of the shares in Cherepovets PO Azot. In this case, Potanin was a witness, and the case itself was dismissed in the summer of 1999 due to the lack of corpus delicti ^[52] . Against the background of this information, on April 28, 2004, the shares of the Norilsk Nickel mining and metallurgical plant plummeted - from $ 70.15 to $ 63.8 (more than 7% in the RTS system), while Potanin hurriedly left Russia , presumably to Israel ^[53] .

Conflict with Prokhorov

In early 2007, Potanin announced the division of the business with his partner Mikhail Prokhorov after a scandal in France related to the short-term arrest of the latter on suspicion of involvement in a prostitution network in the ski resort of Courchevel (the case was dismissed at the preliminary investigation stage). The division of the business with Mikhail Prokhorov resulted in a lengthy and complicated procedure, during which the former partners found out their relationship in the press and in the courts ^{[54] [55]} .

In October 2007, a conflict arose between Potanin and Prokhorov over the joint assets of Polyus Gold . Prokhorov achieved the removal from the post of general director of the company Pavel Skitovich, Potanin's associate, and appointed his own person to this post. A few months later, Potanin convened an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to re-elect the board of directors and amend the charter restricting the rights of the general director and board of directors, then he began to buy shares in the market and leveled his share in the company with Prokhorov. In March 2009, Potanin sold shares of Polyus Gold to Suleyman Kerimov’s structures ^[56] .

In July 2008, Prokhorov filed a lawsuit against Potanin to protect his business reputation with the Moscow Arbitration Court. The reason for filing a lawsuit was Potanin’s interview with The Moscow Times , in which he accused Prokhorov of violating business agreements and questioned Prokhorov’s business qualities ^[57] . The Moscow Arbitration Court upheld Prokhorov’s lawsuit, requiring the United Press to publish a denial of Potanin’s words in the Moscow Times. The court decided to recover from the latter and from United Press a thousand rubles reimbursement of legal expenses ^[58] .

Author of secured auctions

Since 1995, the media have published many materials on mortgage auctions. So, in particular, they called Potanin the author of the idea of ​​holding such auctions after Potanin offered the government a bank loan of 9 trillion rubles secured by blocks of shares of elite joint-stock companies at a cabinet meeting on March 31, 1995 ^[37] . Subsequently, Potanin himself confirmed this, indicating that the auctions he proposed had two goals - to find an effective owner for enterprises and raise funds in the treasury ^[59] . Other media outlets indicated that the idea itself was borrowed from Lukoil and Imperial Bank, which paid off the budget debt of the oil company by selling the rights to its shares from the state block. True, Potanin’s option did not imply mere self-repurchase of shares, but trust management, in which the trust holder’s benefit is to increase the efficiency of the managed enterprise, and hence the value of its shares ^[60] . In the course of collateral auctions in 1995, ONEXIM Bank and IFC acquired state-owned stakes in the oil company OAO Siberian Far Eastern Oil Company (SIDANCO, 51 percent, mortgage auction on December 7, 1995), RAO Norilsk Nickel (38 percent, December 17, 1995), Novorossiysk Shipping Company OJSC (20 percent, December 13, with the participation of Boris Yordan’s structures), Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (14.84 percent, December 7, 1995, together with Vladimir Lisin ), as well as Severo- Western Shipping Company ”(sold in 1998 tour of Boris Kuzik “New programs and concepts”) ^[61] .

According to media reports, Norilsk Nickel was bought for $ 170 million (according to other sources - for $ 180 million ^[61] ), while its turnover reached 3 billion ^[62] (according to experts' estimates for 1996, it yielded up to two percent of the country's gross national product ^[63] ). In April 1996, Potanin was appointed by a government order to be a member of the Board of Directors of RAO Norilsk Nickel. A few months later, he was elected a member of the board of directors and held this post until June 1998. In June 1996, the Board of Directors of RAO appointed Alexander Khloponin , Potanin’s associate for IFC and ONEXIM Bank ^[61] , as the company’s director general (the press indicated that it was Khloponin who turned Potanin’s attention to the possibility of acquiring Norilsk Nickel in the 90s ^[64] )

In April-May 2010, Mikhail Khodorkovsky during meetings of the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow confirmed that the initiative came from the then first deputy chairman of the government of Vladimir Potanin. When asked by the prosecution how he knew this, Khodorkovsky replied that he had heard it personally ^[65] .

Mortgage auctions are considered one of the largest scams in the history of new Russia, they are a subject of universal hatred for the country's population like voucher privatization and are often mentioned by journalists, economists, public figures from the so-called patriotic camp. According to economist Yuri Pronko, it was Vladimir Potanin who, in November 1995, using his position in the Government of the Russian Federation, ensured the transfer of a controlling stake in RAO Norilsk Nickel to ONEXIM Bank during a mortgage auction. At the same time, in addition to ONEXIM Bank , its “daughter” (Reola company) and its founder, IFC Bank , participated in the “pledge scam”. The starting price of the auction of $ 170 million only once went up to the "miserable" $ 100 thousand. Already after the auction, it became known that the Russian Credit Bank was not admitted to it, ready to pay twice as much for the shares of Norilsk Nickel - $ 355 million ^{[66] [67]} .

Vladimir Potanin for the authorship of collateral auctions was nicknamed "the father of Razderban " ^[68] .

Since the end of the 20th century, the Russian businessman Potanin has been at the top of the lists of the richest people on the planet, published annually by Forbes magazine . Vladimir Potanin rose from 89th place in 2006 to 38th in 2007, then to 25th in 2008 with a fortune estimated at $ 22.4 billion ^[69] . In 2009 (according to the results of 2008, when the shares of Norilsk Nickel fell due to the economic crisis ) V. Potanin dropped to 318th place in the Forbes world rating ^[70] with a fortune of $ 2.1 billion. But already in 2010, he again rose in the Forbes ranking to 61st place with a fortune estimated at 10.3 billion dollars ^[71] .

In May 2013, the American journal Foreign Policy included V. Potanin among the 500 most influential people in the world ^[72]

In 2017, Forbes magazine assigned Vladimir Potanin the 8th line of the Russian billionaire rating and the 77th position in the world. The businessman’s capital is $ 14.3 billion ^[73] .

In 2019, Vladimir Potanin took the sixth position in the ranking of “20 richest Russian businessmen,” published by Forbes magazine . In 2018, its capital increased by $ 2.2 billion, and amounted to $ 18.1 billion ^[74] .

• Father - Oleg Romanovich Potanin (1936-2010), representative of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade in New Zealand , Turkey , and African countries.
• Mother - Tamara Ananievna Potanina (1938-2004), a doctor.

Vladimir Potanin was married to Natalya Nikolaevna Potanina (born August 4, 1961). The court decision on divorce took place in February 2014 ^[75] . In 2010, he announced that he intends to transfer his fortune to charity, and not leave it to his heirs ^[76] . Three children were born in marriage:

• Potanin's daughter , Anastasia Vladimirovna (born April 30, 1984, Moscow), a graduate of MGIMO , a three-time world champion and multiple champion of Russia in aquabike (JetSki) ^[77] .
• Son Potanin, Ivan Vladimirovich (born April 11, 1989, Moscow), multiple champion of Russia in aquabike (JetSki) ^[78] .
• Son Potanin, Vasily Vladimirovich (b. 2000) ^[79] . After the parents divorced, he stayed with his mother.

In October 2014, it became known that in the summer of that year, Potanin married a second time. Wife - Catherine (born 1975), with whom the businessman for a long time had personal relations. According to a number of media reports, in a new marriage, Potanin already has a three-year-old daughter, Varvara ^{[80] [81] [82]} .

Divorce with spouse

The divorce proceedings were accompanied by scandals in the division of property. The ex-spouse sought in the American court to disclose information about a number of assets of the owner of the Interros holding. In a 2014 interview with Forbes, Natalya Potanina made a number of accusations against her ex-husband, casting a shadow on his reputation ^[83] .

In April 2015, N. Potanina accused the former spouse of influencing the decision of the Management Company to turn off the water supply in the Nemchinovka cottage near Moscow due to debts on utility bills - in February 2015, the Presnensky court collected 8 million rubles from Natalya for the rental of real estate ^{[ 84]} .

In the fall of 2014, the ex-spouse began a lawsuit against the structures of Interros in Cyprus, trying to secure the seizure of part of the assets ^[85] . On October 27, 2015, the Limassol District Court refused to consider the claim, believing that claims for the businessman’s property should be considered in Russia ^[86] .

In 2016, the Presnensky District and Moscow City Courts rejected Potanina’s lawsuit against her former spouse. The court proceeded from the fact that Potanin is formally not the owner of a share in Norilsk Nickel, which Potanina demanded to divide as jointly acquired property. The purpose of the claim by Potanina was the recognition of her right to a 50% stake in Potanin in the MMC, as well as half of the shares of Interros. Potanina planned to transfer the block of shares of the MMC, which she was trying to sue, to the government.

In July 2017, the Presnensky District Court of Moscow refused to satisfy the claim of Potanina, who asked to recover about 850 billion rubles from the ex-spouse. as compensation for blocks of shares in Cyprus companies. The court ruled to refuse claims in connection with the expiration of the statute of limitations ^[87] .

Traveling, football , badminton , skiing , water sports, dominoes and chess .

• Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, IV degree ( August 6, 2007 ) - for active participation in ensuring the victory of the application of the city of Sochi for the right to host the XXII Winter Olympic and XI Paralympic Games in 2014 ^[88]
• Order of Alexander Nevsky ( March 24, 2014 ) ^[89]
• Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I degree
• Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", II degree
• Medal “In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow”
• Medal “In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg”
• Certificate of honor of the President of the Russian Federation ( April 22, 2010 ) - for his great contribution to the development of civil society institutions and active participation in the work of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation ^[90]
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation ( July 25, 1996 ) - for active participation in organizing and conducting the election campaign of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996 ^[91]
• Officer of the Order of Arts and Literature (Ministry of Culture and Communications of the French Republic , January 2007) ^[92]
• Badge of honor “For charity and mercy” ( Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation , September 2002 )
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir III and II degrees ( ROC )
• Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh III and II degrees (ROC)
• Order of St. Prince Daniel of Moscow, II Degree (ROC)
• Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, I degree
• Patriarchal sign of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, I degree
• Laureate of the prize of the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Peoples in 2003.
• Орден Святой Анны II степени (Российский императорский дом, декабрь 2009 ) — в воздаяние заслуг перед Отечеством и Русской Православной Церковью ^[93]
• Золотой Орден Апостола Павла (Кипр) ^[94]

• Список богатейших бизнесменов России

• The official biography of Vladimir Potanin on the website of Interros
• Potanin, Vladimir - an article in the Lentapedia . year 2012.
• “Vladimir Potanin” A film by Alexey Pivovarov ( NTV ) from the series “Capital.ru”